Rosa Blasi to Reprise Role in Nickelodeon Studios’ Movie “The Thundermans Return”

Rosa Blasi is thundering forward…

Nickelodeon Studios has ordered The Thundermans Return, starring the 50-year-old part-Puerto Rican actress.

Rosa Blasi, The ThundermansThe feature-length movie is based on the hit live-action superhero comedy, The Thundermans, with Blasi and the rest of the original series cast set to return.

The movie will follow the superpowered family as they begin a new era of superhero crimefighting. Production on The Thundermans Return will begin in Los Angeles in April, with premiere details to be announced at a later date.

“It’s been such a joy to return to Hiddenville with this iconic superhero family and original cast,” said Zack Olin and Shauna Phelan, Co-Heads of Nickelodeon & Awesomeness Live-Action. “This movie is made for the audiences who fell in love with the show’s original run on Nick and also for today’s generation discovering it on streaming.”

In addition to Blasi as “Barb,” original series cast members reprising their roles are Kira Kosarin as “Phoebe,” Jack Griffo as “Max,” Addison Riecke as “Nora,” Diego Velazquez as “Billy,” Maya Le Clark as “Chloe” and Chris Tallman as “Hank.”

In the movie, twins Phoebe and Max are enjoying their superhero lifestyle, but when one ‘save’ goes awry, the Thundermans are sent back to Hiddenville. While Hank and Barb enjoy their return, and Billy and Nora look forward to a normal high school life, Max and Phoebe are determined to regain their superhero status. The movie will feature the return of show favorites, new villains and familiar locations.

The Thundermans premiered on Nickelodeon in October 2013 and wrapped its four-season run in 2018, ranking as the number-one series across all TV among Kids 2-11 and Kids 6-11.

Created and executive produced by three-time Emmy Award-winner Jed Spingarn, the scripted half-hour series follows superhero twins with opposite personalities, Phoebe and Max Thunderman, as they navigate their way through school, friends and a family of extraordinary superheroes, all while keeping their true identities a secret.

The show has recently seen a resurgence following its 4Q21 launch on streaming, where it quickly became the top title across all SVOD for the quarter among Kids 6-11; and it continued to rank among the top titles with Kids 6-11 through 2022, according to Nickelodeon.

The Thundermans Return is written and executive produced by Jed Spingarn and directed by Trevor Kirschner. Kira Kosarin is executive producing. Jack Griffo is also an executive producer on the movie. Dan Cross & David Hoge also serve as executive producers.

Blasi’s most recent credits include Team Kaylie, Modern Family and Coop & Cami Ask the World.

Amanda Perez to Appear on CBS’ Bowling Comedy “How We Roll”

Amanda Perez is on a roll

The Latina actress has landed a key recurring role on How We Roll, CBS’ multi-camera bowling comedy from Crashing’s Pete Holmes.

Amanda PerezPerez joins a list of cast newcomers that includes Tahj Mowry, Rondi ReedJudy Kain and Matt McCarthy in the project.

Based on the life of professional bowler Tom Smallwood, the series stars Holmes as Tom, a stoic Midwest husband and dad who gets laid off from a car assembly line and makes the extraordinary decision to provide for his family by following his dream of becoming a professional bowler.

It’s set to premiere Thursday, March 31.

As a skilled player, Tom knows that in bowling you get two chances; no matter what you do with the first ball, you get another one to make it right — the ultimate second chance. Keeping that in mind, he begins his new career with the loving OK from his wife, Jen (Katie Lowes), and the unfaltering support of Archie (Chi McBride), his mentor and the proud owner of Archie’s Lanes: Home of the Curly Fry. It remains to be seen if Tom will strike it big on the pro bowlers circuit, but right now, the pins are set, he’s taking his second shot, and it’s 300 or bust.

Perez will portray Tia, a hair stylist at the beauty salon with Jen. She’s party girl who’s always up for a good time. But as wild as she gets, Tia is still a dear friend to Jen, and there to listen and offer love and support.

How We Roll hails from writer Mark Gross and producers David Hollander and Brian D’Arcy James. The series is produced by CBS Studios with Gross, Hollander and D’Arcy James as executive producers. Mark Cendrowski directed the pilot.

Perez recently recurred on Netflix’s On The Verge and Fox’s Call Me Kat. Her guest star credits include Fox’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, ABC’s Mom and Modern Family, and Netflix’s The Kominsky Method. She also appeared in features CHiPsSummoned and Don Jonand will soon be appearing in Marvel’s Morbius opposite J.K Simmons in 2022.

Sofia Vergara to Co-Host This Year’s “Stand Up to Cancer” Special

Sofia Vergara is taking a stand

The 49-year-old Colombian actress and former Modern Family star will serve as a co-host for this year’s the seventh biennial televised fundraising special Stand Up To Cancer.

