Colgate

"Colgate’s head of production, Jesús Gómez Obregón, hired Fernanda Villeli to write the first telenovela, which was intended to reach housewives in the 6:30 p.m. time slot. Villeli was an experienced writer of radio soap operas. She chose one of them to adapt for television and condensed its 100 chapters into 50 half-hour episodes. Gómez Obregón also hired Rafael Banquells, a Spanish actor and director, to direct the series. The telenovela was broadcast live, as was the case with all of them until 1960."

"As for TSM’s interference, Don Emilio had the final say in broadcasting Senda prohibida, and it is likely that De Llano asked Villeli to write several of the roles for certain actors he had in mind and to make some changes to the script. But this one, the most Mexican of the prototypes, was ironically more a product of the U.S. company that backed it. Colgate, in addition to handling hiring, had a literary editing department that drew on the company’s experience producing soap operas in New York. It was they, and not the TSM team, who advised Villeli on issues of pacing and suspense. Colgate also conducted surveys among viewers with questions about tastes and attitudes toward the actors and the themes, in order to modify the course of the soap opera and maximize viewership."