Like any good, self-respecting soap opera, Ordinace v rŰĎové zahradű (The Doctor’s Office in the Rose Garden) has enough unexpected and implausible plot twists and love triangles to make the uninitiated viewer’s head spin.

Currently the most popular series airing on Czech television, Ordinace, a drama shown on TV Nova that follows the intertwined lives of patients, their families and doctors at a gynecological office, is part of a new generation of soap operas on the air.

Made and set locally, the shows feature some of this country’s best-known film stars: AŔa Geislerová, Linda Rybová, Jiří Langmajer and Martin Dejdar. They air in prime time, many occupying the coveted 8 p.m. time slot. And they’re hugely popular.

The country’s four television stations are currently showing six Czech-made TV soaps. The newest is Leti‰tű (Airport), a drama about a fictional airline company that Prima TV started showing last month.

Geislerová, currently the most recognizable Czech actress who has starred in films like Îelary, ˇtűstí (Something like Happiness) and Kráska v nesnázích (Beauty in Trouble), plays one of the key characters.

This October, Czech TV (âTV) will kick off Poslední sezóna (The Last Season), the latest addition to the expanding family of Czech soap operas.

No longer content to rely solely on A-list actors, the show’s producers recruited hockey player heartthrob Jaromír Jágr to be the star of the show, which is, you guessed it, about the lives of Czech hockey players.

Closer to home

“Original shows about relationships are in great demand here right now,” says Milan Kruml, a media analyst for TV Nova.

It’s not so much that Czechs are obsessed with soaps more than any other nation, says Kruml. Rather, viewer preferences are cyclical. After an avalanche of talk shows and reality shows like Big Brother, Czechs are hungry again for stories.

Some 2 million viewers watch Ordinace. That’s roughly one-fifth of the country’s population. An additional 1.3 million tune into Rodinná pouta (Family Bonds), aired on Prima TV in the same time slot every Tuesday and Thursday.

And although successful North American shows like Desperate Houswives and Lost have also recently started airing here, Czech-made shows continue to top viewer preferences. It makes sense, TV Nova spokeswoman Veronika ˇmítková says. “People like to be able to identify with the characters in the story. And they like seeing their favorite movie actors.”

In the 1990s, the country saw a massive influx of Latin American soap operas. Now, it seems as though viewers are becoming bored with shows from exotic settings and want something closer to home, producers say.

“It’s become clear that our viewers prefer original Czech series to dubbed foreign shows,” âTV spokesman Martin Krafl says. “They can relate to them better.”