Santos’ “Happyland” Gets Series Order at MTV

Bianca Santos has discovered a Happyland at MTV

The network has added Happyland, which stars the Cuban and Brazilian American actress and Zulay Henao, to its original programming roster.

Bianca Santos

The theme park comedy Happyland has been picked up to series, receiving an order for eight episodes.

From Daddy’s Girls Ben Epstein, Happyland is hailed as a soapy teen comedy that explores the underbelly of one of the country’s most popular theme parks and the people who work there.

The project centers on Lucy, a cynical teen whose mother makes a living as a fairy tale princess, and explores the realities of growing up and falling in love while living in a make-believe world.

Along with Santos, who portrays Lucy, and her onscreen princess mother Henao, the series also stars Shane Harper, Katherine McNamara, Cameron Moulene, Brandy Smith and Ryan Rottman.

The comedy joins Awkward on the schedule as the network continues its push into original scripted programming.

The series order comes as little surprise… MTV programming president Susanne Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter this summer after the comedy was ordered to pilot that she was looking to add one or two more comedies to the network’s lineup.

Santos is best known for her role as Lexi on ABC Family’s family drama series The Fosters.

Guido Cast in NBC’s Comedy Series “Welcome to the Family”

Fabrizio Guido is being welcomed into the family…

The 13-year-old Mexican and Italian American actor, who recently made his film debut in the Brad Pitt-starring blockbuster film World War Z, has been cast in NBC’s Welcome to the Family.

Fabrizio Guido

Guido will portray the younger brother of the series’ male lead, Awkward’s Joey Haro, on the single-camera comedy from Mike Sikowitz and Sony Television.

He replaces Aramis Knight, who was originally cast in the role.

Guido’s other credits include the Italian film Miele, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival.

Welcome to the Family will premiere on NBC on October 3.

Castro Lands Role on Fox’s Comedy Series “Dads”

Tonita Castro is about to clean house at Fox 

The Latina actress, who has gained acclaim for her recurring role as Fausta on NBC’s Matthew Perry-starrer Go On, has landed a role on Fox’s Dads.

Tonita Castro

The six-episode comedy series from Ted‘s Alec Sulkin, Wellesley Wild and Seth MacFarlane centers on two successful guys in their 30s, Eli and Warner (Tommy Dewey), who have their lives turned upside down when their nightmare dads (Martin Mull, Peter Riegert) unexpectedly move in with them.

Castro will portray Eli’s maid, Edna, a harddrinking, outspoken woman who manages to make her caustic opinions understood despite a limited mastery of the English language.

Castro’s film credits include role in Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Mosquita y Mari and Funny People. On television, the actress has appeared on Awkward, Southland, Raising Hope, Two and a Half Men and Glee.

Haro Lands Role in NBC’s “Welcome to the Family” Pilot

Joey Haro is about to make things a little awkward for his familia in his next television project…

The Cuban-American actor, who has appeared on MTV’s Awkward and Fox’s Glee, has landed the role of Junior in NBC’s comedy pilot Welcome to the Family.

Joey Haro

He’ll portray the son of Latino parents, portrayed by Despertate Housewive’s Ricardo Chavira and Six Feet Under’s Justina Machado in the project, which chronicles just how two cultures collide when a white family and a Latino family are united by their children, who fare falling in love must deal with an unplanned pregnancy.

Mike O’Malley and Mary McCormack will also star in the comedy pilot as the white parents.

Haro, best known for portraying  Clark Stevenson on Awkward and one of the dapper Warblers on Glee,   appeared on Broadway as Chino in the West Side Story revival in 2009.

Gomez’s “The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex” Trailer Released

It’s a battle of good vs. evil when Selena Gomez returns to Waverly Place

The Disney Channel has released the official trailer for the Wizards of Waverly Place movie special featuring the 20-year-old half-Mexican American actress/singer battling herself.

Selena Gomez

Gomez returns as Alex Russo in the highly anticipated television event, “The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex” — a movie based on the Disney Channel’s popular series — and she’s facing her “biggest battle yet,” the trailer teases: Herself.

The Alex vs. Alex trailer informs fans that since winning the family wizard competition, Alex has struggled to use magic for good, so she decides to use magic to remove “just the parts that nobody likes” from herself.

Despite her father’s warning that “magic is not for getting what you want or using it for selfish reasons,” Alex accidentally conjures up two versions of herself: Good Alex and Evil Alex.

Alex vs. Alex sees Alex’s younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin), mom Theresa (Maria Canals-Barrera), dad Jerry (David DeLuise), best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone) and boyfriend-cum-werewolf Mason (Gregg Sulkin) travel to Tuscany to meet the Russo’s long-lost relatives. Though David Henrie will not be back as Alex’s older brother Justin for Alex vs. Alex, Beau Mirchoff of MTV’s Awkward fame joins the cast as an evil sorcerer.

The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex will premier on the Disney Channel  on Friday, March 15 at 8 p.m. EST.

Garcia’s Finishing School For Boys Novel Headed to MTV

He’s already seen his novels adapted into a feature films like Matchstick Men and Repo Man… But Eric Garcia could soon see one of his popular works brought to life as a television series.

MTV has placed a pilot order for the Miami-born writer’s Cassandra French’s Finishing School For Boys, a drama based on Garcia’s chick-lit satire novel of the same name. The author wrote the script for the small screen drama, which is being described as another Heathers.

Eric Garcia

The series—executive produced by Garcia and actress Krysten Ritter—centers on Cassie French, a 22-year-old overachiever who lands her dream job as a lawyer for a Hollywood studio but can’t find a guy ready for a real, mature relationship. After the latest disappointment, she locks a guy up in her basement in order to train him to become the perfect gentleman.

Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys

This is the latest scripted pilot order for MTV, which has been aggressively expanding its slate of scripted series. The network has Teen Wolf and Awkward set to return this summer, and another freshman series, I Just Want My Pants Back, looking good for renewal with solid ratings.

Garcia is currently writing Wheel Of Time for Universal and The Prize Of Peril for Sony.