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

Posted on April 8, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

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.

Fumero 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

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

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.

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”

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

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.

Martinez 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”

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

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.

Santiago 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

Posted on April 16, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

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).

The 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”

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

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.

Jorge 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”

Posted on December 4, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

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.

With 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.

Lilah Richcreek Estrada to Appear on NBC’s “Chicago Med”

Posted on September 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Lilah Richcreek Estrada is hospital-bound…

The half-Latina American actress has joined the cast of NBC’s Chicago Med as a recurring guest star.

Season 8 premieres on September 21 at 8 p.m. followed by Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire.

Richcreek Estrada will portray Nellie Cuevas, a psych fellow working alongside Dr. Charles (Oliver Platt).

Chicago Med follows the lives of an elite team of medical professionals working in the emergency room at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.

Chicago Med is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment.

Richcreek Estrada most recently starred in the Disney+ series Four Dads and the Untitled Leslie Odom and Kerry Washington Project for NBC.

Her other credits include ABC’s The Wonder Years, FX’s Dave, and Netflix’s Grace and Frankie.

Netflix Releases First Look Images at Melissa Fumero’s Workplace Comedy “Blockbuster”

Posted on August 26, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Melissa Fumero is preparing for a blockbuster…

Netflix has released first look images at its workplace comedy Blockbuster, starring the 40-year-old Cuban American actress.

The 10-episode first season, which will be released on November 3, also stars Randall Park, Tyler Alvarez, Madeleine Arthur, Olga Merediz, JB Smoove, and Kamaia Fairburn.

From creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner Vanessa Ramos, Blockbuster follows Timmy Yoon (Park), an analog dreamer living in a 5G world. And after learning he is operating the last Blockbuster Video in America, Timmy and his staff employees (including his long-time crush, Eliza (Fumero) fight to stay relevant. The only way to succeed is to remind their community that they provide something big corporations can’t: human connection.

Alongside Ramos, the series is also written by David Caspe and Jackie Clarke who are also executive producers.

John Davis and John Fox are also EPs for Davis Entertainment.

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

Fumero’s previous credits include Brooklyn Nine-Nine and One Life to Live.

Benjamin Levy Aguilar Upped to Series Regular on NBC’s “Chicago P.D.”

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

There’s more Windy City moments in Benjamin Levy Aguilar’s future…

The Guatemalan actor has been promoted to series regular for Season 10 of NBC’s Chicago P.D.

He will reprise the role of Dante Torres who, fresh off patrol, comes to Intelligence as a rookie.

He made his debut as the character in the Season 9 episode titled “New Guard,” but first appeared in the series as Franco Chavaro two seasons prior.

All-new episodes of Chicago P.D. are set to premiere on September 21 at 10:00 pm following Chicago Med (8:00 pm) and Chicago Fire (9:00 pm) as part of the network’s “One Chicago” lineup.

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

Aguilar is best known for his breakout role on Fox’s Filthy Rich where he portrayed Antonio Rivera. He most recently recurred in Netflix’s The Woman in the House Across The Street From The Girl With The Window as Rex Bakke opposite Kristen Bell.

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