Peter Gadiot to Star on Season Two of NBC’s “Quantum Leap”

Peter Gadiot is taking a leap

The 36-year-old half-Mexican actor and Queen of the South star and Eliza Taylor have been named series regulars for the upcoming second season of Quantum LeapNBC’s reboot of the popular 1990s sci-fi drama starring Raymond Lee. Both deals closed before the strikes began.

Peter GadiotPer the Season 1 logline: it’s “been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.”

Gadiot portrays Tom Westfall, a U.S. Army Officer, former special forces, who is now high up in Army Intelligence.

Taylor will play Hannah Carson, a complex young woman who may be more than she appears.

In addition to Lee, Quantum Leap stars Ernie Hudson, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park and Nanrisa Lee.

Martin Gero serves as executive producer along with Dean Georgaris, Don Bellisario, Deborah Pratt, Chris Grismer, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt.

Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces in association with I Have an Idea! Entertainment, Belisarius Productions and Quinn’s House Productions.

Season 2 of Quantum Leap premieres on October 4 on NBC, with episodes streaming the next day after airing on Peacock.

NBC Releases Trailer for Final Season of Jay Hernandez’s “Magnum P.I.”

Jay Hernandez is ready to risk everything…

NBC has released the official trailer for part two of the fifth season of the 45-year-old Mexican actor’s Magnum P.I.

Jay HernandezWhen the series returns on October 4 at 9:00 pm, Hernandez’s titular character will risk everything in the final episodes.

New episodes will air the following day on Peacock.

The series is a modern take on the classic series centering on Thomas Magnum (Hernandez), a decorated former Navy SEAL who, upon returning home from Afghanistan, repurposes his military skills to become a private investigator.

A charming rogue, an American hero and a die-hard Detroit Tigers fan, Magnum lives in a guest cottage on Robin’s Nest, the luxurious estate where he works as a security consultant to supplement his P.I. business.

Magnum P.I. also stars Perdita Weeks, Zachary Knighton, Stephen Hill, Amy Hill and Tim Kang.

Magnum P.I. will end following Season 5 Part 2 after only one season on NBC. The series previously aired on CBS for four seasons before it was canceled. June was a precarious time for the show’s cast whose options were up on June 30. At the moment, networks continue to be conservative with pickups amid the ongoing writers strike as it’s unclear when scripted series could go into production.

The show, which did well on CBS before being canceled, continues to be a strong draw.

Magnum P.I.‘s Season 5 viewership was on par with some of the NBC scripted series, which were renewed for next season.

 

Eladio Carrión to Perform at This Year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards

Eladio Carrión is headed to the Billboard Latin Music Awards.

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton singer will perform at this year’s awards show, set to take place on Thursday, October 5.

Eladio CarriónCarrión joins a roster of confirmed performers that includes Calibre 50, ChiquisEl AlfaJustin QuilesLos Ángeles AzulesManuel TurizoMarshmelloMyke TowersPeso PlumaTini and Yandel.

Billboard and Telemundo announced on Tuesday (September 5) the first round of performers who’ll take the stage at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida. The show will be broadcast live on Telemundo and simultaneously on the Spanish entertainment cable network Universo, on Peacock and on the Telemundo app. Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, it will be available on Telemundo Internacional.

This year, Mexican music sensation Peso Pluma leads the list of finalists with 21 nods across 15 categories, including Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Global 200 Latin Artist of the Year and Top Latin Album of the Year. His collaboration with Eslabon Armado, “Ella Baila Sola,” is up for six awards, including Hot Latin Song of the Year, Global 200 Latin Song of the Year and Sales Song of the Year. And his hit with Yng Lvcas, “La Bebe,” competes in five categories, including Hot Latin Song of the Year and Latin Rhythm Song of the Year.

Following Peso Pluma are Bad Bunny and Grupo Frontera with 15 nods each, including four together for their collab “un X100to,” while Karol G has 13, and Shakira and Fuerza Regida 12 each.

