PRESS RELEASE
Fox Broadcasting Co.
www.fox.com

LUIS (LUIS GUZMAN, “Traffic,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Boogie Nights”) is living the American dream. He’s the proud owner of a Spanish Harlem donut shop and the landlord of the building it’s in. But a dream is only a dream, and you’ve got to wake up sometime. He wakes up every day... To an obnoxious elderly Irish woman who lives in a rent-controlled apartment. To a Chinese delivery boy who swears he was a cardiologist back in the “Old Country” and doesn’t speak English because “This is America – you speak Spanish.” And to TK (MALCOLM BARRETT) a young African-American kid who harasses his customers by trying to sell them “merchandise” he found in Luis’ dumpster.

Luis’ family doesn’t help much. His ex-wife, ISABELLA (DIANA-MARIA RIVA), constantly reminds him why they got divorced, but somehow she can’t get enough of him or his donuts. Their daughter, MARLY (JACLYN DESANTIS), is responsible and hardworking but lives in Luis’ building with her free-loading boyfriend GREG (MICHAEL McMILLIAN), a pretentious “artiste” who hopes to pay his share of the rent by selling his paintings. But Luis is pretty sure no one will ever buy his “impressionistic porno.” At least he has Ginger – his mint, ’82 Olds Delta 88, and his trusted assistant RICHIE (CHARLIE DAY), who pines for Luis’ daughter.

This is a show about a “highly functioning Latino,” an All-American Puerto Rican, who rules his building like a castle and his neighborhood like he’s the de facto mayor. He’s not quite conservative, not quite liberal. He’s a man who’s got the world figured out – the world just doesn’t know it yet. The series comes from creator and executive producer WILL GLUCK (“The John Larroquette Show”) and 20th Century Fox Television.

TM and © FOX and its related entities. All rights reserved.

Fridays @
8:30pm ET/PT
this fall on FOX

CAST
Luis Guzman
Diana-Maria Riva
Jaclyn DeSantis
Michael McMillan
Malcolm Barrett
Charlie Day

 

 

PRESS RELEASE
Fox Broadcasting Co.
www.fox.com

Live from California’s beautiful San Fernando Valley ... it’s THE ORTEGAS. Based on the International Emmy-winning and hit BBC series, “The Kumars at No. 42,” this inventive new series blends comedy, reality and improvisation into one wild, unique mix. LUIS ORTEGA (AL MADRIGAL, “2002 Montreal Comedy Festival”) is the likeable young host of his very own talk show, thanks to his generous immigrant parents HENRY (CHEECH MARIN, “Nash Bridges”) and ESMERALDA (TERRI HOYOS, “Town and Country”), who built a television studio in the family’s backyard.

Each week, the family – including Luis’ darling and often uncensored grandmother MARIA (RENEE VICTOR, “Never Trust a Serial Killer”) – welcomes actual celebrity guests into their home, smothering them with hospitality and homemade traditional Mexican snacks. And once they’ve step out of the back of the house and into the television studio, the talk show begins. At this point the entire family showers their guests – who have not been prepped for the talk show portion of the show - with spontaneous and wide-ranging interview topics leaving the live audience wondering what could possibly be next. Look out Dave and Jay – Luis Ortega is on his way.

As if Luis, Henry, Esmeralda and Maria are not enough, THE ORTEGAS will introduce their friends, family, and neighbors who inhabit this crazy world called “Van Nuys.” They are all as colorful and entertaining as the Ortegas themselves.

WALLY WOLODARSKY (“The Oblongs”), GAVIN POLONE (“Hack”), JIMMY MULVILLE (“The Kumars at No. 42”) and DENISE O’DONOGHUE (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) serve as executive producers. LINDA MENDOZA (“The Bernie Mac Show”) directs this comedy from Pariah and Hat Trick Productions.

TM and © FOX and its related entities. All rights reserved.

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Unfortunately, FOX decided to cancel "Luis" after only airing four episodes. They then shelved "The Ortegas" before ever airing a single episode. So much for diversity in network television broadcasting!

 

© Copyright 2002-2004 LatinoStandup.com

Sundays @
8:30pm ET/PT
this fall on FOX

CAST
Al Madrigal
Cheech Marin
Terri Hoyos
Renee Victor