Aimee Garcia to Appear on Paramount+’s “Criminal Minds: Evolution” for Season Three

Aimee Garcia’s career evolution continues…

The 45-year-old Puerto Rican & Mexican American actress has joined the cast of Paramount+’s Criminal Minds: Evolution for the show’s third season.

Aimee GarciaIn a multiple-episode arc, Garcia will portray Dr. Julia Ochoa, one of the country’s leading neuropsychiatrists who is assigned to help a high-profile patient recover from his injury-induced brain trauma. She clashes with Alvarez (Adam Rodriguez) who, by contrast, believes in a more aggressive approach than her gentle approach.

Criminal Minds: Evolution is an expansion of the original CBS series, which ran from 2005-2020. In the current season, the FBI’s elite team of criminal profilers comes up against an UnSub who has used the pandemic to build a network of other serial killers. As the world opens back up and the network goes operational, the team must hunt them down, one murder at a time.

The series stars Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Zach Gilford, Ryan-James Hatanaka with Rodriguez and Paget Brewster.

ABC Signature and CBS Studios produce the series. Erica Messer serves as showrunner and executive producer.

Currently, Garcia stars opposite Adam Scott in Netflix’s upcoming animated series Strip Law and headlines The Cases of Mystery Lane franchise for Hallmark/Peacock. Garcia starred on Netflix’s Lucifer for five seasons and headlined Netflix’s film Christmas With You opposite Freddie Prinze Jr.

Additional credits include Hulu’s Woke, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K, ABC’s The George Lopez Show, which earned her an Impact and ALMA Award, José Padilha’s RoboCopThe Addams Family with Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac and James L. Brooks’ Spanglish.

Daphne Zuniga Helps Launch “Still the Place,” a Rewatch Podcast of Fox’s “Melrose Place”

Daphne Zuniga is ready to help you rewatch her classic television series…

As a Melrose Place reboot is in the works at CBS, the original series is getting a new audio boost featuring the 61-year-old half-Guatemalan American actress.

Daphne ZunigaZuniga and two of the show’s other original stars, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith, are launching a rewatch podcast of the Fox drama.

Still The Place launched today, on the 32nd anniversary of the show’s launch. It comes from iHeartPodcasts.

Leighton, who played Sydney Andrews, Thorne-Smith, who played Alison Parker and Zuniga, who played Jo Reynolds will dissect each episode from the very beginning, share behind-the-scenes stories and interview special guests from the original cast and crew.

It comes after news in April revealed that a reboot featuring Leighton and Zuniga, as well as Heather Locklear, was in the works at CBS Studios and was being shopped to networks and streamers.

The reboot is being written by Lauren Gussis and will pick up years after the original series, created by Darren Star.

Locklear, Leighton and Zuniga, reprised their roles in guest starring appearances on The CW revival in 2009, which revolved around a new group of 20-30-somethings living on Melrose Place. The new reboot is expected to draw from the original series and not the follow-up where Leighton’s character was murdered.

Trailer Released for Adam Rodriguez’s “Criminal Minds: Evolution”

Adam Rodriguez is ready for an evolution

The 10-episode new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution, starring the 49-year-old Puerto Rican and Cuban American actor, released its key art and trailer in advance of its debut next month.

Adam RodriguezProduced by ABC Signature and CBS StudiosCriminal Minds: Evolution premieres on Thursday, June 6, exclusively on Paramount+.

The first two episodes will be available to stream at launch, with subsequent new episodes dropping weekly on Thursdays.

In the wake of last season’s finale, the upcoming all-new season of Criminal Minds: Evolution picks up as the FBI’s elite team of profilers investigates the deadly mystery of Gold Star.

As the conspiracy unfolds, the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is met with an unexpected complication when serial killer Elias Voit negotiates a deal that transfers him to federal custody in the BAU’s own backyard. The team faces its biggest threat yet and cannot emerge unscathed from the mind-bending consequences.

Criminal Minds: Evolution stars Joe Mantegna, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Tyler, Zach Gilford, Ryan-James Hatanaka with Rodriguez and Paget Brewster.

Guest stars this season include Clark Gregg, Felicity Huffman, Paul F. Tompkins, Tuc Watkins and Brian White.

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

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.

Laura Di Lorenzo, Mimi Davila, The Chonga Girls 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.

Diany Rodriguez to Star in “NCIS: Origins,” CBS’ “NCIS” Prequel Series

Diany Rodriguez has found her origin(s) story…

The Latina actress joined the cast of NCIS: Origins as a series regular.

Diany RodriguezCBS’ prequel to the venerable procedural has a straight-to-series order for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

In the CBS Studios-produced series, Rodriguez joins previously cast stars Austin Stowell, Mariel Molino and Kyle Schmid, as well as new addition Tyla Abercrumbie.

Executive produced and narrated by Mark HarmonOrigins begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and chronicles Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ younger years. In the prequel, Gibbs (Stowell) starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks (Schmid).

