Some unusual off-season development activity at the networks puts a new emphasis on Latinos
When it comes to the development of new TV series, this used to be the “wait and see” season, while the networks watched their newest launches sink or swim for the first few weeks of their lives. But a set of otherwise unconnected stories from the last couple of weeks seem to indicate that there’s no waiting around anymore…and that the networks themselves may–just may–be showing a renewed interest in Latino programming.
First there was the CBS announcement that they were getting serious about their on-again/off-again relationship with Rob Schneider and his sitcom pilot. Schneider is the ‘name’ at the center of the show but it is otherwise extremely Latino: it’s about the Schneider character marrying into an active Latino family, headed by Cheech Marin and his TV wife Diana Maria Riva, along with grandmother Lupe Ontiveros and a healthy number of other Latino actors. If it actually makes it to air, it will be the first weekly focus on a Latino family of any kind since Ugly Betty left ABC a few years ago.
More recently, JoAnna Garcia’s newest sitcom created so much buzz there was an actual bidding war between the network just to get at the pilot. ABC ultimately prevailed. Now, it’s true that JoAnna is not known as a Latina who plays Latinas–not with the blonde hair and perky Midwest personality–but it does show that merely having the last name of “Garcia” doesn’t preclude you from being this (or next) season’s Jennifer Anniston (it’s also worth nothing that somebody at Warner’s must really like this woman: this is the fourth series in that many years that has her in a featured role, and not one of them has ‘clicked’ yet.)
All this is good news for Latinos in entertainment
and the people who watch them…
Then just a few days ago, Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith announced that ABC has picked up their Untitled Romeo Project, that follows a young Dominican-American living in Manhattan. The press release tells us “Romeo struggles to relate to his father while creating his own identity, a ‘new vision of the American Dream.’ The main character will be played by Romeo Santos, a popular Latin singer and Bronx native.”
All this is good news for Latinos in entertainment and the people who watch them. True, JoAnna Garcia’s show may have as much Latino content as Eddie Cibrian’s Playboy Club, but the other two programs are very much Latino, and were of interest not only to ABC–who ultimately will benefit from them both–but were hot topics across the nets. Could it be that Latino themes and characters are actually of interest to the big studios? Finally?
We’re not ready to celebrate quite yet, but this is the kind of “development” that every Latino in Hollywood likes to see.
