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The genre's popularity has already lifted the careers of many thesps, most recently Barbara Mori, who stars in Lionsgate's "La mujer de mi hermano" and "Pretendiendo," and Mexican heartthrob Kuno Becker, who headlines soccer trilogy "Goal." Earlier this year, pop band RBD earned $14.8 million from 24 U.S. shows after emerging from Televisa's youth-skewed telenovela "Rebelde," now stripped daily on Univision.

But it's not just the actors who are crossing over. Come September, English-language telenovelas will burst onto U.S. screens nationwide, starting with "Desire" and "Fashion House" on Fox-owned upstart MyNetworkTV. ABC will try the same with "Ugly Betty," exec produced by Salma Hayek, a former telenovela star herself, and both NBC and CBS are developing their own versions.

If these new programs work, they could take on the entrenched market of original Spanish-language telenovelas, which generate an estimated $2 billion per year worldwide.

Unlike American soaps, which run indefinitely, telenovelas are typically designed to run for a finite number of episodes (usually just over 100). TV companies from as far afield as Russia, Turkey and Indonesia have been buying the 50-year-old genre in canned form and, in recent years, acquiring the scripts or format rights to make their own versions.

"At least 20 countries are now producing their own telenovelas based on Latino formats," says Tepuy Intl. chairman and CEO Marcos Santana, who also oversees program development at NBC U's Spanish-language web, Telemundo. He does not see the Anglo telenovelas as a threat.

"If these novelas are well made and get good ratings, then they can open up new markets for the genre on the whole," he says. "The American-made novelas are aimed at the U.S. and other English-speaking markets; I don't think they will cannibalize the traditional telenovela market."

If anything, they will pose a challenge to U.S. daytime soaps such as "The Bold and the Beautiful," which airs in 134 countries, ranging from Abu Dhabi to Zimbabwe. Of these territories, none is Latino.

"Our product, with its magical realism, its nuances, its color and its tenderness, has its own niche in the international market where it is in at least 100 countries. No other product can replace it," Santana says.

"Clearly, the telenovela is a genre that inspires other forms of programming," ABC Entertainment prexy Stephen McPherson says. Derived from the original Colombian telenovela "Yo soy Betty la fea," ABC's weekly skein "Ugly Betty" has the budget of an average U.S. drama, currently estimated between $2 million and $3 million per episode. "A Colombian telenovela can cost just $30,000 an episode," McPherson points out.

Given its economies of scale and the spirit of austerity pervading Hollywood, the telenovela format has become increasingly attractive to ABC and its counterparts. ABC is exploring the traditional stripped daily format in partnership with Mexico's Televisa, the world's largest Spanish-language producer.

NBC inked a two-year, first-look development deal with Nely Galan's Galan Entertainment to create English-language versions of novelas produced by Spanish-language sister net Telemundo.

CBS daytime chief Barbara Bloom is developing four telenovelas from various sources, including a FremantleMedia format.

Fox's mini hi-def web MyNetworkTV takes the plunge first, on Sept. 5, when it launches its Monday-to-Friday telenovela primetime block, starting with "Desire" and "Fashion House," both adapted from Latin American telenovelas. ABC's "Ugly Betty" will debut on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Is America ready for them? "Given time, I think the U.S. audience will come around," says Paul Buccieri, programming prexy of Fox's Twentieth Television. "We as a company are really committed to this genre and to this programming," he adds. "We know things don't happen overnight, but we're prepared to stick behind these shows."

Twentieth TV has given the new shows slicker production values with more cinematic lighting than is usual for telenovelas.

"It may be beneficial that a bunch of them are coming out at the same time; that way, we'll be able to quickly gauge if they work or not," says Bradley P. Bell, executive producer and head writer of "The Bold and the Beautiful," the only daytime drama to simulcast in Spanish via SAP technology, on CBS the past five years. In July, the 19-year-old soap increased its delivery by more than 50% to Hispanic women ages 25-54, compared with the same month last year. More Latino actors have been added to the cast in recent years.

"Workwise, English-language telenovelas will be terrific for actors, directors, producers and the like," says AMC "Sunday Morning Shootout" producer Scott Sternberg, who is developing TV projects aimed at the bilingual market.

"These are going to open the doors to everyone," says "Desire" thesp Eliana Alexander. "It's great for unknowns." And for well-known thesps who haven't been seen much for a while, such as Bo Derek, Morgan Fairchild and Tippi Hedren, who are all in "Fashion House."

Alexander is still reeling from the fast pace of production at "Desire," where 65 episodes were shot in four months, the equivalent of three full seasons, which on average take 18 months to lense. Alexander says takes rarely exceeded four, and there were no rehearsals or warm-ups prior to actual takes.

"It really whips you into shape; it's an actors boot camp," she says.