Considered one of the most successful series in the late 90's, it essentially became the teenaged equivalent of Carrusel and it was broadcast in several parts of Latin America gaining a lot of popularity amongst the teenage viewers of the time. It marked the Star-Making Role of several of its actors, such as Adrián Delgado, Lourdes Martínez, Gaby Espino and Juan Alfonso Baptista.
A remake, titled "A puro corazón", started airing on September 2015.
This show features examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Natalia's mom, María Cristina is this. This ends up causing her a fatal heart attack during the course of the story.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys:
- Played with. El Gato might be quite a bit of a ladies man, and better at sports than at studying, but he's otherwise a Nice Guy. The real "bad boy" in the story, Manuel, is very unpopular and girls don't seem attracted to him at all.
- Inverted and deconstructed with Ezequiel AKA "Zacki". At first, he was in love with Melissa, but later begins a relationship with Claudia. However, while she does love him back, she feels embarrassed to admit that she does because everyone considers him a "geek", and then he tries (the key word being tries) to act like a bad boy to impress her. Professor Ortega has to talk to Zacki about being himself no matter what others think, and to Claudia about accepting Zacki the way he is instead of forcing him to change just to please her.
- Amicably Divorced: Averted BIG TIME with Ernesto and Ana Cecilia, Adrián and Melissa's parents. At least until the end of the story.
- A Birthday, Not a Break: The story begins during Adrian's birthday party, which gets ruined with the revelation of his dad cheating on his wife.
- Betty and Veronica: Patricia as the Betty and Natalia as the Veronica to Adrián's Archie.
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad:
- Reinaldo, Natalia's father, doesn't approve of his daughter's relationship with Adrián.
- Also Mr. Palmero, Máximo and Laurita's dad, who flies into a rage (and carrying a butcher's knife, no less) when he finally meets the kid who got his daughter pregnant.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: Melissa.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: El Gato is shown to be this very often.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Patricia wants this with Adrián. The finale leaves us unclear on whether she succeeds or not.
- The Casanova: El Gato, hitting on just about any girl in the school.
- Character Death: María Cristina, Natalia's mother, ends up dying due to a heart attack.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Several of the girls are this, but most prominently Melissa and Patricia in the beginning.
- Coming of Age Story: Mostly for the students in their final year.
- Cool Teacher: Professor Ortega.
- Didn't Think This Through: Manuel's last plan to get Adrián expelled from school blows up in his face when Patricia decides to become The Scapegoat instead in order to force him to confess.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Melissa and Adrián. Also Patricia and Leo.
- Freudian Excuse: The reason why Manuel is such a troublemaker is because his father was blamed for a crime he didn't commit and was Driven to Suicide when nobody believed in his innocence.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Due to always hanging out with Manuel, Jessica tends to come off as this with everyone.
- Girl Next Door: Patricia.
- Gold Digger: Sofía and her daughter Erika.
- Gone Horribly Right: In an attempt to get the classes suspended, El Gato and Máximo sneak into the Principal's office and pretend there's a fire in the school to get everyone out. The chaos that ensues causes Professor Aguirre to have a heart attack that sends him to the hospital. Not to mention it paves the way for Chacín to take over the school.
- Good Parents: While several of the parents have issues, most of them have their children's best interests at heart. Even the most extreme ones like Mr. Aristigueta and Mr. Palmero eventually come around. The sole exception to this is Sofía, who flees the country leaving her daughter behind after getting caught swindling Reinaldo's money.
- Graduate from the Story: The last episode takes place during the school graduation.
- Graduation for Everyone: Sadly averted; Leo skips school so much, he's the only one who doesn't graduate in the end.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Manuel. For most of the story he's shown to be extremely jealous of Adrián, especially because Patricia is in love with him.
- Heel Realization: Erika.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Adrián and El Gato.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Principal Aguirre readily believes Manuel's lies and disregards that Adrián has been a model student for his entire ternure in Los Próceres unless confronted with solid evidence. Leo as well to an extent, since most of his troubles arise due to listening to Manuel's advice too much.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Melissa might be spoiled and a rebel most of the time, when it comes to help her friends she's always there.
- Laser-Guided Karma: While Manuel manages to be a Karma Houdini for the most part of the story, in the finale he finally gets his just desserts: when his last plan to get Adrián expelled blows in his face, in the graduation he's left all alone, friendless, with nobody to congratulate him, while the others are warmly surrounded by their friends and family.
- Local Hangout: Tito's café is the usual meeting spot for everyone.
- Love at First Sight: Adrián and Natalia in the very first episode.
- Love Triangle: The main ones being Patricia-Adrián-Natalia (Type 4, becomes Type 7 towards the end) and Manuel-Patricia-Adrián (Type 5).
- Nerds Are Sexy: Lorena seems to think so of Máximo.
- New Transfer Student: Natalia and Carlota transfer to "Los Próceres" in the very first episode.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: El Gato's real name is Elías Mujica, but except for the school teachers and his family, almost nobody calls him that.
- Plot-Inciting Infidelity: The plot begins with Adrián's dad being caught cheating on his wife.
- Poor Communication Kills: Given it's a high school setting and most of the cast are teenagers, this is bound to happen all the time.
- Put on a Bus: Carlota gets sent to Canada before the final leg of the story.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: El Gato's Red to Adrián's Blue. Likewise, Natalia's Blue to her cousin Carlota's Red.
- Relationship Sabotage: Happens often, especially from Manuel and Patricia, though the latter eventually comes around.
- Refuge in Audacity: Chacín enforces a rule that forbids students from kissing within the school grounds. The entirety of Adrián's classroom decide to call her to the courtyard and all of them kiss in front of her, knowing that expelling them all would be hurtful for the school as a whole, and this drives her to quit.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Professor Ortega, who downplays Principal Aguirre, as is shown to be very close with the students.
- The Rival: Manuel to Adrián, for the most part of the series.
- Sadist Teacher: Played with. Principal Aguirre tends to seem like this at times with the decisions he makes, but it's more due to the fact he tends to be blinded to some of the students or is easily swayed than any actual ill intent.
- His replacement, Principal Chacín, plays it more straight, as she seems focused on making the students' lives as miserable as possible in her short ternure.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Chacín quits as Principal of Los Próceres when Adrian and the others defy her rule of kissing within school grounds, daring her to expel them all.
- Teen Pregnancy: The subplot with Leo and Laurita.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: When Principal Chacín takes over the school, she's quick to enforce new "disciplinary" rules all over. Case in point, kissing within the school grounds is punished by expulsion.
- Villainous Breakdown: Manuel almost goes through one in the final episode, when he's so enraged that he intends to burn the diplomas in the graduation ceremony out of spite, until he overhears Adrián of all people vouching for him in front of the Principal so he can join them to receive his.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Professor Ortega tries this with Manuel, trying to convince him to honor his father's memory and confess of his vandalism to exonerate Adrian and Patricia.
- Vandalism Backfire: Manuel instructs Jessica to ruin Principal Chacín's car when she's about to leave the school in a rage. As it turns out, Jessica vandalized Sofía's car.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The latter half of the finale shows what has become of everyone two years after the graduation.
