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This November Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on Netflix

We can’t wait to watch this new adaptation of Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro of Mary Shelley’s classic tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a …

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Renée Victor Has Passed Away, and We Will All Miss Her

Renée Victor has–will always have–one of those faces. You will recognize her immediately…and not just her face, but her voice, the characters she played, and the strong, brave spirit she always embodied. For almost forty …

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LOCKED Is Intense and Entertaining A talk with the Director

We caught up with the director of LOCKED David Yarovesky (Brightburn, Nightbooks), just before we screened the film with no spoilers. The film took nineteen days to shoot. Watch our quick interview. Synopsis: No escape. No …

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At a Screening of Dog Man the Movie

It was an enjoyable screening with two of the grandsons. The five year old said it was happy and sad at the same time. And he loved it! The twelve year old who has read …

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Unstoppable Streaming on Prime Video

Unstoppable is the inspiring true story of Anthony Robles (Jharrel Jerome) who was born with one leg but whose indomitable spirit and unbreakable resolve empowered him to defy the odds and pursue his dreams. With the …

This November Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on NetflixRenée Victor Has Passed Away, and We Will All Miss HerLOCKED Is Intense and Entertaining A talk with the DirectorAt a Screening of Dog Man the MovieUnstoppable Streaming on Prime Video

“The Voice,” and the “Castle” Finale on Monday Night

Shakira is one of the big reasons that The Voice continues to be a ratings blockbuster for NBC and Christina Milian is still hanging out too; see for yourself as the competition continues at 8P. And at 10P, Jon Huertas and the rest of the Castle crew celebrate another season finale on ABC.

Upfronts Be Crazy: Freddy Rodríguez and “Night Shift” is Part of NBC this Fall After All!

…Welcome to the Family

Last week, the word was that Night Shift, also known as After Hours, had been given a “pass” by the Powers That Be on NBC. Now it’s “never mind”–both Night Shift and the Latino/Anglo “blended family” show Welcome to the Family are on the schedule after all.

Freddy Rodríguez plays Michael Ragosa, the new no-nonsense boss of the night shift at San Antonio Memorial Hospital. Relative newcomer Alma Sisneros has a regular role as Nurse Diaz as well.

Welcome to the Family stars Mike O’Malley, the coolest Dad in the world in Glee, and Mary McCormack of In Plain Sight whose daughter hooks up and gets pregnant by Joseph Haro (Glee,” “Awkward”), of East L.A. His parents, played by Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives) and Justina Machado (Six Feet Under, ER) are just as unhappy with all this…but it seems like their kids are serious about making a life together, so…let the blended family hijinks begin

L-r: Ricardo Chavira, Justina Machado, Mary McCormack
and Mike O’Malley Welcome to the Family

It’s actually great news: a Latino character in the key role in one show, and an actual Latino family from East L.A. as the focus of another series. Exactly the sort of development we’d been hoping for, and along with the far darker and more complex drama Gang-Related, already announced by Fox, represents a significant step forward for Latino Hollywood this fall.

“Army Wives” Continues on Sunday

Joseph Julian Soria and Alyssa Diaz are part of the tragic and triumphant family of Army Wives, still supplying new episodes at 9P on Sunday on Lifetime.

“Once Upon a Time,” “Revenge” Season Finales Sunday

Both shows will be back in the Fall, but now it’s time for the cliffhangers. Contemplate the fate of Lana Parrilla on Once Upon a Time at 8P on ABC, and Madeleine Stowe and Seychelle Gabriel continues her arc on Revenge’s two-hour season-ender at 9P on ABC.

Krysta Rodriguez, from Real Broadway to TV Broadway and Beyond

Krysta Rodriguez

There have been Latinos on Broadway for years, from Rita Moreno and Chita Rivera to Raul Esparza and Karen Olivo, among many many others. And though they’ve never been wholly ignored, their influence–even when they’ve been at the center of Latino-centric musicals like In the Heights–has always been underestimated.

We saw the same thing happen in the pseudo-Broadway world of the NBC TV series Smash, now limping to the end of its second, and almost certainly last, season on Saturday nights on NBC. When it first began last year, this high-drama singin’-and-dancin’ series about the launch of a brand new Broadway musical starred very few actual Broadway stars (Megan Hilty, who played Glinda in Wicked on Broadway and elsewhere). But when the ratings didn’t hold up and they turned to actual musical stars to bolster the energy and authenticity of the show, where did they turn?

To next-generation Latina wonder Krysta Rodriguez, fresh from Broadway by way of Orange County, California.

L-r: Krysta Rodriguez and Katharine McPhee in Smash

Krysta made it to Broadway at the tender age of 22, in the short-lived Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations. By 2007, she found herself in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, and later in Spring Awakening and In the Heights. And she really hit the big time when she originated the role of Wednesday in the musical version of The Addams Family, first in Chicago, and then on the Great White Way.

