Alyssa Diaz and Joseph Julian Soria
Lifetime cancels Army Wives, FX renews The Bridge, and Starz develops a new Latino-themed drama…and Latinos are part of it all.
Within a few days of each other, three different networks made moves that remind us of just how intimately involved Latino Hollywood is in the ongoing strategies of the cable industry.
First, while the Lifetime Network is enjoying the growing success of Devious Maids (its season finale attracted a series-high number of viewers), it also decided to pass on an eighth season of its long-running drama Army Wives, which has included Alyssa Diaz and Joseph Julian Soria in recent years. All in all, 117 episodes were produced, and the season-ending cliffhanger will get some sort of resolution in a “two two-hour retrospective special featuring the show’s cast,” whatever that means, that will be broadcast early in 2014.
Demián Bichir
Meanwhile, FX has renewed Demián Bichir’s The Bridge, ordering up another 13 one-hours episodes that will begin airing in the summer of 2014. Critically well-received, this gritty cop-drama based on the U.S./Mexico border is, somewhat ironically, produced by a Canadian company, and though its received strong critical acclaim, its ratings have been moderate at best.
And finally, Starz is just one of many networks, cable and broadcast alike, who continue to develop new Latino-centric programs. This time it’s a one-hour scripted drama called Gringo, said to “chronicle a Mexican-American Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent who infiltrates one of Mexico’s most deadly drug and human smuggling cartels.” Because that’s what the Latino experience is in the U.S. is all about: drug wars. Inspired by The Shadow Catcher, a non-fiction book by U.S. Immigration Officer Hipolito Acosta, Gringo is currently in the screenwriting stage. No casting news, or even a cast list, has been released as yet. We’ll see where it goes.