Los Ángeles Azules will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Latin Billboard Music Awards 2023, while Ivy Queen will be recognized with the Icon Award.

Peacock Now Streaming Gina Torres’ “Suits” Spin-off “Pearson”

Gina Torres is suiting up for Peacock…

Peacock is hoping to drive viewership to Pearson, the short-lived Suits spin-off starring the 54-year-old Cuban American actress, after the latter became a surprising hit on Netflix this summer.

Gina TorresThe NBCUniversal streamer has officially added the show, which starred Torres as her Suits character Jessica Pearson, to its service. The hope: that new Suits fans may discover the spinoff as well, which isn’t available on Netflix.

Pearson ran for one season on the cable network in 2019 but was canceled a month and a half after its season ended.

Pearson centered on Torres’ powerhouse lawyer as she enters the dirty world of Chicago politics.

It also stars Bethany Joy Lenz, Morgan Spector, Chantel Riley, Simon Kassianides, Eli Goree and Isabel Arraiza.

Pearson originated on Suits, whose Season 7 finale served as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff.

The offshoot, which hailed from Universal Cable Productions, was executive produced by Suits creator and EP Aaron KorshSuits EP Daniel Arkin, who served as showrunner; Torres; and Suits executive producers Doug Liman, David Bartis and Gene Klein of Hypnotic.

The move will see NBCU try and win over some Netflix subscribers who may have binged (or be binging) parent show Suits, which has spent six weeks on top of the Nielsen charts.

Earlier this summer, the series broke a Nielsen streaming record for acquired programming; it drew 3.1B viewing minutes during the week of June 26 to July 2 across Netflix and Peacock. The first season of the show was also watched for 27.7M hours in the w/c June 19 after being added to Netflix and stayed in that streamer’s top ten for a number of weeks.

Ivy Queen to Receive Icon Award at This Year’s Billboard Latin Music Awards

Ivy Queen will be living up to her Icon status…

The 51-year-old Puerto Rican singer, rapper, songwriter and actress will receive the Icon Award at the 2023 Billboard Latin Music AwardsBillboard and Telemundo have announced.

Ivy Queen,The award recognizes Ivy Queen, a pioneer of reggaeton, as an artist who has carved out a career that has remained relevant through time.

“I am beyond thrilled and honored to receive this award,” Ivy Queen said in a statement. “It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication I have put into my music over the years. I am grateful to my fans for their unwavering support throughout my career, and I hope to continue to inspire and empower women through my music for years to come.”

Celebrated globally for achieving both musical and commercial success, Ivy Queen’s career spans nearly 30 years. She earned her first entry on a Billboard chart with “Quiero Bailar,” which peaked at No. 16 on the Tropical Airplay chart in July 2005, and, a few months later, scored her first No. 1 on that tally with “Cuéntale.” She boasts 20 entries on Latin Rhythm Airplay, the third-most among Latina artists; 400 million on-demand official streams in the U.S., according to Luminate; 560,00 albums sold in the U.S.; and 584,000 song downloads.

The special honor will be presented at the awards ceremony — where Ivy Queen is also set to perform — which will be held Thursday, October 5, and will be broadcast live on Telemundo from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla. The show will air simultaneously on the Hispanic entertainment cable channel Universo, Peacock, the Telemundo App, and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean on Telemundo Internacional.

This year, Peso Pluma leads the list of finalists with 21 nods across 15 categories, including artist of the year, songwriter of the year, Global 200 Latin artist of the year, and Top Latin Album of the year.

Edgar Ramirez to Appear on the Second Season of Peacock’s “Wolf Like Me”

Edgar Ramirez is howlin’ at the moon…

The 46-year-old Venezuelan actor has joined the cast of Peacock’s romantic-dramedy series Wolf Like Me for season two.

Edgar Ramirez, Wolf Like MeThe sophomore season of the series will will debut on October19. It will consist of seven half-hour episodes.

This will mark the second Peacock series in which Ramirez will appear. H

He will also lead the second season of the anthology drama Dr. Death, though that show doesn’t have a premiere date at this time.