Sofia Vergara

Vergara will co-host the event alongside Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong & Tran Ho.

Set to air Saturday, August 21 at 8:00 pm ET, this year’s Stand Up To Cancer event will be broadcast from Los Angeles and air simultaneously on more than 60 participating media platforms across the United States and Canada.

The telecast will also be available to stream live and on-demand on several streaming platforms.

The event, co-executive produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, will see performances by Common, Brittany Howard and more artists that will be announced at a later date.

Stand Up To Cancer seeks to raise funds to support research and new treatments of cancer, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected nearly every aspect of cancer care and research.

The live-event is produced by Done + Dusted and Stand Up To Cancer’s production team.

Sofia Vergara Teams Up with Robert Rodriguez & Rebecca Rodriguez to Develop Modern Take on “Zorro” with Female Lead

Sofia Vergara isn’t masking her excitement for her latest project…

The 48-year-old Colombian actress has teamed up with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and his writer-director sister Rebecca Rodriguez to develop Zorro, a contemporary take on the classic masked vigilante character with a gender swap, for NBC. 

Sofia Vergara

The project’s creative team includes Vergara’s LatinWe production company, as well as Ben Siverman and Howard T. OwensPropagate. CBS Studios, where Propagate has a deal, will co-produce with Universal Television.

Co-written by the Rodriguezes and to be directed by Rebecca, Zorro centers on Sola Dominguez, an underground artist who fights for social injustice as contemporary version of the mythical Zorro. Her life is threatened by several criminal organizations after she exposes them.

Propagate set out to develop a television series re-imagining of Zorro with a female protagonist last season as one of the company’s first projects under its first-look deal with CBS Studios. The idea’s first incarnation, written by Alfredo Barrios Jr., also was set up at NBC.

Vergara and Silverman are frequent collaborators; they have teamed to produce together several projects over the past decade while Silverman was at Electus and after he joined Propagate, including the ABC drama series Killer Women.

Vergara received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her starring role on ABC’s Modern Family. Her feature credits include the Warner Bros. buddy comedy Hot Pursuit, which she also produced. Additionally, she executive produced the Spanish version of Desperate Housewives.

Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct The Mask of Zorro and cast Antonio Banderas as the title role before leaving the feature project. In television, he developed and executive produced the series adaptation of his movie From Dusk Till Dawn for his television network El Rey and also executive produced the Spy Kids animated series offshoot for Netflix. He recently directed an episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian

Rebecca Rodriguez’s recent directing credits include episodes of TNT’s Snowpiercer and Showtime’s The Chi.

Isabella Gomez to Star on Comedy Pilot Reboot of ABC’s 1980s Sitcom “Head of the Class”

Isabella Gomez is moving up to the head of the class

The 22-year-old Colombian-American actress and One Day at a Time has been cast as the lead of HBO Max’s multi-camera comedy pilot Head of the Class, a reboot of the popular 1980s ABC sitcom.

Isabella Gomez

Gomez’s casting reveals a gender swap in the follow-up as the lead in the original series was played by Howard Hesseman.

HBO Max in May ordered a pilot and five additional scripts for Head of the Class, which hails from American Vandal writers Amy Pocha and Seth CohenBill Lawrence and his Doozer Productions; and Warner Bros. Television, which produced the original series.

Written by Pocha and Cohen, based on the original series created by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, the reimagined Head of the Class revolves around a group of overachieving high school students who meet their greatest challenge — a first-time teacher, Alicia Adams (Gomez), who wants them to focus less on grades and more on experiencing life.

Gomez’s Alicia Adams is a whip-smart, funny, blunt high school teacher we all wish we had. A former GPA junkie, Alicia thought she had the world all figured out when she was in school. Teaching for the first time, Alicia’s is figuring out what she really wants in life.

Created by Eustis and Elias, Head of the Class ran on ABC from 1986-91. It followed a group of gifted students at the fictional Millard Fillmore High School in Manhattan and their history teacher Charlie Moore (Hesseman).

Gomez most recently played Elena Alvarez on the acclaimed multi-camera comedy One Day at a Time. The series was on Netflix for three seasons before it was canceled and moved to PopTV for Season 4. The ViacomCBS cable network on Tuesday revealed that it has canceled the comedyOne Day at a Time studio Sony Pictures Television is currently trying to find a new home for the show. It’s considered a long shot, but if it happens and if Head of the Class is picked up to series, Gomez can do both shows.