Now, not yet 30, she’s starring in Smash as the young Latina sensation at the center of a struggling off-Broadway show. She’s gotten at least one number a week in the episodes where she’s appeared, and some of them (like the one below) have been pretty stunning.

It’s most likely way too good and way too late. The last episodes of Smash’s second season are being ‘burned off’ on Saturday nights, but Krysta’s work remains a standout. Almost all of her episodes are available on NBC.com, and hopefully will remain here for a while longer. Take a look here, and catch more of Krysta online. It’s certainly not the last you’ll be seeing of her…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Qp-OQeehU

Alfonso Cuarón on NBC? “Believe” It, this Fall

NBC has greenlighted a number of projects in the last couple of days, and though the number of Latinos involved is sadly low, there is one particular bright spot: Alfonso Cuarón’s Believe is slated for the Fall 2013 season.

Created by Cuarón and Mark Friedman, this eerie drama “centers on a young girl with supernatural powers who’s on the run from dark forces who changes the lives of the people she encounters while being protected by an unlikely guardian who was given a reprieve from death row.” Cuarón is working with some powerful partners, even though it’s his first foray into television. J.J. Abrams (Lost, Star Trek, and so much more) is one of the executive producers, and his company Bad Robot Productions is the company producing it all.

No word yet on NBC’s Latino/Anglo love story/dramedy Welcome to the Family, starring Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives) and Justina Machado (among others). It’s the story of a white family and a Latino family, bonded together by their children who fall in love…followed quickly by an unplanned pregnancy. But spots are filling up fast.

More to come…

Latinos in Two Season Finales Friday

Watch for Aimee Garcia in the season (and possibly series) finale of Vegas at 9P on CBS, immediately followed by Marisa Ramirez as the half the good cop/good cop team in the season finale of Blue Bloods at 10P on CBS. No fear here, however: Blue Bloods is one of the network’s genuine hits. It will be back in the Fall for sure…but will Marisa be with it? No word yet…

Shakira Talks to Ellen, Friday

Shakira is without a doubt the biggest hit on the current season of The Voice. See her talk about her newest adventure on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on daytime TV Friday.

Latinos on NBC, ABC this Thursday

It begins with Oscar Nuñez in a repeat and a new episode of The Office, beginning at 8:30P on NBC. Then you can choose between Sara Ramirez on Grey’s Anatomy, at 9P on ABC, opposite the season finale of Glee at 9P on Fox, with Lea Michele and even Naya Rivera. Then at 10P, there’s Guillermo Díaz making an impression, as always, on Scandal at 10P on ABC, opposite Raul Esparza playing the sleazy psychiatrist who will one day live–temporarily–to regret it on Hannibal at 10P on NBC.

NBC Passes on Six Pilots and Cancels “Deception”

Laz Alanso

No more Laz Alonso, and no Freddie Rodríguez, Diana Maria Riva, or Pedro Pascal in the fall

The “upfronts,” the big announcements about the fall TV season, will be on us as early as next week…but in the meantime, the networks are already announcing the fates of a few programs and pilots. The latest news includes the cancellation–to no one’s surprise–of Deception, NBC’s largely unsuccessful attempt to clone a hybrid of ABC’s hits Revenge and Scandal. That’s sad news for co-star Laz Alonso was accompanied by word of a solid ‘pass’ on six pilots, too, including three that featured popular Latino actors.

Freddie Rodriguez

Freddie Rodríguez of Chaos and Ugly Betty was part of After Hours, aka Night Shift, about the late-night workers in a major American city. NBC decided it wasn’t interested. But fear not, Freddie fans: look for him in the feature films CBGB and Fort Bliss later this year.

Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal was covering a lot of bases when he showed up in the crime drama The Sixth Gun, and NBC said “No”…but that may not be a problem for this busy young actor. Weeks after he disappears with the end of Red Widow (an ABC show which, though not yet cancelled, is widely considered DOA), he’ll show up as part of the cast of USA’s much-anticipated undercover cop show Graceland. So no harm no foul, at least for Pedro.

Diana Maria Riva

Diana Maria Riva was in FOX’s The Good Guys two seasons back and CBS’ ¡Rob! just last year, and we were looking forward to seeing her in the very odd sitcom called Drop Off (aka The Gates), about the interlocking lives of families dropping their kids off at day care (really? Yes, really.). But NBC apparently didn’t get the joke either; it’s one of the pilots that won’t be showing up in the fall.

And this is just the beginning. NBC still has nineteen other pilots in contention, many with Latinos involved. And the other networks are still playing their decisions close to the corporate vests. Still, this bit o’ news signifies the Beginning of the End for a lot of hopeful Hollywood projects. We’ll keep you informed as the drama (and comedy) unfolds…

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