Rodriguez will portray Special Agent Vera Strickland, a no-nonsense, sharp-witted Brooklynite who’s tough as nails and never minces words. She’s spent her entire career being underestimated by misogynistic morons (as she calls them), but if it’s a fight those good ol’ boys are looking for, then it’s a fight they’re going to get.

Molino plays Special Agent Lala Dominguez.

Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon executive produce alongside David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal who are co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners. Jason Kennedy, Krysti Baxter and Meredith Goble are the casting directors.

Rodriguez recurred as Weecha Xiu on NBC’s The Blacklist.

Her recent credits include an arc on Peacock’s Twisted Metal and a guest spot on CBS’ drama series The Equalizer.

Mariel Molino to Star in CBS‘ Young Gibbs Drama “NCIS: Origins”

Mariel Molino is celebrating her origins

The Mexican American actress will star as the female lead opposite Austin Stowell in CBSYoung Gibbs drama NCIS: Origins, a prequel to the venerable procedural, which has a straight-to-series order for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

Mariel Molino Narrated by Harmon, the CBS Studios-produced show begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and chronicles Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ younger years.

In the prequel, Gibbs (Stowell) starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.

Molino will play Special Agent Lala Dominguez, a former Marine who navigates her 1990s male-dominated field with a steely resolve and a dark sense of humor. When a tormented Leroy Jethro Gibbs joins her team, the ensuing story between these two enigmatic outsiders is filled with sparks and turns that will keep the audience guessing.

This is a new character to the NCIS universe who has not been featured on the mothership series. In the NCIS timeline, the prequel takes place in the aftermath of the murder of Gibbs’ first wife and their daughter.

Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon, who portrayed Gibbs in flashbacks on NCIS and was a driving force behind the prequel, executive produce alongside David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal who are co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners.

Origins is one of two newly greenlighted extensions of CBS Studios’ ever-growing NCIS franchise, along with an Europe-set Tony & Ziva spinoff starring Michael Weatherly and Cote De Pablo for Paramount+. They join the mothership series, now in its 21st season, NCIS: Hawai’i, now in Season 3 and the franchise’s first international installment, NCIS: Sydney.

Molino, who was born in California, splits time between Los Angeles and Mexico City.

She started her career acting in Spanish-language projects, including the telenovela Papis Muy Padres, Amazon’s comedy series El Juego De Las Llaves and thriller drama series La Negociadora. She has also appeared on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico and Luis Miguel: The Series.

Molino most recently starred in the Freeform thriller series The Watchful Eye and in the ABC family drama Promised Land. On the film side, Molino was be seen in upcoming features The Shade and Dead Man’s Switch.

CBS Renews Kevin Alejandro’s “Fire Country” for Third Season

There’s more fuego in Kevin Alejandro’s future…

CBS has renewed is hit Friday night drama Fire Country, starring the 47-year-old Mexican American actor, for a third season.

Kevin AlejandroFrom creators and executive producers Tony Phelan, Joan Rater and Max Thieriot, the series follows Bode Donovan (Thieriot), a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California. The program partners inmates with elite firefighters to extinguish unpredictable wildfires across the region.

When Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown—where he was once a golden all-American son—until his troubles begin as he burns down everything in his life, now, he’s looking for the opportunity to change his destiny.

Billy Burke, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer also star.

Alejandro stars as Captain Manny Perez on the series.

Fire Country is averaging 9.21 million viewers in live 7-day multiplatform viewing, up +7% from last year, the network shares while touting the series as a top 6 in streaming on Paramount+. Currently airing on Friday nights, Fire Country is averaging 7.76 million viewers this season in linear viewing (Nielsen, Live+7).

The show has been such a hit for the network the universe could be expanding. Morena Baccarin will appear in a Season 2 episode of Fire County with an option to become a series regular in a potential spinoff series. She’ll portray Mickey, a Sheriff’s Deputy for 15 years who knows every corner of Edgewater … and every one of its inhabitants. This is her town and she’s fiercely protective of it.

The sheriff-centered episode is not considered a backdoor pilot, as the project is expected to go through another development stage before a potential series order but its reception would likely be key for the offshoot’s chances of moving forward.

CBS Studios produces the series.

New Season 2 episodes currently air Friday nights at 9:00 pm and can be streamed via Paramount+.

Cote de Pablo Reuniting with Michael Weatherly for CBS Studios’ New “NCIS” Franchise Spinoff

Cote de Pablo is returning to television…

CBS Studios is expanding its NCIS franchise by bringing back two fan favorite characters from the mothership series, Ziva David, portrayed by the 44-year-old Chilean actress and singer, and Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly.

Cote de Pablo & MIchael Weatherlyde Pablo and Weatherly will reunite on screen for the first time in 10 years.

Paramount+ has given a 10-episode series order to the untitled spinoff headlined by Weatherly and de Pablo and written by actress and singer. All three executive produce.

