# Maria Mercedes (1992)

> A poor lottery-ticket seller becomes the tool of a wealthy man determined to torment his own family.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/6111

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 82
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Inés Rodena
- Network: Las Estrellas
- Cast: Thalia, Arturo Peniche, Laura Zapata, Gabriela Goldsmith, Carmen Amezcua, Carmen Salinas, Nicky Mondellini, Fernando Ciangherotti
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163465/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: melodramatic, sentimental, dramatic, campy

## What critics say

Audiences rate the telenovela's melodramatic romance and class-conflict plotting as mixed, with a modest audience score.

## Synopsis

Maria Mercedes (1992-1993) is a Mexican telenovela produced by Televisa and broadcast on Las Estrellas, created by Inés Rodena. Thalia plays María Mercedes, a poor young woman who sells lottery tickets and is drawn into the orbit of a wealthy man who despises his own relatives. Arturo Peniche plays Jorge Luis Del Olmo, the affluent family member whose resentment sets the story in motion, while Carmen Salinas brings warmth and comic bite to the household. The engine of the series is a steady stream of schemes, misunderstandings and emotional reversals as the heroine is used as a weapon against a family that is eager to keep its fortune and its secrets. Each episode is built from confrontations in grand houses, romantic entanglements and sharp exchanges between rivals, giving the show the heightened melodramatic register that defines the form. The series runs as a single self-contained season of eighty-two episodes, a long-form serialized soap with an unmistakable Latin American flavor. Its tone is sentimental and dramatic, with moments of humor and cruelty woven through the romance. Fans of Betty la Fea, Rubí and Cuidado con el ángel will find the same class-crossing romance and rich-family rivalry here. Set in a contemporary Mexican milieu, it offers the comfort and intensity of classic telenovela storytelling.

## Shows like Maria Mercedes

- [Down with the Beautiful (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/14441)
- [Salomé (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/12034)
- [Wild at Heart (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/52381)
- [Por Tu Amor (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/52145)
- [Quinceañera (1987)](https://ember.film/tv/12106)
- [María la del Barrio (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/12096)
- [El Privilegio de Amar (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/11742)
- [Los Parientes Pobres (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/16145)
- [Hasta que el dinero nos separe (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/17296)
- [Dulce Desafío (1988)](https://ember.film/tv/6438)

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