Posted 11-17-06

ABC’s Ugly Betty is Tops With Viewers
Great news from ABC, which has picked up Ugly Betty for a full season in its Thursday time slot (8 p.m.). This delightful and engaging drama comedy, starring America Ferrara, Vanessa Williams, Eric Mabius, and Alan Dale, also features Ana Ortiz, Mark Indelicato, Tony Plana, as well as its executive producer Salma Hayek, and internationally recognized telenovela stars from Univision’s talent pool in humorous spots that is sure to tickle the funny bone of ongoing fans of the Spanish-language soaps.

Longoria Big on TiVo
PVRWIRE has posted its stats on the Most Recorded Shows on TiVo for the week ending 9-24 and ranked ABC’s Desperate Housewives co-star Eva Longoria, in the number two spot.

Longoria has had some interesting roles since her daytime soap opera days. In the low budget indie feature film Harsh Times with Christian Bale, she plays a lawyer. In the film Sentinel, (recently released on DVD) opposite Michael Douglas and Keifer Sutherland, she plays a Secret Service Agent. In the CBS Movie of the Week, The Dead Will Tell, which aired in 2004, she starred opposite Anne Heche, Jonathan La Paglia and Kathleen Quinlan as a quirky psychic, and on the critically acclaimed Dick Wolf series, L.A. Dragnet, she played a detective well trained in psychology opposite veteran actor Ed O’Neill.

For a look at her comedic side, check out her critically acclaimed comedy/variety show, Hot Tamales Live, in which she stars and co-produces. The show is available on DVD/videocassette.

Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship
Nickelodeon is offering writing fellowships in live action and animated television to culturally and ethnically diverse, new writers. Participants will have hands-on experience writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas.

The program, developed to broaden Nickelodeon’s outreach efforts, provides a salaried position for up to one year. The ’07-’08 cycle is tentatively scheduled to begin in October 2007.

The next submission period runs from January 2 – February 28, 2007. Applications and submission guidelines are available at Nickelodeon’s Web site: www.nickwriting.com.

Olmos Returns for New Season of Battlestar Galactica
The new season of Battlestar Galactica, starring Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama returned to the Sci Fi Channel, Oct. 6. He first appeared as Adama in the Channel’s mini-series remake of the series in 2003, and has since appeared in every season of the new TV series.

Born in East L.A. to a Southern Baptist Mexican immigrant with one quarter Hungarian Jewish ancestry – family name was originally Olmosh – and a Mexican American Catholic mother, Olmos went on to become an Emmy and Golden Globe winner for his awesome performances as police lieutenant Martin Castillo in the television series Miami Vice.

Recipient of Imagen’s 1988 Creative Achievement Award, Olmos has also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the1988 movie Stand and Deliver, in which he portrayed a real-life math teacher Jaime Escalante. He is the second performer of Mexican descent to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. The first was Anthony Quinn.