ABC Orders an Additional Episode of Hayley Orrantia’s “The Goldbergs”

There’s more family comedy in Hayley Orrantia’s future…

ABC has ordered an additional episode of its sitcom The Goldbergs, starringthe 24-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer.

Hayley Orrantia

That brings the total number of episodes this season to 23 episodes for The Goldbergs.

The show iscurrently in its sixth season. Happy Madison, Doug Robinson Productions and Adam F. Goldberg Productions produce in association with Sony Pictures Television.

The Goldbergs airs Wednesdays at 8:00 pm.

Hayley Orrantia to Star in Country Music-Themed Dramedy “What Would Dolly Do?”

Hayley Orrantia is going country…

The 24-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer andThe Goldbergs star has signed on as the lead in What Would Dolly Do?, a comedic drama to be helmed by first-time feature director Kd Amond, who co-wrote the script with Lulu Marcil.

Hayley Orrantia

The film centers on a female country music trio from the hills of Appalachia who, after committing a crime of passion, find themselves both on tour and on the run from the law.

Orrantia will play Rae Lynn White, a feisty country singer whose personality can easily light up a room and whose troubled past has inspired a catalog of heartfelt music.

Orrantia is a real-life singer, who this year, kicked off her first-ever headlining Strong, Sweet & Southern tour, performing for fans in 23 cities. She was a member of Lakoda Rayne, a country-pop girl group assembled by Paula Abdul during the first season of The X Factor.

Nathaniel Edwards is producing What Would Dolly Do? along with Michael Flandersserving as executive producer.

Filming is slated to commence April 2019.

She previously starred in the film God’s Not Dead 2.

ABC to Release “The Goldbergs” Mixtape, Featuring Six Hayley Orrantia Tracks

Hayley Orrantia is back behind the microphone…

After five seasons on the air, ABC‘s The Goldbergs, starring the 23-year-old part-Mexican American actress/singer, will finally have a soundtrack.

Hayley Orrantia

The Goldbergs “Mixtape” will feature 14 tracks, including five classic ’80s songs that Orrantia, who portrays Erica, has covered, including Cyndi Lauper‘s “True Colors” and Katrina & the Waves‘ “Walking on Sunshine,” performed with AJ Michalka.

The other nine tracks on the album, which is being released by Madison Gate Records, are original songs written specifically for Adam F. Goldberg‘s 1980-something semi-autobiographical comedy and include “Love Ninja,” with Orrantia and Troy Gentile (Barry).

The Goldbergs, produced by Sony Pictures Television, has featured a number of original songs on the series as Erica has an interest in becoming a singer-songwriter, while Barry has dreams of becoming a famous rapper via his “alter-ego” Big Tasty. Many television shows like Empire, Glee and Nashville have turned to producing soundtracks featuring their original music as a form of earning ancillary revenue.

Orrantia rose to acclaim as a member of Lakoda Rayne, a country-pop girl group assembled by Paula Abdul during the first season of The X Factor. During her teen years, she sang background vocals for Demi Lovato on Disney‘s Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam soundtrack and background vocals for Miley Cyrus on Disney’s Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack.

Here’s a look at the track list:

  1. “Rewind” (The Goldbergs Main Title Theme) — I Fight Dragons
  2. “Love Ninja” — Hayley Orrantia & Troy Gentile
  3. “D&D” — Kurtis Blow
  4. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” — Hayley Orrantia
  5. “Bad Boy Good Guy” — Troy Gentile
  6. “True Colors” — Hayley Orrantia
  7. “Ferris Wheel” — Troy Gentile
  8. “Tom Sawyer” — Hayley Orrantia & AJ Michalka
  9. “He’s the Man” — Troy Gentile (feat. Hayley Orrantia, AJ Michalka & Sam Lerner)
  10. “Eternal Flame” — Hayley Orrantia & AJ Michalka
  11. “Judah Macabee” — Troy Gentile (feat. Sean Giambrone, Sam Lerner, Noah Munck, Matt Bush)
  12. “Barry Goldberg: A Rap Story” — Anthony Petix
  13. “Walking On Sunshine” — Hayley Orrantia & AJ Michalka
  14. “Dads Just Don’t Care” — Troy Gentile

The Goldbergs “Mixtape is available for pre-order on digital platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and more. The Goldbergs album costs $8.99.