Nicknamed NCIS: Europe, the new action-packed spinoff, set to start production later this year, will follow Tony (Weatherly) and Ziva (de Pablo) as they find themselves on the run across the continent.

NCIS is one of CBS Studios’ most valuable franchises and its expansion has been a goal for the studio. This is one of two new NCIS offshoots greenlighted this year, along with the Young Gibbs prequel series for CBS, NCIS: Origins. It’s also the second extension of the NCIS franchise beyond the U.S., following NCIS: Sydney, which has been airing on CBS in the U.S.

After Ziva’s (de Pablo) supposed death, Tony (Weatherly) left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then – and where we find them in the new Paramount+ original series – Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, trying to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so that they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.

“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” Weatherly and de Pablo said. “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘Tiva’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”

Weatherly hinted at a potential ‘Tiva’ reunion last month when his New Year’s tweet, “It’s time to look at time and enjoy the moment!” prompted a fan to respond, “We all would rather look at you and Ziva reuniting.” Weatherly highlighted the comment, adding, “Stay tuned… for this might be an interesting year for such ‘moments’!” He further fueled speculation this week by responding to a fan tweet lamenting about him and de Pablo, “miss the chemistry and magic you both create,” with the cryptic, “the universe works in mysterious ways…”

De Pablo, Weatherly and McNamara executive produce the spinoff series with Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain and Shelley Meals.

The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

“I’m incredibly excited to step into the NCIS universe with Cote and Michael and thrilled to explore it from a few new angles,” McNamara said. “Given that the franchise is such a global sensation, I think it’s phenomenal that CBS Studios and Paramount+ have given us the greenlight to shoot in Europe. As to the title of this series, if I told you what it is, I’d be violating the Espionage Act.”

De Pablo joined NCIS in Season 3. She appeared in Seasons 3 through 10 and exited the series early in Season 11. In the Season 13 finale, it was revealed that Ziva apparently had died in an explosion in Israel. She returned three years later in 2019, where it was revealed she was alive and had gone into hiding. She made a surprise unannounced return in the last scene of the season 16 finale, which aired on May 21, 2019, in which Ziva arrives at Gibbs’ basement to warn him that his life is in danger. She later appeared in the first two episodes of the show’s 17th season and in that season’s 10th and 11th episodes as part of her storyline.

Paramount+ Releases Preview Clip of Fifth & Final Season of Wilson Cruz’s “Star Trek: Discovery”

Wilson Cruz is preparing for one final trip through space…

Paramount+ has released a preview of the upcoming fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery, starring the 49-year-old Puerto Rican actor.

Wilson Cruz, Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery is set to premiere in April 2024 on the streamer.

In the new footage, Capt. Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) contend with a massive, hostile alien creature that has the ability to cloak itself.

Per the official logline, Season 5 “will find Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well … dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.”

In addition to Martin-Green, Ajala and Cruz, who portrays Dr. Hugh Culber, Star Trek: Discovery also stars Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Blu del Barrio (Adira) and Callum Keith Rennie (Rayner). Season 5 also features recurring guest stars’ Elias Toufexis (L’ak) and Eve Harlow (Moll).

The series is produced by CBS Studios in association with Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment. Star Trek: Discovery co-showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Paradise serve as executive producers alongside Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth.

CBS Renews “Fire Country,” Starring Kevin Alejandro, for Second Season

Kevin Alejandro is fired up…

CBS has renewed Fire Country, starring the 46-year-old Mexican American actor, for the 2023-2024 season.

Kevin AlejandroSince its premiere on October 7, Fire Country has averaged 8 million viewers per episode, making it the top new broadcast series of the season.

With live +35-day multiplatform viewing, more than 10 million viewers an episode have watched the procedural across linear and streaming platforms.

“It’s pretty remarkable to see a new series resonate like this with both broadcast and streaming audiences right out of the gate,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, in a statement. “Fire Country has so many appealing entry points for the audience. It combines high-stakes action with small town charm, mystery and romance, and a family franchise at its core. We’re blessed to have an incredible team in front of and behind the camera led by amazing producers and writers and an exceptionally talented cast.”

The drama stars Max Thieriot as Bode Donovan, a young convict seeking redemption and a shortened prison sentence by joining a prison release firefighting program in Northern California, where he and other inmates are partnered with elite firefighters to extinguish massive, unpredictable wildfires across the region. It’s a high-risk, high-reward assignment, and the heat is turned up when Bode is assigned to the program in his rural hometown, where he was once a golden all-American son – until his troubles began. Five years ago, Bode burned down everything in his life, leaving town with a big secret. Now he’s back, with the rap sheet of a criminal and the audacity to believe in a chance for redemption with Cal Fire.

Alejandro portrays Manny Perez, the captain of Cal Fire where Bode is sent.

Fire Country, from Jerry Bruckheimer Television and CBS Studios, is inspired by Thieriot’s experiences growing up in fire country and stems from an original idea by the actor, who also co-penned the story for the pilot with its writers, Tony Phelan and Joan Rater.