Tag Archives: PBS

Barerra to Guest Star on Grimm’s La Llorona-Themed Episode

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This upcoming pre-Halloween weekend is looking pretty grimm for David Barerra…

The Mexican American actor is set to guest star on a NBC’s supernatural crime drama Grimm, which takes place in a world where characters inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales exist.

David Barrera

Barrera will appear on the show’s Halloween-themed episode, which will feature an appearance by telenovela star Kate del Castillo as a mysterious detective from Albuquerque searching for a child abductor.

The episode, titled “La Llorona,” is loosely based on the Latin American legend of a woman who drowned her children. According to legend, a beautiful woman named Maria kills her children by drowning them; in order to be with the man she loves. When he rejects her, she kills herself. Challenged at the gates of heaven as to the whereabouts of her children, she isn’t permitted to enter the afterlife until she finds them. So Maria is forced to wander the earth for all eternity, searching in vain for her drowned offspring, with her constant weeping giving her the name La Llorona.

Barrera will portray a resident named Luis Alvarez, whose son is taken by La Llorona.

“The detectives and I spend the rest of the episode searching for him and trying to catch La Llorona,” says Barrera of his guest role. “It’s a really creepy episode, especially if you grew up with the legend of La Llorona.”

The deeper Grimm’s main character Nick (David Giuntoli) digs into the case, the more he realizes the pattern of the kidnapping matches those in the famed “La Llorona” legend, a story with its roots intertwined with his own family’s Grimm history.

Barrera – whose television credits include appearances on Heroes, CSI: Miami, Boston Legal, Medium, Nip/Tuck and 24 – enjoyed sharing screen time with his fellow guest star del Castillo.

“Kate was a really nice and approachable person,” says Barrera. “I had met her once before on the set of the PBS series American Family. She was really easy to talk to and is a very talented lady.”

The spooktacular episode featuring Barrera and del Castillo will air 9:00 pm on NBC. Friday, October 26 at 9:00 pm on NBC.

Mendes Appearing in PBS’ “Half the Sky” Women’s Issues Series

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Eva Mendes is hoping her recent visit to Sierra Leone will help shine a spotlight on the serious issues affecting girls and women across the globe.

The 38-year-old Cuban-American actress’ trip to the West African nation is all part of a special PBS series based on the best-selling book by the husband-wife team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

Eva Mendes

The new series introduces Mendes and other celebrities, including America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union and Olivia Wilde to women and girls living under harsh circumstances, ranging from maternal death to prostitution.

Mendes, who will be starring in HBO’s Clear History with Larry David, kicks off the four-hour series – airing October 1 and 2 at 9:00 pm ET on PBS – with her visit to Sierra Leone, where she meets with activist Amie Kandeh, a survivor of gender-based violence working with the International Rescue Committee to help other survivors toward safe, productive futures.

“I knew I was in for a life-changing experience,” Mendes says of participating in the project. “This experience has profoundly affected me. I was so shocked and saddened to learn the extent of gender-based violence taking place in Sierra Leone every day and that trip has made me want to be a part of the solution.”

Maria Hinojosa Wins John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism

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She’s used to reporting the news… But this time around, Maria Hinojosa is making headlines for her noted journalism career.

The 51-year-old Mexican-born journalist has been named the winner of the 2012 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, announced Columbia University‘s Graduate School of Journalism on Wednesday.

Maria Hinojosa

Hinojosa, who has already won three Emmys for her work in television news, is a prominent member of the Hispanic journalistic community in the United States, after her work on CNN and her current work for PBS and National Public Radio.

The award was created in honor of long-time NBC News anchor John Chancellor.

Hinojosa was chosen “in recognition of the courage and independence she has shown over the course of her career reporting on those whose stories might not otherwise make it into the mainstream media,” the journalism school said.

Born in Mexico City and raised in Chicago, Hinojosa hosts the programs Latino USA on NPR and Need to Know on PBS.

Among the subjects Hinojosa has covered are immigrants’ jobs in New Orleans after the passage of Hurricane Katrina; rape in the U.S. Armed Forces; the lives of poor people and youth violence in immigrant communities.

The prize, which comes with a cash stipend of $25,000, will be presented at a November 14 ceremony at Columbia‘s Low Library in New York.