Gomez’s previous credits also include Shatterproof Films’ Dembanger, Disney Channel’s Big Hero 6: The Series, Netflix’s A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish and ABC’s Modern Family.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Wins First-Ever People’s Choice Awards for His Onscreen and Behind the Scenes Work on “Hamilton”

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the People’s choice

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican actor, singer, rapper, composer, producer and playwright has picked up his first-ever People’s Choice Awards.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

During a ceremony hosted by Demi Lovato, which combined in-person, socially distant appearances by winners and presenters as well as a “Virtual In-Person” audience, Miranda was named The Drama Movie Star of 2020 for his performance in the film version of his Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hamilton.

Miranda also picked up the award for The Drama Movie of 2020, as the producer of the film, which debuted on Disney+ this past summer.

Sofia Vergara was named The Comedy TV Star of 2020 for her work on the final season of ABC’s Modern Family. It’s her second win in the category.

Becky G picked up her first-ever People’s Choice Award, earning the title of The Latin Artist of 2020.

Cardi B’s chart-topping single “WAP,” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, was named The Collaboration Song of 2020. It’s the first People’s Choice Award of the 28-year-old half-Dominican rap superstar’s career.

In addition, Jennifer Lopez was honored as the People’s Icon during the ceremony.

Here’s the full list of winners:

THE PEOPLE’S ICON
Jennifer Lopez

THE PEOPLE’S CHAMPION AWARD
Tyler Perry

THE FASHION ICON AWARD
Tracee Ellis Ross

THE MOVIE OF 2020
Bad Boys For Life

THE COMEDY MOVIE OF 2020
The Kissing Booth 2

THE ACTION MOVIE OF 2020
Mulan

THE DRAMA MOVIE OF 2020
Hamilton

THE FAMILY MOVIE OF 2020
Onward

THE MALE MOVIE STAR OF 2020
Will Smith

THE FEMALE MOVIE STAR OF 2020 
Tiffany Haddish

THE DRAMA MOVIE STAR OF 2020
Lin-Manuel Miranda

THE COMEDY MOVIE STAR OF 2020
Joey King

THE ACTION MOVIE STAR OF 2020
Chris Hemsworth

THE SHOW OF 2020
Grey’s Anatomy

THE DRAMA SHOW OF 2020
Riverdale

THE COMEDY SHOW OF 2020
Never Have I Ever

THE REALITY SHOW OF 2020
Keeping Up with the Kardashians

THE COMPETITION SHOW OF 2020
The Voice

THE MALE TV STAR OF 2020
Cole Sprouse

THE FEMALE TV STAR OF 2020
Ellen Pompeo

THE DRAMA TV STAR OF 2020
Mandy Moore

THE COMEDY TV STAR OF 2020
Sofia Vergara

THE DAYTIME TALK SHOW OF 2020
The Ellen DeGeneres Show

THE NIGHTTIME TALK SHOW OF 2020
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

THE COMPETITION CONTESTANT OF 2020
Gigi Goode

THE REALITY TV STAR OF 2020
Khloe Kardashian

THE BINGEWORTHY SHOW OF 2020
Outer Banks

THE SCI-FI/FANTASY SHOW OF 2020
Wynonna Earp

THE MALE ARTIST OF 2020
Justin Bieber

THE FEMALE ARTIST OF 2020
Ariana Grande

THE GROUP OF 2020
BTS

THE SONG OF 2020
Dynamite (BTS)

THE ALBUM OF 2020
Map of the Soul: 7 (BTS)

THE COUNTRY ARTIST OF 2020
Blake Shelton

THE LATIN ARTIST OF 2020
Becky G

THE NEW ARTIST OF 2020
Doja Cat

THE MUSIC VIDEO OF 2020
Dynamite (BTS)

THE COLLABORATION SONG OF 2020
WAP (Cardi B feat. Megan Thee Stallion)

THE SOUNDTRACK SONG OF 2020 
Only the Young (Taylor Swift– Miss America)

THE SOCIAL STAR OF 2020
Emma Chamberlain

THE BEAUTY INFLUENCER OF 2020
James Charles

THE SOCIAL CELEBRITY OF 2020
Ariana Grande

THE ANIMAL STAR OF 2020
Doug the Pug

THE COMEDY ACT OF 2020
Leslie Jones: Time Machine

THE STYLE STAR OF 2020
Zendaya

THE GAME CHANGER OF 2020
LeBron James

THE POP PODCAST OF 2020
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain

Karla Souza to Star in ABC’s Family Comedy Pilot “Home Economics”

Karla Souza is cooking things up…

The 34-year-old Mexican actress will star in ABC’s family comedy pilot Home Economics.

Karla Souza

Starring Caitlin McGee and Topher Gracethe series is described as ‘similar to Modern Family’ and revolves around three adult siblings: one in the 1 percent, one in the middle class, and one barely holding on.

The project hails from writers Michael Colton and John Aboud, the Tannenbaum Co.Lionsgate Television and ABC Studios. It was written by 

Colton and Aboud and inspired by Colton’s family. 

