Tag Archive: Marisa Ramirez

Hector Elizondo on “Last Man Standing” and “Blue Bloods” with Marisa Ramirez Returns Friday

Hector Elizondo, playing the mysteriously non-ethnic best friend to Tim Allen, returns, at 8P on ABC. And Marisa Ramirez turned up for an arc on the New York cop-family drama Blue Bloods last year; now she’s back as a regular. The new season premieres Friday night at 10P on CBS, with a guest appearance by James Martinez, set to be a cast member of CBS’ midseason show, Intelligence.

Photo: Marisa Ramirez and Hector Elizondo

Cote de Pablo to Leave “NCIS” in Season 11

Cote de Pablo

It takes a lot of courage to leave the single most-watched program on network TV, but Cote de Pablo is doing exactly that: CBS has confirmed that the Latina actress will stick around for a few episodes to “finish out her storyline,” but to all intents and purposes “Ziva David” won’t be back for Season 11 of NCIS.

Every other members of the cast, including Mark Harmon, will be back for the full season come September 24. Only Harmon had a chance to leave–all the other stars’ contracts are on different schedules–but Harmon re-upped way back in February.

“I’ve had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David,” de Pablo said in a statement that accompanied the news. “I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”

Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo
in season 10 of NCIS

This is particularly sad news given CBS’ chronically poor showing when it comes to Latinos in front of the camera. In fact, once she’s well and truly gone, de Pablo’s departure may put Marisa Ramirez, now a regular on Blue Bloods, and newly added regular Sarah Shahi on Person of Interest as the only Latinos on the network this fall. (Newcomer James Martinez in the midseason replacement Intelligence may be showing up downstream as well.)

No news about what de Pablo will be doing with all that time on her hands…but we’ll let you know. And of course you’ll be able to see as much of her in NCIS as you like for years to come: NCIS is licensed in more than 200 markets, and ranks as cable’s #1 off-network drama on the USA Network, where it plays over and over and over every single week.

Marisa Ramirez Will Return to “Blue Bloods” in the Fall

Marisa Ramirez

Looks like Marisa Ramirez has finally found a home, at least for the moment–as Danny Wahlberg’s permanent partner on Blue Bloods. CBS has just announced that she’s been elevated to series regular for the hit show’s fourth season.

Marisa’s been a busy woman for the last couple of years. Mere moments before she began her arc as Detective Maria Baez in Season Three, she was playing an entirely different cop-character in an arc on ABC’s (now cancelled) Body of Proof. Not long before that, you would have found her on Lifetime’s Against the Wall and the daytime soap General Hospital. She was also part of the cast of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, and–if you looked quickly–you would have found her in two different Fox series, Mental and Miracles, both gone before anyone noticed.

Turning this into a permanent assignment wasn’t an easy process. Last season, there were three potential full-time replacements for Jennifer Esposito, who left the show last October. Megan Boone (Law & Order: L.A.) and Megan Ketch (The Big Wedding) both appeared, albeit briefly, as possible partners for Danny. This makes Ms. Ramirez one of the precious few Latinos appearing regularly in a CBS series of any kind, and the only one at the moment who’s actually playing a Latina.

CBS’ Latino Involvement Continues to Lag

Compared to the other networks, large or small CBS has consistently offered viewers fewer shows with fewer Latinos in front of the camera than anyone else, in spite of having a Latina at the head of the programming division for a number of years.

This year seems to be no different. But CBS is clearly on a roll, ratings-wise, with blockbuster comedies like Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, and the most-watched dramas on TV like NCIS and Blue Bloods, so there’s little motivation to change much, or to take many chances. (It’s also interesting to note that of those four hugely popular shows, only one has a Latino in the regular cast–Cote de Pablo in NCIS–and in it, she plays a character of emphatically Israeli descent).

