Salatut elämät

Salatut elämät (Concealed Lives) is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. During the series' 19-year run, over 3,400 episodes have been aired, making it the longest running drama in television in the Nordics. On 12 June 2017, it was announced that Salatut elämät will be on the air until the summer 2023 making the series the longest-lasting drama series of all time in Finland. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block in Helsinki. The series primarily centres on the residents of Pihlajakatu and its neighbouring areas. Only five of the original twenty characters Ismo (Esko Kovero), Kalle (Pete Lattu), Ulla (Maija-Liisa Peuhu), Aki (Sami Uotila) and Kari (Tommi Taurula) still remain in the series, and most of the series' current characters have made their debuts in 2008 or later. MTV3 also airs reruns of the series every weekend (Monday-Wednesday episodes on Saturday, Thursday-Friday episodes on Sunday). In the summer, the channel airs reruns of the series; in the summer of 2014, episodes from the season 2009–2010 were aired. Eight web spin-off series have been made; Romeo & Rafael Desperados in 2008, Lillukanvarsia in 2010–2011, Tuuliranta in 2011–2012, Young Man Cash Man in 2013, Young Girl, Dream Girl in 2014, Satula in 2015, Bikineitä ja timantteja (or in English known as Bikinis and Diamonds) in 2016 and Pihlajakadun tuhmat tädit in 2016–2017. On 5 December 2012, the first Salatut elämät movie was released. The teen thriller movie Nightmare – Painajainen merellä ("Nightmare – Nightmare at Sea") was one of the most watched Finnish films of 2012. The film was directed by Marko Äijö and the main characters are Peppi (Sara Säkkinen), Heidi (Venla Savikuja), Jiri (Mikko Parikka), Joonatan (Markku Pulli), Miro (Patrik Borodavkin), Oona (Sara Lohiniva) and Sampo (Sampsa Tuomala). Nightmare - Painajainen merellä also won the Jussi Award in the category Public Favorite. A second film, called Nightmare 2 was released in December 2014. The show's gay storyline between Elias (Petteri Paavola) and Lari (Ronny Röslöf), nicknamed "Larias", initially proved very popular on YouTube. Scenes featuring their storyline were uploaded by a user called "missfinlandia88". As her account got terminated, she created a new one, "Elias' Story". She claims to have had the permission of MTV3 and FremantleMedia to post the clips. Elias was killed off in November 2016 but was seen in some dream scenes later on. The final parts, up to 459, can be seen on the "Lauri K" channel on YouTube.