In movies like Avatar and Guardians of the Universe, just to name a few, Zoe Saldana has solidified her creds as a lethal action / adventure hero superstar who happens to be Latina. And now on the heels of her powerful dramatic performance in Emilia Perez (and the girl can dance and sing, too), which has garnered her many award nominations, Saldana puts both acting / action talents in violent, harmonic, full blown display on Lioness.

Saldana plays Joe, the head of a top-secret special op unit called “Lioness.” Their top-secret CIA mission is to insert a female asset (a lioness) into terrorists’ cells and make high value targets in the cell vulnerable and exposed, at which point, Saldana’s team “terminate” the target with “extreme prejudice.”

Saldana and her team are salty, earthy, hardened, experienced warriors and they all drop more “F” bombs in one episode than all the bombs dropped  on Germany, Japan and Vietnam combined. The shootouts are nail-biting bullet blazing scenes with Saldana relishing all the action, almost to a fault.

Her life is complicated by a marriage and family she is neglecting to fulfil these dangerous missions.  Saldana finds herself torn between duty and family. She’s a flawed, adrenaline- driven, emotionally conflicted person. Saldana plays it beautifully in a compelling, riveting performance.

“Lioness” is the name of the special ops program and the female asset to be inserted in a terrorist cell. But it also perfectly describes the fierce persona of Zoe Saldana in this pulse-pounding, Latina character-driven, action, thriller hit Paramount+ Original TV series.

Lioness streams on Paramount+, Hulu and other streaming platforms.

Stars:  Zoe Saldana, Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, Jill Wagn

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Actress Analisa Velez is joining the cast of The Game, a Paramount+ revival of the award-winning comedy/sports/drama series that for many seasons ran first on The CW and more recently on BET.

Velez is part of a few new faces added to original series regulars Brittany Daniel, Hosea Chanchez, Pooch Hall and Wendy Raquel Robinson. The other newcomers are Adriyan Rae (Chicago Fire) and Vaughn Hebron (Tyler Perry’s The Oval). Velez plays Raquel Navarro, a supporting recurring role.

The reboot series is relocating from San Diego to Las Vegas and will continue a modern-day examination of Black culture through the prism of a professional football team. The show will tackle racism, sexism, classism and more as they fight for fame, fortune, respect and love at the same time they try to keep their souls. The first season will consist of 10 episodes and stream exclusively on Paramount+.

“This one is for the village that got me here!,” posted Velez on her Instagram account, sharing media reports about the new show. “Couldn’t have got this opportunity without the help of a lot of amazing people. Friends and family, welcome: ‘The Game’ into your homes and Raquel into your (I know it’s cheesy, but boy am I proud).” 

Velez is a stage actor and producer who is now making the transition from stage to TV. Last year she starred in the play The Purists directed by Billy Porter, which earned her the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress. Her other stage credits include Tell Hector I Miss Him at Atlantic Theater Company and Queen Latina and her Power Posse at Cherry Lane Theatre, both off-Broadway venues in New York. She also produced with Raw Heater

Velez’s television and film credits include the series Amazon Instant Video Sneaky Pete and the indie rom-com Almost Love streaming now on Netflix. She is also a singer and you can get to know her music by first following her on Instagram @analisavelez.

The Game is executive produced by original show creator Mara Brock Akil (Being Mary Jane), showrunner and writer Devon Greggory (American Soul), Salim Akil (Black Lightning), and original executive producer Kelsey Grammer (Girlfriends) and Tom Russo (Black-ish) of Grammnet NH Productions. Kevin Bray (Insecure) will direct the first two episodes of the inaugural season. The series is produced by CBS Studios, Akil Productions and Grammnet NH Productions.

It is worthwhile to mention that The Game is a spinoff of Girlfriends, the successful comedy about a group of Black modern women facing life’s tests and triumphs together. That series starred Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish), Golden Brooks, Persia White and Jill Marie Jones. The show won two NAACP Image Awards. 

All nine seasons of The Game are currently available on Paramount+. The series will be distributed internationally by ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group.

Featured Photo: Analisa Velez (Credit: Carlos R. Rivera Rodriguez/Courtesy of Paramount+)

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Martin of Livin’ la Vida Loca fame and rapper LL Cool will help launch the series July 29. They will be followed by rock star Huey Lewis on Aug. 5, rapper legend Busta Rhymes on Aug. 12, new wave master band Duran Duran on Aug. 19 and pop boy band New Kids On The Block on Aug. 26. In September the spotlight will be on Bret Michaels of the rock band Poison on 2nd and Cuban/Puerto Rican Fat Joe on the 9th. 

The second half of the season will feature the Lopez episode and other superstars whose names will be released later. 

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Nickelodeon is rebooting its award-winning series iCarly for the streamer Paramount+ with three of its major original stars reprising their roles and adding rising Afro-Latina child actor Jaidyn Triplett to the cast.