Alex Meneses to Appear on The CW’s “Jane the Virgin”

Alex Meneses is heading to Virgin territory…

The 52-year-old half-Mexican American actress and former Telenovela star has landed a recurring role on the upcoming fourth season of The CW’s hit dramedy Jane the Virgin.

Alex Meneses

Meneses will play Katherine, owner of the Cortes Hotel Conglomerate, who is a possible investor of Rafael (Justin Baldoni) and Petra’s (Yael Grobglas) hotel.

There are few details about the Season 4 storyline, but Jane the Virgin creator/executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman told Deadline after the Season 3 finale that the fourth season would be about “recapturing the joy.”

“I want to see Jane fight for her joy,” she said. “I want to see her go after her happiness. I want to see her open herself up to a new, evolved version of ‘happily ever after.’”

In addition to Telenovela, for which she was nominated for an Imagen Award, Meneses is known for her recurring role as Stefania, Brad Garrett’s Italian girlfriend on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Additional credits include The Goldbergs, CSI and Prison Break.

Ybarra to Star in ABC’s Drama Pilot “The Gospel of Kevin”

Dustin Ybarra is preachin’ new heights…

The Latino stand up comedian and actor has been cast as a series regular on ABC’s The Gospel of Kevin, an hourlong drama pilot from ABC Studios.

Dustin Ybarra

The project is a light one-hour about Kevin (Jason Ritter), a down-on-his-luck man who is tasked by God with a mission to save the world. Kevin is a cluelessly self-serving jerk who’s on a dangerous path to despair. After a failed suicide attempt, he’s going home to stay with his widowed twin sister and niece for a time, only to be met with a crisis in the person Yvette (Cristela Alonso).

Ybarra, who has had a recurring role on ABC’s The Goldbergs, will play Tyler.

Ybarra’s other credits include recurring roles on Fox’s Gotham and CBSBattle Creek. He’s repped by ATA Management, CAA and Hanson.

Orrantia & Her “The Goldbergs” Castmates to Pay Homage to “Dirty Dancing”

Hayley Orrantia is about to get dirty

The 21-year-old Mexican-American actress/singer’s ABC comedy The Goldbergs has set its Season Three 1980s movie homage episode.

Hayley Orrantia

Orrantia and her castmates will tackle the 1987 hit film Dirty Dancing.

The selection comes just as ABC is heading to production on a three-hour contemporary remake of the romantic classic, with Abigail Breslin playing Baby and Debra Messing as her mom.

The Goldbergs’ Dirty Dancing has no connection to the ABC movie and will not feature either actors from the remake or cast members from the original feature toplined by the late Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.

Last year’s Goldbergs tribute to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off included original co-star Charlie Sheen reprising his role. The Goldbergs’ first homage episode to a 1980s movie in Season 1 was devoted to The Goonies.

Dirty Dancing is a huge 80’s cultural touchstone — the music, the memorable lines, and of course, Swayze,” said The Goldbergs creator/executive producer Adam F. Goldberg, who based the show on his family. “No one loved it more than my mom.  I’ll always remember how she dragged me to see it in the theaters several times and then bought it on video. I knew this was our big movie to explore this season when all of the writers on the show also had their very own Dirty Dancing memories from years ago.  It really is a gem of the 80s and it’s so exciting to bring it to life with my amazing cast.”

Derbez Signs First Look Deal with Universal Television

Eugenio Derbez is ready to crossover into English-language television.

The 54-year-old Mexican comedian, writer and director and his 3Pas producing partner Ben Odell have signed a first-look deal with Universal Television and sold their first two English-language comedies.

Eugenio Derbez

Derbez may be best known for Instructions Not Included, the highest-grossing Spanish-language film of all time, but he got his start in television.

The UTV deal marks Derbez’s first season developing English-language television, though both he and Odell have experience in the Spanish-language market.

Early in his career, Odell created and wrote some of Colombia’s highest-rated series; Derbez wrote, produced, directed and starred in numerous Spanish-language comedies and dramas for Televisa.

Derbez’s series, which have aired on Univision, have helped him amass a major stateside following that includes nearly 18 million fans on Facebook and Twitter.

