NBC Renews George Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” for Third Season

Posted on May 8, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

There’s more family time and family drama in George Lopez’s future.

NBC has renewed the 63-year-old Mexican American actor/comedian’s hit series Lopez vs. Lopez for a third season.

In its second season, which ended at in April, George Lopez’s real-life daughter Mayan Lopez and the Lopez family underwent big changes while George took his first step in sobriety.

NBC said that the show reached nearly 10 million total viewers across all platforms and is the highest-indexing broadcast program among English-dominant Hispanic households.

Starring George, Mayan, Selenis Leyva, Matt Shively, Brice Gonzalez and Al Madrigal, it was co-created by Debby Wolfe, who executive produces alongside Bruce Helford, George Lopez, Michael Rotenberg and Katie Newman.

It’s produced by Universal Television, in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts.

Laura Di Lorenzo & Mimi Davila Are Developing “The Chonga Girls” at CBS Studios

Posted on April 24, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Laura Di Lorenzo is celebrating a little (chonga) girl power.

The 34-year-old Venezuelan comedian, actress and writer – who performs alongside Mimi Davila as the comedy duo The Chonga Girls – is set to write, star and co-executive produce an eponymous multi-camera comedy series in development at CBS Studios, per Deadline.com.

Di Lorenzo and Davila—who perform as The Chonga Girls— are part of the project that hails from Marlena Rodriguez, who will serve as writer.

Additionally Rodriguez will executive produce alongside Wilmer Valderrama and Kaitlin Saltzman under his WV Entertainment banner, and Al Madrigal.

The Chonga Girls follows two dangerously confident childhood friends, Mimi and Laura, who move from Miami to Hollywood to realize their dream of becoming famous. But, much to their surprise, they find themselves working at the makeup counter for a department store right off the Walk of Fame.

Davila is a Cuban/Bulgarian actress, comedian and writer who, alongside her best friend Di Lorenzo, released the viral video Chongalicious in 2007. Most recently, she wrapped shooting the lead role in the indie film The Scout. She can also be seen in Julio Torres’ feature film Problemista and Gala Film’s new dystopian series RZR.

Davila and Di Lorenzo perform regularly together at comedy festivals.

Di Lorenzo is a Venezuelan Miamian whose voice was behind the music of Selena Quintanilla in the Netflix series Selena: The Series. She is best known for co-creating the comedy web series The Chonga Diaries, which spawned her segment, “Laura’s Corner,” available from Mitú via Comcast.

WV Entertainment is known for highlighting and uplifting the stories of Latinx and underrepresented communities across traditional media and podcasts. Last year, the company signed a first-look deal with CBS Studios.

Additionally, Valderrama became a shareholder of the My Cultura Podcast Network from iHeartMedia. He hosts and produces podcasts as well as helps curate the network’s slate of Latinx-focused podcasts which includes scripted and unscripted projects from Eva Longoria, Freddie Prinze, Jr, Cobra Kai stars Xolo Maridueña and Jacob Bertrand, and Princess of South Beach starring Rachel Zegler and Sheryl Rubio, to name a few. Additionally, WV Entertainment is developing a reimagined Zorro series for ABC among other projects currently in various stages of production.

Madrigal and Valderrama, as multihyphenate powerhouses in Hollywood, find synergy in their dedication to bringing Latino stories to the forefront. Madrigal currently stars in NBC’s Lopez Vs. Lopez, the only network series featuring a Latino family, alongside George Lopez, Mayan Lopez and Selenis Leyva. As a producer, he also has various projects in development yet to be announced. Previously, he created the comic book series Primos and starred in multiple film and TV projects.

Season Two of George Lopez’s NBC Series, “Lopez vs. Lopez,” To Premiere in April

Posted on February 3, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

George Lopez is pulling a television double…

NBC is set to premiere the second season of the 62-year-old Mexican American comedian/actor’s Lopez vs. Lopez on Tuesday, April 2 with back-to-back episodes at 8:00 and 8:30 pm and continue in those timeslots going forward.

Lopez vs. Lopez, which hails from creator/showrunner Debby Wolfe, is a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection and all the pain and joy in between. Starring Lopez and his daughter Mayan Lopez, 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 also stars Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal.

Season 2 guests include Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Diana Maria Riva and Marshawn Lynch.

Creator/showrunner 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.

Iglesias will portray Iggy, George’s fun-loving, jort-wearing, oversharing AA sponsor. When George and Mayan struggle with George’s sobriety, Iggy is there to offer sage advice and big warm hugs.

Riva as Ola, a tough negotiator known for selling the best knock-off TVs at the local swap meet. She isn’t afraid to tell anyone adios, especially her long-standing rival, George Lopez. Who will win the battle of discount electronics?