Ten-year-old Jaidyn (Black-ish) is joining returning stars Miranda Cosgrove (Carly Shay), Jerry Trainor (Spencer Shay) and Nathan Kress (Freddie Benson). In the original series, Carly and her best friends hosted a teen webcast and dealt with everyday issues and adventures of people their age. The series ran from 2007 to 2012 winning a dozen awards, including four Kids’ Choice Awards in the USA and another three in Australia, as well as seven Primetime Emmy nominations.

In the new iCarly, the teen webcasters are all grown up. The 13-episode season picks up nearly 10 years after the original show ended, and finds Carly and her friends navigating work, love and their family in their twenties. 

Jaidyn, the youngest member of the main cast, plays Millicent Benson, Freddie’s snarky and social media-obsessed step-daughter. She is a master at manipulating her dad in order to get what she wants, and despite only having a few subscribers on her web channel, Millicent sees Carly as a direct competitor.

“Being on the iCarly set has always felt like a second home to me and it’s so awesome to be back with my pals Jerry and Nathan,” says Cosgrove. “We served up spaghetti tacos over 10 years ago, and I can’t wait to show you what we’re cooking up next with Nickelodeon for Paramount+!”

In preparation for her role, Jaidyn has said in media interviews she binged on the original series and later was pleased to meet the stars of the original show as they started working on the series revival. 

When the new iCarly intro was recently unveiled, Jaidyn apparently liked what she saw and heard. She posted the video on Instagram: “Don’t you just love the theme song? I Can’t get it out of my head.” The tune, titled “Leave It All to Me,” is sung by Cosgrove and Drake Bell, another Nickelodeon star who starred in The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh.

iCarly adds another prominent credit to Jaidyn’s growing career. The 10-year-old actress was born in Ohio to Nory Triplett, who is Puerto Rican, and Joshua Triplett, who is African American. The Tripletts move to Los Angeles when shortly after 2-year-old Jaidyn started her acting career, starring in national commercials. She slowly broke her way into Hollywood, amassing a dozen TV credits and another dozen in film. Jaidyn has been featured in Showtime’s The Affair, ABC’s Station 19 and Black-ish and Netflix’s Family Reunion. She has appeared in the films Major Deal and A Stone Cold Christmas. 

The original iCarly series was created by Dan Schneider.

The new iCarly series is produced by Nickelodeon Studios and Awesomeness (To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Trinkets, PEN15). The pilot was written by Ali Schouten (Diary of a Future President, Champions, Merry Happy Whatever), who also serves as executive producer, and Jay Kogen (Nickelodeon’s School of Rock, The Simpsons, Frasier). iCarly’s Cosgrove also serves as executive producer and her co-star Trainor serves as producer along with Alissa Vradenburg. The pilot was directed and executive produced by Phill Lewis (One Day at a Time, The Neighborhood). The original iCarly series was created by Dan Schneider.

Production of the new iCarly series for Nickelodeon Studios and Awesomeness is overseen by Shauna Phelan, senior vice president of live-action scripted content, and Zack Olin, senior vice president of live action.

Featured Photo: Actress Jaidyn Triplett (Credit: Jeremy David Creative) / ‘iCarly’ Poster (Credit: Nickelodeon)

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“The groundbreaking and prolific music documentary series returns with several new episodes and the best of the vault remastered and updated for today’s audiences featuring artist interviews, a creative refresh and reimagined visual style,” announced Paramount+.

From 1997 to 2014, the VH1 program featured musical artists and their careers, ups and downs. Profiled performers included Christina Aguilera, Tori Amos, Backstreet Boys, The Bangles, Pat Benatar, Blondie, Mariah Carey, The Carpenters, Def Leppard, Celine Dion, Duran Duran, Gloria Estefan, Fleetwood Mac, The Go-Go’s, Green Day, Guns N’ Roses and R.E.M.

The show was nominated for five Primetime Emmys and won an Alma Award in the Outstanding Made-for-Television Documentary category for the episode on Selena Quintanilla in 1999, four years after the death of the Queen of Tejano music.

The original VH1’s Behind the Music was created by Jeff Gaspin and Gay Rosenthal and narrated by Jim Forbes.

Lopez and Martin are among the most influential and best-selling Latin music artists with more than 70 million records worldwide.

With half a dozen albums, Lopez’s music hits include “If You Had My Love”, “Ain’t It Funny”, “On the Floor” and “Let’s Get Loud.” She is also an accomplished actress and television star. Her film credits include Selena, Anaconda opposite Ice Cube and Jon Voit, “Out of Sight” opposite George Clooney, The Wedding Planner opposite Matthew McConaughey and Maid in Manhattan opposite Ralph Fiennes.  

For his part, Martin’s music hits include “Livin’ la Vida Loca” and “She Bangs” and hits in Spanish like “Vuelve” and “Maria.” The Grammy and Latin Grammy-award winner has also acted in television in Mexico and the U.S., including the telenovela Alcanzar una Estrella and the soap opera General Hospital.

Other artists confirmed to be featured on Paramount+’s Behind the Music are rocker Huey Lewis and rappers Busta Rhymes, Fat Joe and LL Cool J.

Featured Photo: Jennifer Lopez (Credit: DOD/Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II). Ricky Martin (Credit: Eva Rinaldi)

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