As part of their stateside push, ABC is developing single-camera comedy Don’t Judge Me, which is inspired by Derbez’s life and revolves around Ignacio Galves, who is raising three kids with three ex-wives in a story of a man caught between his parenting style, pleasing the mothers of the kids and making room for the new woman in his life. Derbez will exec produce the comedy, which will be written by Aseem Batra and Eduardo Cisneros. Cisneros, who will reunite with frequent collaborator Derbez on the comedy, will co-exec produce.

NBC, meanwhile, has picked up script The Great Brown Hope, a single-camera comedy created by Isaac Gonzalez (Bordertown). The comedy centers on Nick, who after he’s kicked out of UCLA following a legendary semester, moves back home with his smothering, working-class — and very disappointed — Mexican family in Logan Heights, San Diego.

Gonzalez will also be credited as a co-EP on the comedy, which is also exec produced by Derbez and Odell.

Both projects hail from Universal Television.

The comedies come as diversity continues to be a high priority for broadcast networks, who this development season have put a focus on family comedy. “We’re all trying to figure out the family dynamic that’s not currently on the air,” ABC Studios executive vice president Patrick Moran told THR, noting that his studio in particular was looking for diverse voices — particularly Latino.

For its part, ABC recently picked up a family comedy inspired by the life of comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias (Cristela) as the network has found success with such diverse family fare as Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, Dr. Ken as well as veteran The Goldbergs.

In Derbez, the networks have a brand star with a built-in following attached, which — should either comedy move forward — would give either network a leg up with marketing and public awareness. (ABC, for its part, found success with Pryanka Chopra and Quantico, utilizing her massive social media fan base to help launch the series as one of the few breakouts of the 2015-16 broadcast season.)

ABC Orders Two More Episodes of Orrantia’s “The Goldbergs”

There’s more Hayley Orrantia in your future…

ABC has ordered two more episodes each of The Goldbergs, starring the 21-year-old Mexican-American actress/singer.

Hayley Orrantia

Now in its third season, The Goldbergs will have a second season of 24 episodes.

The series is is loosely based on show creator Adam Goldberg‘s childhood and family in the 1980s, complete with a childhood version of himself.

Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the show airs on Wednesdays at 8:30 pm.

It’s standard practice for the broadcast networks to order extra episodes from its strongest performers.

Orrantia to Star in “God’s Not Dead 2”

Hayley Orrantia is headed to the big screen…

The 21-year-old Mexican-American actress/singer has landed a leading role in God’s Not Dead 2, the sequel to the hugely profitable 2014 religious drama.

Hayley Orrantia

Much like its predecessor, God’s Not Dead 2 depicts the debate between a skeptic and an evangelical Christian who come into conflict in an educational setting, but in this outing the roles will be reversed.

Orrantia, who stars on ABC’s comedy series The Goldbergs, will portray Brooke, a high school student whose teacher, played by Melissa Joan Hart, quotes bible verses in class, causing Brooke’s parents to sue.

God’s Not Dead 2 is currently in production in Arkansas. Harold Cronk is directing from a script by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon.

Orrantia was a member of Lakoda Rayne, a country-pop girl group assembled by Simon Cowell during the first season of The X Factor.

Sheen to Reprise His “Ferris Bueller” Role Opposite Hayley Orrantia on ABC’s “The Goldbergs”

Charlie Sheen is ready for a day off

The 49-year-old part-Spanish American actor and former Two and a Half Men star will reprise his Ferris Bueller’s Day Off role as the “Boy in the Police Station” on ABC’s 80s-themed sitcom The Goldbergs‘ as part of the show’s upcoming Ferris Bueller-themed episode.

HAYLEY ORRANTIA, CHARLIE SHEEN, The Goldebergs

Scheduled to air early next year, the episode will find Barry (portrayed by Troy Gentile) attempting to stage his own day off by feigning illness, which naturally doesn’t go according to plan. After Erica (Hayley Orrantia) outs her brother, she bumps into Sheen’s leather-clad character at the police station, in much the same way Jennifer Grey‘s character does in the film.

Sheen’s casting was first reported by People.

The Goldbergs airs Wednesdays at 8:30/7:30c on ABC.