Szomszédok

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Szomszédok (Neighbours) was a Hungarian TV series, occasionally called the Hungarian Dallas, that ran from 1987 - 1999 and produced 331 episodes, airing its grand finale on December 30th, 1999.

The show was a soap opera, dealing with the lives of ordinary people, living and working in or around an average lakótelep (communal grouping of twelve storey block buildings). Its characters were explored, over time, in equal depth: ranging from elderly pensioners, busy middle aged professionals, up-and-coming young people, and children growing into their teens.

Many consider Szomszédok to be The Hungarian TV series, being a period piece of sorts that covers the last few years of the communist era, the rendszerváltozás (democratic transition), and nearly a decade of the new market economy Hungary thereafter.

[edit] Current Airing

After some time off the air, Szomszédok is re-run on M1 (Hungary's terrestrial broadcast public television channel). The re-run was initially narrated by computer text inserts, mainly to guide those too young to remember the late communist era (e.g. how much bread cost that time or what significance a particular public figure in mention had at the time). The original cast and director of the series publicly protested against this practice and the information text bubbles were discontinued after a few episodes. Nowadays it has only a fraction of its original viewership, as it's role has been taken over by Barátok közt, a more vivid daily soap opera produced by the commercial RTL Klub television.