L for Love (M jak milość) is a long-running Polish drama/soap opera. It’s been airing since 2000, and there are more than 1,000 episodes in its 17 seasons. It is the most-watched TV show in Poland.
The show follows the large, sprawling Mostowiak family and all their relatives and in-laws. (There has been a massive cast of characters appearing and disappearing over the years.) The two main characters are the Mostowiak grandparents, Lucjan and Barbara, who have been married for more than 50 years and are presented as a model of family life. They have three daughters and one son, most of whom have been married several times (as befits a soap opera, spouses often die on this show), and a number of grandchildren. The show describes the family’s lives and their various trials and tribulations, including the various scandals that threaten to break up the family.
It has won a long list of Telekamera awards (Poland’s TV awards) over the years, including several for best serial and various best-actress nods. The show also spawned a novel, on the occasion of the broadcast of the 1,000th episode, and a biweekly magazine about the show that appeared for about a year between 2006 and 2007. There is also a Russian spinoff, Love Like Love (Любовь как любовь), that aired in the mid-2000s. There’s also a version of the original Polish show that airs in Poland with English subtitles.
Creators: Ilona Łepkowska, Tadeusz Lampka
Stars: Teresa Lipowska, Witold Pyrkosz, Małgorzata Pieńkowska, Dominika Ostałowska, Kacper Kuszewski
Production company: MTL Maxfilm dla TVP
TV channel: TVP2
The show’s official website.
A clip from a recent episode:
