Tag Archives: Universal Television

Juliana Aidén Martinez Joins Cast of NBC‘s “Law & Order: SVU”

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Juliana Aidén Martinez is ready to take a bite out of crime…

The Colombian American actress has joined the cast of NBC‘s Law & Order: SVU  as a new detective.

Juliana Aidén MartinezThe new season begins on October 3 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on NBC and next day on Peacock.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit follows detectives from the Special Victims Unit as they investigate and prosecute sexually based crimes. Some episodes are loosely based on real crimes that have been ripped from the headlines.

The fight for justice never ends as Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her squad provide a tireless voice for the voiceless. Benson’s compassion for victims and pledge to protect the innocent stand as a beacon of hope for all.

Law & Order: SVU also stars Ice T, Peter Scanavino and Octacio Pisano, among others.

Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer of Law & Order: SVU.

The series is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group and Wolf Entertainment.

Martinez is best known for her breakout role in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Griselda, opposite Sofia Vergara.

She previously starred in the independent 2022 thriller Boundary, directed by Anthony Faust.

Her other credits include 9-1-1, The Blacklist and Prodigal Son.

During her time at the Yale Drama School, Martinez was selected for Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab.

Apple TV+ Renews Michaela Jaé Rodriguez’s “Loot” for Third Season

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Michaela Jaé Rodriguez has more loot in her future…

Apple has renewed Loot, starring the 33-year-old half-Puerto Rican Golden Globe-winning actress and lead/executive producer Maya Rudolph, for a third season.

Michaela Jaé RodriguezThe cast was reportedly informed about the renewal about a month ago.

Season 3 will pick up after the Season 2 finale that saw Molly Wells (Rudolph) and her trusted and unhinged assistant Nicholas (Joel Kim Booster) board Molly’s private jet following her awkward exchange with her will-they, won’t-they colleague Arthur (Nat Faxon). Where will the PJ land? Season 3 will continue to follow the antics of the beloved group of misfits at The Wells Foundation.

In addition to Rudolph, Rordriguez, Booster and Faxon, the ensemble cast also includes

“We are thrilled to come back for a third season! We’re extremely fortunate to spend more time with our talented cast and crew,” said Rudolph and executive producer Danielle Renfrew Behrens of Banana Split. “Making this show with Apple TV+ has been a joy, and we can’t wait to reunite with our Loot family.”

Season 2 kicked off a year after Molly Wells (Rudolph) settles her very public divorce from tech billionaire John Novak (Adam Scott), and we find her thriving in her role as the head of her philanthropic organization, the Wells Foundation. Focused mainly on her charity work, Molly has sworn off any new relationships with men and embarks on a wellness journey. Fabulously single but not particularly independent, Molly keeps her trusty assistant Nicholas (Booster) by her side. He diligently caters to her every whim … and occasionally feeds her a kale smoothie spiked with gin.

Sofia Salinas (Rodriguez), the no-nonsense executive director of the Wells Foundation, continues to run things with compassionate efficiency, but her all-business ethos is thrown for a loop when she meets Molly’s charismatic architect friend Isaac (O-T Fagbenle). The bromance between Howard (Funches) and Nicholas also continues to flourish as they support each other in their endeavors both inside and outside the workplace. Meanwhile, Arthur (Faxon) has moved past his feelings for Molly and has adopted a new devil-may-care attitude on life, a change encapsulated by a very lame leather bracelet. The Wells Foundation team, including Rhonda (Meagen Fay) and Ainsley (Stephanie Styles), must pull together as co-workers and friends as Molly strives to publicly live up to her promise of giving away all of her vast fortune. Guest stars included Benjamin Bratt and Ana Gasteyer, among others.

“With each season, Loot continues to deliver joy, laughs and endearing characters for audiences around the world,” said Matt Cherniss, head of programming for Apple TV+. “We are excited to partner with Maya Rudolph, and the entire cast and creative team behind Loot, to create even more heartfelt moments with an ensemble of fan favorite characters in season three.”

Loot is created, written and executive produced by Yang and Hubbard. Rudolph serves as executive producer for Banana Split, along with her producing partner Renfrew Behrens, Dave Becky of 3 Arts and Natasha Lyonne.

Loot is produced for Apple by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

NBC Gives Series Order to “Happy’s Place,” Starring Belissa Escobedo

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Belissa Escobedo has found her happy(’s) place…

NBC has given a series order to Happy’s Place, starring the 25-year-old Latina actress and Reba McEntire.

Belissa Escobedo, Reba McEntire, Happy's PlaceThe comedy sees McEntire play Bobbie, who inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had.

In addition to McEntire and Escobedo, the multi-cam series also stars Melissa Peterman, Pablo Castelblanco, Tokala Black Elk and Rex Linn.

Writer Kevin Abbott executive produces with Michael Hanel, Mindy Schultheis, Julie Abbott and McEntire.

It’s produced by Universal Television.

Happy’s Place, which reunites McEntire with members of her Reba team, was the first pilot of the season to be ordered, in January.

Escobedo’s previous credits include Blue Beetle, Hocus Pocus 2, The Baker and the Beauty and American Horror Stories.

Melissa Fumero to Star in NBC Drama Pilot “Grosse Pointe Garden Society”

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Melissa Fumero is entering Society…

The 41-year-old Cuban American actress and former Brooklyn Nine-Nine star has been cast as a lead in Grosse Pointe Garden Society, NBC’s drama pilot from Jenna Bans, Bill Krebs and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Melissa FumeroFumero will star opposite AnnaSophia Robb and Ben Rappaport in the pilot.

The drama follows four members of a suburban garden club — three of them played by Fumero, Robb and Rappaport — all from different walks of life, who get caught up in murder and mischief as they struggle to make their conventional lives bloom.

Fumero plays Birdie. Entitled, rich, swathed in Chanel, a smoker, a drinker, self-destructive at times, toxic at others, but not without real pain beneath her facade, Birdie is a successful author whose memoir, “Digging for Gold: Dancing Through Divorce,” is a bestseller.

Robb plays Alice, your favorite high school English teacher, a dreamer whose best dreams are crashing down on her. She’s a longtime member of the Grosse Pointe Garden Society.

Rappaport plays Brett. Cool in a threadbare kind of way, Brett put his own dreams of starting a car restoration business on hold so his wife (now ex-wife) could finish law school. He continues his job as a manager of a garden store so he can take care of the kids.

Maggie Kiley is directing the pilot.

This marks Fumero’s return to NBC. She’s best known for her role as Amy Santiago in the critically acclaimed Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which ended its eight-season run on NBC. She won the Imagen Foundation Award for her work on the show.

Fumero recently was a voice cast member on Comedy Central’s adult animated series Digman! from Andy Samberg as well as Max’s Velma from Mindy Kaling.

She also starred opposite Randall Park in Netflix’s comedy series Blockbuster and in the IFC comedy film Barfight! with Rachel Bloom.

Belissa Escobedo to Star in Reba McEntire’s Still-Untitled NBC Comedy Pilot

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Belissa Escobedo has lined up her next project…

The 25-year-old Latina actress and Blue Beetle star has been cast in Reba McEntire in her as-yet-untitled NBC multi-cam comedy pilot.

Belissa Escobedo,The project is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

The pilot follows Bobbie (McEntire) who inherits her father’s restaurant and is less than thrilled to discover that she has a new business partner in the half-sister she never knew she had.

Escobedo stars as Bobbie’s sister Isabella, an enthusiastic 20-something, who has studied psychology and loves to analyze people. She is thrilled to start working at the tavern and is full of “great” ideas about how to bring it to life.

Escobedo’s star continues to rise following two major roles in DC Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Blue Beetle, where he portrayed the titular character’s (played by Xolo Maridueña) sister Milagro, and Disney’s Hocus Pocus 2 where she popped off the screen—no easy task when you’re starring opposite Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, who returned as the Sanderson sisters.

Additional credits include the ABC dramedy The Baker And The Beauty alongside Carlos Gomez, Lisa Vidal and Victor Rasuk; Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology series American Horror Stories, the Catherine Hardwicke-directed Quibi limited series Don’t Look Deeper and the American High films Sex Appeal (Hulu) and Sid Is Dead.

Tommy Martinez to Star in Peacock’s New Comedy Series “Laid”

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Tommy Martinez is laying down a new path…

The 31-year-old Venezuelan actor will star in Peacock’s upcoming comedy series Laid as a series regular.

Tommy MartinezMartinez will star opposite Zosia Mamet and Michael Angarano in the series.

Martinez will play Isaac, Mamet will play AJ and Angarano will play Richie.

They join previously announced lead Stephanie Hsu in the series written and executive produced by Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna.

Laid is based on the Australian series created by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher, and produced by Liz Watts.

It follows a woman who finds out her former lovers are dying in unusual ways and must go back through her sex timeline to confront her past to move forward. It’s described as a f*cked-up rom-com where the answer to “Why can’t I find love, is there something wrong with me?” is a resounding: “Yes, there is. The problem is definitely you.”

The series comes from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Martinez was most recently a series regular on Freeform’s Good Trouble, which wrapped up its run after 5 seasons earlier this month. He played Gael Martinez since the show’s inception.

His additional television credits include Netflix’s Not Dead Yet, Prime Video’s Hunters, Mosquito Coast for Apple+, Showtime’s Shameless and the CW’s Riverdale.

Ray Santiago to Star in NBC’s Comedy Pilot “Non-Evil Twin”

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Ray Santiago is twinning…

The 38-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast as a series regular opposite Amber Ruffin in the NBC comedy pilot Non-Evil Twin from Universal Television.

Ray SantiagoSantiago is among a roster of new cast additions that includes Christina Anthony and Melanie J. Newby.