NBC Renews George Lopez’s “Lopez vs. Lopez” for Second Season

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

George Lopez isn’t leaving his new home just yet…

NBC has renewed Lopez vs. Lopez, the family sitcom starring the 62-year-old Mexican American comedian/actor and his daughter Mayan Lopez, for a second season.

Lopez vs. Lopez began its broadcast run airing on Friday nights where it drew strong ratings for its time slot.

In April, NBC announced that the final three episodes of the season would air on Tuesday, taking over the American Auto slot after that show wrapped its second season.

With the move, Lopez vs. Lopez scored the coveted lead-in from Night Court, in an effort to get even more eyeballs on the series as NBC made plans for its 2023/24 season.

The first season has averaged about 2M total viewers per episode and a 0.27 rating among the 18-49 demographic. According to Nielsen, it is the highest-indexing adcast series for English-dominant Hispanic households.

After 35 days of delayed viewing, Lopez vs. Lopez has the highest portion of long-tail viewing among all NBC comedies on Peacock.

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 Lopez and his daughter 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.

It also stars Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal. Wolfe is the first Latina to co-create and showrun a network sitcom for a 22-episode first season.

Al Madrigal Joins Cast of HBO Max’s “Clone High”

Posted on March 25, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Al Madrigal’s career is hitting a (clone) high note…

The 51-year-old half-Mexican American actor has joined the cast of Clone High, HBO Max’s upcoming revival of the classic MTV series from Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Bill Lawrence.

The animated series will premiere this spring, it was revealed during the show’s panel at WonderCon.

Returning voice cast includes Will Forte reprising his role as Abe; Nicole Sullivan as Joan; Lord as Scudworth; Chris Miller as JFK and Mr. B; Christa Miller voicing a new character, Candide Sampson; Donald Faison back as George Washington Carver; and Judah Miller as Scangrade.

Dubbed a “modern refresh” of the 2002 animated series, the follow-up is set at a high school for clones of historical figures. After a high school that was secretly being run as an elaborate military experiment to clone the greatest minds in history was put on ice, the clones have been thawed out 20 years later to resume the experiment with new clone classmates – all while navigating a new set of cultural norms and overly dramatic teen relationships.

Of the core characters in the original series, Abe, Joan (of Arc), JFK, Mr. B and Scudworth are back voiced by the same actors; Gandhi, who was voiced by Michael McDonald, is not featured in the reboot, and Cleo, who was originally voiced by Christa Miller, will now be voiced by Iranian-American actor Mitra Jouhari.

In addition to Madrigal, who will portray Federico, the series’ new voice cast also includes Ayo Edebiri as Harriet; Vicci Martinez as Frida; Kelvin Yu as Confucius; Neil Casey as Topher Bus; Jana Schmieding as Sacagawea; Sam Richardson as Wesley; Mo Gaffney as Ms. Grumbles; Danny Pudi as Dr. Neelankavil; Emily Maya Mills as Ethel Merman; Michael Bolton as Michael Bolton, Mandy Moore as Mandy Moore, Ian Ziering as Ian Ziering; Steve Kerr as Steve Kerr; and Jeffrey Muller, Kyle Lau, Dannah Phirman, and Danielle Schneider.

From MTV Entertainment Studios, Clone High, which has a two-season order, is executive produced by Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Bill Lawrence, Erica Rivinoja, and Erik Durbin.

Al Madrigal to Star in the New Feature “Drugstone June”

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Al Madrigal is headed to the drugstone…

The 51-year-old half-Mexican American comedian, writer, actor and producer has joined the cast of Drugstone June, a new feature from Utopia, All Things Comedy and Shout! Studios.

Madrigal is part of a cast of notable comedic talents that includes Esther Povitsky, Bobby Lee, Beverly D’Angelo, James Remar, Brandon Wardell, Danny Griffin, Patricia “Ms. Pat” Williams, Miranda Cosgrove, Haley Joel Osment, Matt Walsh, Jackie Sandler, Nick Rutherford, Jon “Dumbfoundead” Park, Trevor Wallace, Bhad Bhabie, Steph Tolev, Jon Gabrus and Bill Burr.

The film, directed by Nicholaus Goossen, follows a self-involved young woman who decides to solve the robbery of a local pharmacy while struggling to get over her ex-boyfriend.

Goossen is directing from his and Povitsky’s script.

“The team on this film has been stellar. We’re all big Esther Povitsky fans and it’s her time to lead a feature film,” said Utopia’s founder. “With Nicholaus Goossen at the helm, her collaborator on the comedy special HOT FOR MY NAME, the two have established a fresh, unique and standout comedic style. Mix that in with this star-studded ensemble, and it’s exciting to think of what’s to come for the film!”