The official description of the new season of “Wolf Like Me” states:

Edgar Ramirez, Wolf Like Me“In the second season of Wolf Like Me, Mary (Isla Fisher) and Gary (Josh Gad) leap into the next phase of their relationship and face their biggest challenge yet: pregnancy. As much as they try to have a ‘normal’ pregnancy, it seems impossible with so many questions looming over them. Will their child be a baby or a wolf pup? Just how long can they keep things secret from the rest of their family? And will what happened in the outback come back to haunt them? But when Mary’s former professor, Anton (Ramirez), suddenly reappears in her life, new secrets from Mary’s past are revealed, leaving Mary and Gary to question whether they’re even meant to be together.”

The cast for Season 2 also includes Ariel Donoghue, Emma Lung, Anthony Taufa, and Honour Latukefu.

Abe Forsythe created the series and serves as writer, director, and executive producer via Little Monsters. Made Up Stories produces in partnership with Fifth Season and Stan.

Forsythe wrote a message to fans about the new season prior to the launch of the writers’ strike, which can also be seen below.

Note from Abe Forsythe:

When season one of “Wolf Like Me” concluded, there were countless directions the story and characters could take. I recognized that if we were going to continue, it needed to be just as daring for me as it was for my characters. Mary and Gary’s universe is expanding and is rife with a wealth of new characters, interactions and threats…

In this new world, Isla’s portrayal of Mary continued to surprise me with her heartbreaking vulnerability. She’s operating at another level this season and it continues to be a privilege to push her further and further into what she does best. And Josh always impresses me with how he can register ridiculousness in a way that lets the audience into how crazy everything is, without breaking the tension and letting it fall apart. This season, humor plays an even larger role as we explore the inherent absurdity that ensues when their secrets spill into the open.

Season one was a testament to the mysterious forces of the universe bringing Mary, Gary and Emma together. As we delve into season two, we ask a new question: Is the universe now conspiring to pull them apart?

It’s safe to say that with this new season of “Wolf Like Me,” you can truly expect the unexpected.

Peacock to Premiere Anya Taylor-Joy’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in August

Anya Taylor-Joy will be bringing peachy vibes to Peacock later this summer.

The streamer will premiere The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring the 27-year-old Argentine American Golden Globe-winning actress as Princess Peach, on August 3rd.

Anya Taylor-Joy, Princess Peach, Super Mario Bros MovieFollowing a hugely successful run in theaters, the Universal and Illumination film will stream exclusively on the platform.

It will be joined on the streamer by behind-the-scenes cast interviews, as well as an immersive “Field Guide” expanding the film through bonus features, and a lyric video for a song sung by Princess Peach (Taylor-Joy).

The highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time, as well as the third-highest grossing animated film in history, and the top-grossing title of the year to date, The Super Mario Bros. Movie racked up over $1.3B upon its April debut in theaters, also scoring $75M+ on PVOD as of early last month, as Universal disclosed to the New York Times.

The film based on Shigeru Miyamoto’s beloved Nintendo games tells the story of two Brooklyn plumbers who are brothers and best friends: Mario (Chris Pratt), the brave one with the “let’s-a go” attitude, and the perpetually anxious Luigi (Charlie Day), who would prefer to go nowhere. We open with the Super Mario Brothers reckoning with their struggling plumbing business, and wind up in a whirlwind adventure through Mushroom Kingdom. Through their journey, we meet a cast of familiar, lovable characters, ultimately uniting together to defeat the power-hungry villain, Bowser (Jack Black).

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, from a script by Matthew Fogel, the film also stars Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Kevin Michael Richardson, Khary Payton and Charles Martinet. Illumination’s Chris Meledandri produced alongside Miyamoto.

Luis Gerardo Méndez to Star in the Hollywood-Set Vanity Thriller “Skincare”

Luis Gerardo Méndez is practicing his Skincare lines…

The 41-year-old Mexican actor and producer will star in Skincare, a vanity thriller set in Hollywood.