Written by Ruffin and Kenny Smith, the multi-camera pilot stars Ruffin playing the dual roles of twin sisters Angie and Amber. Angie is the ruthless CEO of AngieCorp, who is as heartless as she is rich. Angie instills fear in everyone she meets, except her caring sister, Amber, who only sees the good in her. Amber — a pushover when it comes to Angie — is forced to step in as the leader of AngieCorp, a Fortune 500 company, despite knowing little about business and even less about the way her sister has been running the corporation.

Santiago will portray Tony, the well-meaning but brutally honest marketing VP dismissed by Angie but embraced by Amber, who is drawn to his oddball sweetness.

Newby is Amy, Angie’s tough-as-nails vegan cellmate, who refuses to put Angie on a pedestal like everyone else and instead prefers to kick the pedestal out from under her.

Santiago co-starred on Starz’s Ash Vs. Evil Dead and recurred on Bad Judge, Touch, Raising Hope and Dexter. Feature film credits include Trashfire, Sex Ed, In Time, American Son, Meet the Fockers and Girl Fight. 

Netflix Releases Teaser Video for Fourth & Final Season of “Never Have I Ever” Featuring Michael Cimino as a New Love Interest

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Never say never have I ever to Michael Cimino…

Netflix has released a teaser video for the fourth and final season of Never Have I Ever, which will feature the 23-year-old half-Puerto Rican actor as a new distraction for protagonist Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan).

Michael CiminoThe new season will premiere on the streaming service on June 8.

The video shows what Devi’s senior year will look like.

Never Have I Ever is a coming-of-age comedy about the complicated life of a modern-day first-generation Indian American teenage girl. Devi is an overachieving high school student who has a short fuse that gets her into difficult situations, many of which involve one of her latest crushes who may or may not be Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) and/or Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison).

Cimino will portray Ethan, who arrives on the heels of Paxton’s departure to college. At the end of Season 3, Devi had seemingly gotten over her crush on Paxton and moved on to option B, Ben, to whom she probably lost her V-card.

And Devi may not even be the character with the most exciting love life this season. It has been confirmed a wedding will take place, though the bride and groom are as yet a mystery.

The obvious guess is Devi’s cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani) and her new beau Manish Kulkarni (Utkarsh Ambudkar). But wildcard guesses include Dr. Vishwakumar (Poorna Jagannathan), who is getting a new love this season played by Ivan Hernandez; her mother-in-law Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty) who meets a sweet new man (played by Jeff Garlin) who makes her reconsider if she really is done with relationships forever; or maybe Eleanor Wong (Ramona Young) and (Trent Benjamin Norris). It truly could be anyone.

Never Have I Ever is created by executive producers, Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, with Fisher serving as the showrunner.

The series is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and executive produced by 3 Arts Entertainment’s Howard Klein and David Miner.

The first three seasons of Never Have I Ever are available to stream via Netflix.

Becky G In Talks to Star in Peacock’s Drama Series “Queen of Flow”

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Becky G may be going with the flow on Peacock… 

The streamer is developing drama series Queen of Flow, a premium adaptation of Caracol Television’s Colombian telenovela, La Reina Del Flow, with the 26-year-old Mexican American singer and actress in early talks to lead the series.

Becky GJorge Reyes is attached to pen the script for the project, from Westbrook Studios and Universal Television.

Queen of Flow is a revenge tale/music drama about a young singer-songwriter named Yeimi — the role Becky G is in talks for — who rises to fame in the music world and finds a star-crossed love with the superstar scion of a powerful family. But on her rise to the top, dark secrets are discovered about both Yeimi and the family she’s made her own that set them on a collision course towards a reckoning that could destroy them all.

The premise is described as a “Count of Monte Cristo-esque tale set against the backdrop of Latin music.”

The series is a co-production between Westbrook Studios and UTV.

Reyes served as a writer/producer on the hit crime drama Queen Of The South for the USA network. He was also the creator/co-executive producer of the legal dramedy Kevin Hill, starring Taye Diggs and Christina Hendricks.

He began his writing career on Dick Wolf’s police drama New York Undercover, Aaron Spelling’s paramedic drama Rescue 77, and the Showtime original series Resurrection Blvd. Currently, Reyes is developing a Fat Joe project with Kenya Barris at Showtime.

Becky G’s previous acting credits include Power Rangers, Gnome Alone and Good Mourning.

NBC Orders Additional Nine Episodes of George Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez”

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There are more family laughs in George Lopez’s future…

NBC has ordered an additional nine episodes of its new hit comedy series Lopez vs. Lopez, starring the 61-year-old Mexican American comedian and actor and his daughter Mayan Lopez.

George Lopez, Mayan Lopez, Lopez vs. LopezWith the additional episodes, it brings the first season total to 22 episodes.

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 and 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.

Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal also star.

The freshman series has the strongest English-dominant Hispanic index among the major four broadcast networks and is the No. 1 NBC comedy launch on Peacock, according to the network.

The show’s pilot episode is up to a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demo and 7.6 million viewers on linear and digital viewing.

Wolfe executive produces with Bruce Helford, George Lopez, Michael Rotenberg, and Katie Newman.

Lopez vs Lopez is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts.