Secret Lives (TV Series 1999– ) Poster

(1999– )

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Marginally Addictive Filler of Television Prime Time
Shaolin_Apu5 December 2005
'Salatut Elämät' has entertained Finns for many years from now. Many faces have been changed during the years and it seems that there's just very little of continuity present. Some of the characters, like Seppo, Ulla, Elina and Ismo, have remained for long but these character have not developed but are instead facing similar problems in their lives again and again. This makes 'Salatut Elämät' a bit irritating viewing as it all turns out to be very superficial and self repetitive.

In present time 'Salatut Elämät' lacks all the starlets it had in the first years. None of the younger promising actors have remained in the serial for long, except for Elina, and this has killed much of the original interest towards the whole product. When some of these younger actors wants to quit the serial, he/she is then quickly replaced with some distant cousin and it takes not a long time before you find that newest addition starring the whole program only to quit the show for some better job.

You may find the serial interesting only if you have just recently gotten into it. Older fans will eventually meet the deja vu phenomenon at least then, when you discover for the tenth time the kissing couple being watched by some jealous eyes.
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2/10
This is needed. But unfortunately it is badly made drama.
matti_kaki20 October 2015
I am really amazed because this has been on production for over 15 yrs! Probably because it is so easy to follow and people can find themselves and their acquaintance in this series.

I was taking care of their video tape recorders up to 2001 and I know that these are made really fast. They don't have time to shoot many takes but it usually is recorded as fast as possible. One take and that's it. This is why I give two stars because I admire the actors and actresses who can do this in such stressful environment.

Some of the people are professionals but there are many young persons just appearing the series and if he/she does it well enough, the magazines are telling all about these people making them familiar to those who watch this. So this series is served strongly to the ordinary Finnish people.

Some are very over acting; usually Police, doctors or authorities. These are very annoying to see because the Finnish Police etc. are very professional and do not act so arrogantly or passionate but are calm and very professional.
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1/10
TV show my ass
sepposeppola6 February 2014
A desperate attempt to milk money out of stupid viewers who are slaved by TV and have never heard of anything like Netflix where they could watch some real stuff. In this show lazy writing, cliché soap opera plot twists and horribly untalented actors are too visible. Everything sucks from start to beginning, from the language characters use to cheap background music. This suffers from ultimately low budget, although no amount of money could save it, the concept is just doomed.

In conclusion, if you want to suffer half hours and throw objects to your TV screen, this is what you want to watch.

And this airs in prime time. Great job Finland, you did it again.
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1/10
This should not exist at least in this planet....
nexus-3714 August 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Well yes. I started watching this somewhere in the beginning, mostly because it was good way to catch some sleep (no brains needed) Then they changed show time and I didn't watch it at all. Then my girlfriend liked to watch it when we saw each other, I had to buy at least six beers to get it trough on sofa.

Now to the actual "series"... There is this main plot that everybody lives nearby or are somehow connected to each other, but they won't tell each other anything about their lives and then there is stalking "what is my neighbor doing?!?" something like that.

There is this constant story that jumps wildly from other spot to unknown and you don't get anything out of it. Well maybe if you are 85y old woman etc.

Acting is horrible (I suppose they could act lot better but thanks to horrible directing they have to act badly, nobody in Finland speaks like they do) They use same facial expressions so they can be like more easily remembered. I was at the set seeing horrible setups after 12 years of this show, can't they get at least better shooting places? I suppose not.

This is probably worst Finnish soap opera I've ever seen. Actually Bold & The Beautiful was 5x better and I hated it. So choose your path.

1/10 (I would give -1/10 if it was possible)
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8/10
vanhat on parempia kun uudet.
jenniinajjanette30 December 2018
Hyvä sarja loppujen lopuksi, vaikkakin nykyään alkaa olla jo tylsistymässä. vanhat salkkarit on kultaa, ja on ne nykysetki ihan okei, vaikka tuntuu että salkkarit on tullu liian kauan.. annan kasin koska nykyset salkkarit on laskenu tasoo. kyllä mä silti tästä sarjasta tykkään :) / in the end, it's a good show, even though it's getting a bit boring. the old "salkkarit" is fire, and the recent is okay, but it feels like it has aired for eternity.. i'm giving it an 8 because it's not as good as before, "the good old days". but i still like this show.
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Just a decent soap opera.
Orni867 June 2005
"Salatut Elämät" is a high-rated finish soap opera about a bunch of young and older people sharing house in Helsinki, Finland. Over the years the show has changed a lot. Many of the original cast members have left the series to become film stars in their country. From the critical point of view the subjects here are formulaic, but due to the lack of competitors it has gained its success over the years. In the early days of the show it dealed with such controversial issues like homo-sexuality, drugs and teen-pregnancy, but during the last couple of years it has become more of a traditional drama concentrating on human relationships.
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Typical Soap-Opera
spikee22 April 2000
This TV-show it's like the Bold & The Beautiful soap-operas, but in Finnish. It caught a lot of attention in Finland when one of the characters started to sell drugs, and the fact that one of the character is gay...
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Salkkarit
TuuliL5 March 2002
Oh yes, Salkkarit rules! Finnish soap opera in Helsinki. Tries to copy the American soap operas and does it pretty well =). Some young actors have got the change of their lives by be casted in Salatut elämät. The characters have changed pretty fast, but the serial needs fresh blood all the time to be interesting.
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