December 7, 2015 (2015-12-07) – February 22, 2016 (2016-02-22)
Telenovela is an American single-camerasitcom television series starring Eva Longoria and Jencarlos Canela. The series is a behind-the-scenes look at a fictional telenovela (Latin American soap opera) that is shot in Miami, Florida, and follows the daily life of the show's star, who does not speak Spanish.[1] The series premiered on December 7, 2015 on NBC,[2] and concluded on February 22, 2016.
On May 13, 2016, NBC canceled the series after one season.[3]
Cast and characters
Main
Eva Longoria as Ana Sofia Calderon, the neurotic star of Las Leyes de Pasión[4]
Jencarlos Canela as Xavier (Xavi) Castillo, Ana Sofia's ex-husband, recently hired to co-star on her show[5]
Diana-Maria Riva as Mimi Moncada, Ana Sofia's best friend and the show's clothing designer and seamstress[5]
Amaury Nolasco as Rodrigo Suarez, Ana Sofia's co-star who plays the show's villain[5]
Jose Moreno Brooks as Gael Garnica, Ana Sofia's gay friend and co-star who plays her love interest on the show[6]
Jadyn Douglas as Roxi Rios, the show's youngest cast member who is dimwitted yet insightful[7]
Alex Meneses as Isabela Santamaria, the telenovela's aging former leading lady and Ana Sofia's chief rival
Izzy Diaz as Isaac Aguero, the show's head writer who drunkenly writes the episodes only to forget the scenes he wrote the next day
Recurring
Zachary Levi as James McMahon, the new network president of VivaVision; much to Ana Sofia's irritation, he speaks more Spanish than she does.
On January 16, 2015, NBC ordered thirteen episodes.[8] On October 19, 2015, the network cut its order to eleven episodes.[9] In November, the show title was switched from the production title Hot & Bothered to Telenovela.[10]
Ana Sofia is the star of the hit telenovela "Las Leyes de Pasión", without speaking a word of Spanish. The network decides to add to the show Ana's ex-husband Xavi, who had cheated on her. Now they compete to become the crew's favorite, and for the spotlight roles in the show, until Ana freaks out and Gael, the current hot lover in the show, starts stress eating. Ana and Mimi break into Xavi's yacht to take revenge but Xavi catches Ana and they apologize. Finally they perform a staged reunion kiss for the press and manage to star in the show together.
On Isabela's birthday, Ana has enough of all the secrets and lies and instates an open-book policy at the set, from which she learns of Mimi's (lack of a) sex life. She tries to match her up with Rodrigo, but there's a misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Isabela's identical twin Carmen arrives and befriends Gael, who tells her many stories about Isabela. When they discover that Carmen recorded all his secret stories of Isabela's wrongdoings and plans to include it in a tell-all book to ruin her, all friendships are off and Isabela fights with Carmen, which also marks the end of the open-book policy.
To show off in front of Xavi, Ana calls Mimi her personal assistant, which majorly strains their friendship. In a series of accidents on set, a light drops on Ana's head and she fakes amnesia. In another accident, Ana and Mimi end up trapped in a stage well, which gives them time to reconcile. Rodrigo is jealous of Xavi because Xavi never needs to rehearse for anything. When Xavi finds out that Rodrigo had wanted to become a boy-band member just like him, they perform a song together.
Ana agrees to go on a date with James, but feels more comfortable playing her character while on the date than being herself. Meanwhile, Rodrigo and Roxi try to convince Xavi that the ghost of a deceased actor haunts the show's set.
Ana sets up a charity event to build a house for an underprivileged family, and the cast and crew from Las Leyes de Pasión pitch in to help, but they get upstaged at the building site by the cast and crew of a rival telenovela.
Ana bans all food because of the upcoming beach wear scenes, but then a hurricane hits and everyone is stuck in the studio with nothing to eat and the hapless Gael in charge as safety captain.
Ana is having fun dating James, but his over-the-top attempts at showing his affection make her afraid that the relationship is moving way too fast. Meanwhile, Rodrigo loses his dressing room to Isaac in a poker game. When the guys set up the next game, Roxi wants in, and she turns out to be a better poker player than she let on.
When it is discovered that Mimi's son Connor has a photo of a half-dressed Ana under his mattress, the two women debate over whether or not he needs to have the sex talk. Meanwhile, the men of Las Leyes de Pasión are excited about an upcoming photo shoot for a magazine, until they hear that the photographer refuses to use any retouching techniques on the photos.
Mimi's ex-husband Martin (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) gets out of prison looking hotter than ever and seems to have changed for the better, but Ana warns her friend not to fall for him again.
With Xavi trying to be the best man he can be for new girlfriend Kelly (Fiona Gubelmann), he asks Ana to point out all the things he used to do to bug her and she is delighted to do so. But the two spend so much time together remaking Xavi, Kelly gets jealous. Meanwhile, a pregnancy scene has Rodrigo regretting he never had children, but his discussions with Roxi and Gael lead him to believe an old affair may have produced a child that he doesn't know about.
Ana is excited to learn she has a stalker, while she also considers rekindling her relationship with Xavi. When Xavi doesn't show up for their date, Ana learns her stalker is Kelly, who has kidnapped Xavi and is threatening his life. On the set, various cast members try to impress Isaac with their talents after learning he is writing a pilot for a new show.
^The third episode was released online on December 7, 2015.
Broadcast
Telenovela premiered as a "preview" on December 7, 2015 on NBC.[2][21] The series then moved to its regular Monday at 8:30 PM timeslot on December 21, 2015 as a mid-season replacement.
According to Metacritic, Telenovela currently holds a score of 62 out of 100, based on 21 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews".[22] On another review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a critical approval of 63%, based on 19 critics, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Featuring a likable cast led by a charming Eva Longoria, Telenovela is a comedy that provides entertainingly predictable laughs".[23]
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