Luis Gerardo MéndezMendez joins a cast that includes Elizabeth Banks, Lewis Pullman, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Nathan Fillion.

The new film haild from Andrea Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment and producers Jonathan Schwartz and Logan Lerman.

Directed by Austin Peters, specifics as to its plot of Skincare are being kept under wraps.

Peters wrote the script with Deering Regan and Sam Freilich.

“We are delighted to announce another international production involving such world-class actresses and actors,” said ILBE CEO Iervolino. “Skincare is a film with a strong visual impact that, because of the cast and the workers it involves, has enormous potential. It is a film that we at ILBE believe in very much.”

Said Schwartz and Lerman, “We are super excited to see Elizabeth Banks take on this type of role, and ecstatic to be working with Austin Peters. We are grateful to Andrea Iervolino and ILBE for their support.”

Added ILBE’s Head of Production, Richard Salvatore, “It was impossible for this great project not to turn out phenomenally well since we had an awesome creative team and the cast was incredible.”

Known for his work on series like Paramount+’s The Envoys and Peacock’s The Resort, Méndez’s film credits include Me TimeCharlie’s Angels and Murder Mystery, to name just a few.

A Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee best known for her work on the groundbreaking FX series Pose, Rodriguez currently stars opposite Maya Rudolph in the Apple comedy series Loot, which has been renewed for a second season. She voices the robot Nightbird in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and has also featured in films like tick, tick… BOOM! and Saturday Church.

Peacock to Exclusively Stream “Renfield,” Featuring Adrian Martinez

Adrian Martinez will be vamping it up online…

Universal Pictures has set the streaming premiere date for its Chris McKay-directed horror comedy Renfield, featuring the 51-year-old Mexican American actor.

Adrian MartinezStarring Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage, the film will bow exclusively on Peacock on Friday, June 9th.

Released in theaters on April 14th, the film follows Renfield (Hoult), the tortured aide to history’s most narcissistic boss: Dracula (Cage). For centuries, Renfield has slavishly served Dracula by procuring his master’s prey and doing his every bidding, no matter how debased. But now, Renfield is ready to look for a new life outside the shadow of The Prince of Darkness, if only he can figure out how to end the toxic, co-dependent relationship.

Martinez portrays Chris Marcos, a traffic cop and Rebecca’s (Awkwafina) co-worker.

The film was scripted by Ryan Ridley, from a story by Robert Kirkman — one of a number of projects through which Universal has looked to leverage its movie monster library for a modern audience.

 

NBC Renews George Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” for Second Season

George Lopez isn’t leaving his new home just yet…

NBC has renewed Lopez vs. Lopez, the family sitcom starring the 62-year-old Mexican American comedian/actor and his daughter Mayan Lopez, for a second season.

George Lopez, Mayan Lopez, Lopez vs. LopezLopez vs. Lopez began its broadcast run airing on Friday nights where it drew strong ratings for its time slot.

In April, NBC announced that the final three episodes of the season would air on Tuesday, taking over the American Auto slot after that show wrapped its second season.

With the move, Lopez vs. Lopez scored the coveted lead-in from Night Court, in an effort to get even more eyeballs on the series as NBC made plans for its 2023/24 season.

The first season has averaged about 2M total viewers per episode and a 0.27 rating among the 18-49 demographic. According to Nielsen, it is the highest-indexing adcast series for English-dominant Hispanic households.

After 35 days of delayed viewing, Lopez vs. Lopez has the highest portion of long-tail viewing among all NBC comedies on Peacock.

Lopez Vs. Lopez, which comes from creator/showrunner Debby Wolfe, is a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection and all the pain and joy in between. Starring George Lopez and his daughter Mayan, the comedy tells the story of a working-class old-school Latino who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time. It’s old vs. new, father vs. daughter, Lopez vs Lopez.

It also stars Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal. Wolfe is the first Latina to co-create and showrun a network sitcom for a 22-episode first season.