McGee plays the oldest sibling, Sarah, a therapist for at-risk kids, married to a teacher, and they’re often scraping to make ends meet. Of her siblings, she earns the least money, but she does the most socially important work (as she frequently reminds them). She’s a doting mom to her two kids and tries to be a guru to her two brothers, who obviously would be lost without her wisdom. 

Grace plays Tom, the middle sibling and middle-class.

Souza will play Marina. A proud first-generation New Yorker whose parents came from Latin America, Marina is a former lawyer married to struggling novelist Tom (Grace). She’s constantly exhausted by caring for her seven-year-old daughter and toddler twin boys. Marina would like to go back to work one day, if only to escape her children. A rule-follower, Marina is often in conflict with her brother-in-law Connor, who never met a corner he didn’t try to cut. She’s pushed to the max and ready to call everyone out on how much easier they have it.

Souza is returning to ABC after starring in How To Get Away With Murder for the first five seasons. She recurred on the sixth and final season while shooting Pablo Larrain’s upcoming limited series El Presidente for Amazon

After starring in three of the highest grossing films in Mexico (Que Culpa Tiene El NinoNosotros Los Nobles and Instructions Not Included), Souza was last seen on the big screen starring in Everybody Loves Somebody for writer/director Catalina Aguilar Mastretta

“America’s Got Talent” Releases First Look Photo of Sofia Vergara at Judges Table

Sofia Vergarahas taken her seat at the table…

America’s Got Talent has released a first look photo of the NBC talent competition show’s season 15 judges panel, with the 47-year-old Colombian actress as a new addition and the first ever Latin judge.

America's Got Talent - Season 15 Judges Table

In addition Vergara, the photo shows AGT creator and judge Simon Cowell, longtime judge Howie Mandel, returning panelist Heidi Klum and returning host Terry Crews.

The revamped panel comes after the NBC competition series filled its two vacant chairs last week, following the exits of Gabrielle Unionand Julianne Hough, who were let go in November after one season.

This will be Modern Family star’s first turn as a judge. Klum was a panelist on AGTfrom 2013-2018.

The first round of production for America’s Got Talent: Season 15 will take place at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium throughout the month of March.

The series is co-produced by Fremantle and Syco Entertainment

Sofia Vergara Named First Latin Judge on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”

Sofia Vergara’s got talent… and a new job…

The 47-year-old Colombian actress and Modern Family star has been added to the judges panel of  NBC’s America’s Got Talent.

Sofia Vergara

Vergara, a four-time Emmy nominee, will appear alongside Heidi Klum, who was a judge on AGTfor six seasons, from 2013-2018. 

They’ll be joined by returning judges Simon CowellAGTs creator and executive producer, and Howie Mandel, as well as host Terry Crews.

“I’m so happy to join my new family onAGT,” said Vergara, who’ll be making AGThistory. “This is a new and exciting next chapter for me and I’m extremely proud to be the first Latin judge on the show. I can’t wait to watch all the talent and have fun with all you guys!”

Vergara and Klum succeed Gabrielle Union and Julianne Hough, who were let go in November after one season on AGT. Union’s ouster sparked controversy and triggered an investigation over allegations of a hostile work environment on the reality show. Results of the investigation, which was supposed to wrap by the end of January, have yet to be made public.

Shortly after Union and Hough’s exit, Vergara emerged as NBC’s top choice for a replacement. She met with executives from NBC and AGTproducer Fremantlein mid-December to discuss the possibility. By mid-January, word started getting out that Klum would be back, retaking her seat.

Klum never left the AGTfranchise — she’s been a judge on spinoff America’s Got Talent: The Champions since its launch last season.

Vergara is coming off an 11-season run as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on ABC’s hit comedy Modern Family,a role that has earned her four Emmy nominations.

“Sofia’s infectious energy and sharp wit will blend perfectly with returning favorites Heidi, Simon, Howie, and Terry. As both a respected actress and successful entrepreneur, she embodies the American dream that is synonymous with AGT’s transformative stage,” said Meredith Ahr, President, Alternative & Reality Group, NBC Entertainment.

Christina Ochoa Signs with Buchwald Talent

Christina Ochoa has new representation…

The 34-year-old Spanish actress and producer has signed with Buchwald

Christina Ochoa

Ochoa currently appears in the recurring role of Ren Randall on TNT’s Animal KingdomShe most recently starred in the ABCdrama series A Million Little Things and was previously the lead on The CW’s Valor

She also has appeared on Modern FamilyI Hate My Teenage Daughter and The Neighbors. 

Off screen, Ochoa runs her production company – QE Productions – which was behind the 2011 short film Stay withMe that garnered awards at film festivals in the U.S. and Europe. 

Ochoa continues to be managed by Anonymous Content.