Start of recording and casts The production of the telenovela
Sabor de Mel was officially announced in March 1983 by
Band (formerly TV Bandeirantes), as part of the network's strategy to strengthen its presence in prime time. Initially conceived with the working title
Sabor de Veneno, the plot was renamed
Sabor de Mel and assigned to renowned playwright Jorge Andrade, with general direction and production by Roberto Talma. The pre-production process was swift, and the first cast meeting took place on March 14, 1983, at the station's
São Paulo offices. On the same date, the cast was officially introduced to the press. Filming began a few days later, on March 17, under Talma's direction, with the first scenes shot in the studio on Saturday, March 19. Actors
Sandra Bréa (recently hired by Band),
Raul Cortez, Roberto Orozco, and Ileana Kwasinski participated in the initial recordings. In less than a week, production was already moving along at a rapid pace. The cast for
Sabor de Mel was considered robust, featuring renowned names in Brazilian drama. Sandra Bréa was chosen to play the protagonist Laura, an enigmatic and determined businesswoman. To embody the character, the actress adopted a striking look, cutting her
hair in a
Cleopatra style and dyeing it black, demonstrating dedication to the character's aesthetic. Raul Cortez, recently hired by Band, played Alberto, the executive director of the metalworking company Laura presides over. Cortez even moved with his family to São Paulo to dedicate himself full-time to filming. Other confirmed roles included
Júlia Lemmertz, Zaira Bueno, and
Eva Todor, who played Marta. Eva, in fact, accepted Talma's invitation without even reading the synopsis, trusting Jorge Andrade's script. Cláudia Alencar played Tereza and, at the time, was eagerly awaiting her simultaneous debut in both a soap opera and theater. The cast also included Célia Helena, Paulo Autran, Françoise Forton (returning to television), Elias Gleiser (dividing his time between theater and television as the character Pacheco),
Gianfrancesco Guarnieri, and even fashion designer
Clodovil Hernandes, who was also confirmed as a cast member.
End of filmings and Outcome Despite a bold launch campaign and a promising start, with peak ratings of 18 points in
IBOPE and around 4 million viewers,
Sabor de Mel's success was fleeting.
TV Globo reacted quickly to the competition, bringing forward the premiere of its 8pm soap opera,
Louco Amor, which resulted in a sharp drop in
Band's ratings. The soap's ratings plummeted to critical levels, and the crisis also worsened behind the scenes. Even with the change of writer and plot changes, the situation was not reversed. On July 10, 1983, due to low ratings, Band decided that
Sabor de Mel, originally planned to have approximately 120 episodes, would be shortened. The final episodes were filmed that same week. On July 17, it was announced that
Sabor de Mel would be reduced by approximately 100 episodes, ending early at the end of the month. The telenovela's departure was a sad end, following the departure of its original writer and with a modified plot—in Talma's words, "Mexicanized" – it failed to win back the audience. During its four months on the air, the ratings remained between 0.7 and 6.0 points, a performance considered a major failure. The final episode aired on July 30 of the same year, totaling 95 episodes, and was replaced by a rerun of the first season of '''', starting on August 1 of the same year. == Cast ==