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.

CBS Developing Latinx Family Workplace Comedy “Family Insurance” Co-Written & Starring Al Madrigal

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Al Madrigal is lowering his deductible …

Eric Christian Olsen’s Cloud Nine Productions has sold Family Insurance, co-written by and starring the 51-year-old half-Mexican American comedian, writer, actor and producer, to CBS.

The network is developing the single-camera Latinx family workplace comedy into a series.

Co-written and executive produced by Madrigal and Ryan Walls, who also have deals at CBS Studios, as well as Adam Lowitt, Family Insurance is a Latinx family workplace comedy revolving around Al Fuentes (Madrigal) who after separating from his wife reluctantly returns to his childhood home to work at the family insurance business that his loud, tough, first generation immigrant father started.

Madrigal is known for his role as Senior Latino Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was also a series regular and writer on Showtime’s I’m Dying Up Here, and served as a writer, actor, and producer on the CBS show, Broke.

Madrigal’s film credits include The Way Back with co-star Ben Affleck, Night School alongside Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, and Morbius opposite Jared Leto.

Sony Pushes Release of Jared Leto’s “Morbius” to April 1

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Jared Leto won’t be flying into theaters as originally planned…

Sony has pushed back the release date for the Marvel film Morbius, starring the 50-year-old part-Spanish American Academy Award winning actor and singer.

While the Columbia Pictures title was previously scheduled to open on January 28, it will now hit theaters in IMAX and premium large formats on April 1.

One factor motivating the push, according to Deadline, was Sony’s huge (continuing) success with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which established itself as the highest-grossing film of 2021 upon its December 17 debut.

The Tom Holland film has grossed upwards of $1.37 billion worldwide so far, and it now looks to continue to do big business on the screens previously saved for Morbius.

In Morbius, from director Daniel Espinosa, Leto portrays the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil—or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?

Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal and Tyrese Gibson also star in the film, based on the Marvel Comics, which Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless adapted from their own screen story.

Morbius would have opened on its previous date opposite IFC Films’ crime drama, Clean, starring Adrien Brody, Glenn Fleshler, Richie Merritt and Chandler DuPont; Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler’s Greenwich Entertainment music doc Charli XCX: Alone Together; and Joe Wright’s musical adaptation of Cyrano, starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett and Kelvin Harrison Jr., for MGM and United Artists Releasing.

It’s now set to open against Focus Features’ horror drama You Won’t Be Alone, starring Noomi Rapace and Alice Englert; Universal’s Jo Koy comedy Easter Sunday, also starring Jimmy O. Yang, Tia Carrere, Tiffany Haddish and Lou Diamond Phillips; and STX Entertainment’s thriller The Contractor, toplined by Chris Pine.

Vertical Entertainment Acquires U.S. Rights to Eva Longoria’s Comedy “Unplugging”

Posted on December 1, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Eva Longoria will be unplugging next spring…

Vertical Entertainment has acquired the U.S. rights to the comedy Unplugging, starring the 46-year-old Mexican American actress and former Desperate Housewives star, with plans to release it in theaters nationwide next spring.

The film also stars Matt Walsh, Lea Thompson, Keith David and Nicole Byer.

In the feature directorial debut of veteran film editor Debra Neil-Fisher, husband and wife Dan (Walsh) and Jeanine (Longoria) plan a weekend getaway of “digital detox” without kids, phones, or social media. They need—or think they need—only clean fresh air and alone time together to rekindle their romance. But once they forego GPS to guide them and disconnect from the internet, can they reconnect their own internal servers to spark their marriage?

Johnny Pemberton, Al Madrigal, Joel Kim Booster, and Nancy Friedrich round out the cast of the film, scripted by Walsh and Brad Morris.

Longoria executive produced the film.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better time in the director’s chair than with this marvelous cast captained by Eva and Matt, and our dedicated crew,” said Neil-Fisher. “Vertical is the perfect partner to bring Unplugging to audiences next spring.”

“Unplugging unites great talents in front of and behind the camera,” said Vertical Entertainment Partner Rich Goldberg, “and Debra’s storied skills as editor translate to a keen directorial eye for comedy.”

“Having previously partnered on many successful releases (Four Good Days, Buckley’s Chance) we know our friends at Vertical are the perfect distributor to bring the hilarious Unplugging to US audiences,” added Santor, who serves as Productivity Media’s CEO. “Eva and Matt are at the top of their game in this whip-smart, comedic look at relationships in the digital age, and we’re sure audiences will love it just as much as we loved making it.”

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