This year we’ve seen arcs by Latino characters–sometimes even playing Latinos–on shows like the aforementioned Blue Bloods and the now-cancelled Vegas. But with the cancellation of Golden Boy, with supporting actor work by Kevin Alejandro, CBS once again ends the season with only two returning shows with Latinos in the cast: the aforementioned de Pablo in NCIS and Makenzie Vega in The Good Wife, playing Julianna Margulies’s Anglo daughter. (Whether or not Miguel Ferrer will return to NCIS is unclear, as is the fate of the much-ballyhoo’d NCIS spin-off NCIS: Red, in which Ferrer is slated to be a regular member of the cast.)

The new 2013-14 season, at least in the fall, will be no different and no better when it comes to Latinos in the mix. Given its relatively high success rate, CBS is only bringing six new shows to air for the fall, as opposed to nearly twice that many on rival NBC. Of those six, only one has a Latino in a visibly continuing role: James Martinez in the role of “Gonzo Sanchez.” With a name like that, why are we not encouraged?

So: Vegas and Aimee Garcia gone, Golden Boy and Kevin Alejandro gone, no word on whether Marisa Ramirez will return as Danny’s ‘new’ partner in Blue Bloods, and other long-forgotten shows with Latinos like Partners and Made in Manhattan long-gone and already forgotten. And–as of this moment, anyway–one new supporting role on all of CBS to add into the mix.

Some things have a hard time changing, apparently.

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…

“The Voice,” “NCIS,” “Golden Boy,” and “Body of Proof” New on Tuesday

A set of powerhouse performances new on Tuesday: Shakira on The Voice at 8P on NBC, opposite Cote de Pablo in the ever-popular NCIS at 8P on CBS. Then at 10P, Kevin Alejandro is deliciously evil on Golden Boy on CBS, with José Zúñiga as a guest-starts and Marisa Ramirez continues her arc on ABC’s Body of Proof.

Latinos in Arcs on “Vegas” and “Blue Bloods” and Bertila Damas on “Grimm”

You won’t find them in the opening credits, but they’re in there with arcs of their own: Marlene Forte shows up as Aimee Garcia’s mother on the newest episode of the ratings-challenged Vegas, 9P on CBS. And immediately after, Marisa Ramirez continues to play Danny’s new partner on Blue Bloods. Think there will be a spot for her next season? And over on NBC, Bertila Damas as the intriguing, all-Spanish-speaking “Pilar” on Grimm at 9P.

A Case in Point: Latinos in Support All Over the Tube on Tuesday

Cote de Pablo NCIS

We usually just put these notices in the “What’s Worth Watching” box off to the right, but sometimes it’s worth noting: Latino actors, as often as not playing strong and smart (if not always heroic) Latinos are an almost-everyday experience in television these days, and even now, in the waning weeks of the 2012-13 TV season, it’s hard not to run across a program where Latinos are playing key roles…

…and at the same time, there’s not a single show on network TV where a Latino playing a Latino is the star of the show, the character around which the show itself as built. And even, sadly, a couple of the most-watched Latinos on TV are playing emphatically non-Latino parts.

Nonetheless, Tuesday April 23 is an excellent case in point of just how far Latinos in Hollywood had come, and how much farther they have to go. Read the rest of this entry »

“The Voice,” “Love,” “Golden Boy” and “Body of Proof” All New on Tuesday

The NCIS’s might be rerunning for the night, but there are still Latinos on all three networks, including Shakira and the Latino performers on The Voice at 8P on NBC, followed by two out of three Latino heart-throbs (and Eva Longoria in the background) on Ready for Love at 9P. Then you can catch Kevin Alejandro as a very good bad guy on Golden Boy at 10P on CBS, and/or Marisa Ramirez continuing her arc on ABC’s Body of Proof, also at 10P.

“Vegas,” “Blue Bloods” Both Feature Arcs with Latinas this Friday

Aimee Garcia actually gets a little significant screen time (after being wasted for weeks) on Vegas at 9P on CBS. Right after that, Marisa Ramirez continues her cop-arc on the cop-drama Blue Bloods, at 10P on CBS.

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