Ozomatli Releases Album of Children’s Music…

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For more than 15 years, Ozomatli has been entertaining adult audiences with its fusion of diverse musical styles, including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, rap, cumbia, merengue and hip hop… But now the band’s going to the kids.

The Los Angeles-based band has just released a new album of music dedicated to the youngsters, appropriately named Ozokidz.

Ozomatli

The original concept arose when band members commented on the continuous absence of friends and fans from their live concerts, according to vocalist and trumpet player Asdrubal “Azdru” Sierra.

“We knew a lot of fans didn’t come to our shows because they couldn’t get a babysitter, so that’s where we got the idea of doing concerts that were kid-friendly as well,” he said.

Their idea finally came together when PBS television asked them to record some educational tracks for its online children’s programming. The band agreed, knowing they’d be recording music they would be proud of.

“My kids played their records for me and they were horrible to listen to, which is why we wanted to make a disc that grownups could enjoy too,” said Sierra.

Ozomatli may be known for its vocal activist viewpoints. But Ozokids won’t get political. Comprised of 14 songs including “Piraña,” “Let’s Go to the Movies,” “Germs” and “Changuito,” the album doesn’t sound like traditional children’s music. But each song has an educational message.

“We don’t want to get mixed up in politics but we do want to teach good manners, good behavior and the difference between good and bad,” Sierra said.

Sesame Street’s “The Voice” Spoof Features an Aguilera Puppet

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Christina Aguilera is getting puppified…

The 31-year-old half-Ecuadorian songstress and The Voice coach will appear on Sesame Street next season… in puppet form.

The Voice Coaches

The long-running PBS children’s television series will present a spoof on NBC’s singing competition when it returns to this fall.

A new clip shows Aguilera, her fellow coaches Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton sitting in The Voice’s signature red rotating chairs.

Christina Aguilera Puppet

“Finally, a singing competition that’s entirely about your voice, no distractions and no cheap gimmicks,” says puppet-Carson Daly, before being hit by the rotating chair.

The puppets for Aguilera, Green, Shelton and Daly are pretty spot-on, with Aguilera glammed up in a sparkly dress and Green holding his pet cat.

No word on why a puppet of fourth Voice coach, Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine, isn’t featured in the spoof.

NBC’s The Voice, which recently received its first Emmy nomination, will return for its third season on Monday, September 10 at 8 pm ET. Meanwhile,  Sesame Street returns for its 43rd season on September 24 on PBS Kids.

Sanchez Gives Two Memorial Day Performances at the U.S. Capitol

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She may have ended up losing the American Idol crown to Phillip Phillips… But as she sang earlier this month, Jessica Sanchez is “not going” anywhere.

The 16-year-old half-Mexican songstress took her vocal talents to our nation’s capital to perform at the 2012 PBS National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, DC on Sunday.

Jessica Sanchez

During her first live post-Idol appearances, Sanchez performed twice on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The pint-sized singer, dressed in a floor-length blue evening gown, kicked off the annual Memorial Day concert by performing the National Anthem.

Sanchez later returned to the stage, in a white lace knee-length dress and strappy white heels, to perform Yolanda Adams’ “The Prayer.”

PBS’ annual event honors the men and women who have served in the military. Sanchez’s father—to whom she dedicated Luther Vandross’ “Dance With My Father” earlier in her Idol run—has served several tours of duty in Iraq and Kuwait with the Navy, and her grandfather is a retired Navy veteran.

Where in the World is Jennifer Lopez?

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She’s an international superstar who’s been “on the floor” since this spring… And, Jennifer Lopez could soon be leading moviegoers on a global mission to find her “on the map!”

According to Deadine, the 42-year-old American Idol judge has signed a deal to produce a live action film version of the iconic computer game Carmen Sandiego.

While there’s no word whether la Lopez will star as the game’s title character—a trenchcoat-and-fedora wearing thieving villainess—there’s no denying the Puerto Rican multi-hypenate’s striking resemblance to Sandiego, the ACME Agency’s greatest detective who becomes the world’s greatest thief.

The first Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego educational game was released in 1985; it’s now used as a teaching tool in more than half of elementary schools nationwide. The game also inspired a children’s game show on PBS that aired from 1991 to 1995.

Carmen Sandiego almost made it to the big screen in the late ’90s. Disney optioned the film rights to the computer game and developed a version for Sandra Bullock that never took off.