In 2023 when This Fool starring Chris Estrada was unexpectedly cancelled after season two, fans were quick to rally—sparking online petitions and talk of lobbying Hulu to bring it back. Estrada’s unique comedic voice stood apart from the sitcom stars who came before him. Unlike the broader humor of Freddie Prinze, George Lopez, or Gabriel Iglesias, Estrada’s deadpan delivery, sharp wit, and occasional mean streak brought a refreshing edge to Latino comedy on television.

This Fool didn’t just make waves—it made Estrada a breakout star. It also proved there was an audience hungry for stories outside of the usual tropes. Estrada’s sharp writing and original voice earned him millions of new fans and solidified his place as one of comedy’s most exciting new comedic talents.

Now, Estrada is back with a brand-new project, and this time he’s stepping into network television.

Estrada is set to co-write and executive produce Forklift, a single-camera warehouse comedy currently in development at NBC. As with This Fool, Forklift is loosely inspired by Estrada’s own life. Before landing his first series at Hulu, Estrada spent years grinding in warehouse jobs, an experience he now flips into comedy gold.

Co-written with Rick Cisario, Forklift centers on Victor (played by Estrada), a forklift driver who is suddenly promoted to warehouse supervisor. His promotion changes the dynamics with his coworkers, who now view him in a completely different light and have a hard time adjusting to his new role. The premise promises the same grounded, working-class humor that made This Fool so resonant—this time through the lens of workplace politics and friendships.

Estrada’s rise is a big win not only for his fans but for the ongoing push to amplify Latino voices in Hollywood. While Latinos make up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, the stories told about them—and more importantly, the people telling those stories—remain disproportionately few. Estrada stands out because he’s not just starring in these shows; he’s writing and producing them.

By creating characters and situations pulled from his own lived experiences, Estrada brings authenticity and specificity to Latino storytelling that feels both universal and unapologetically personal.

Forklift has the potential to broaden his reach even further, introducing mainstream NBC audiences to his unique perspective. It’s also a hopeful sign that networks are starting to invest in stories that reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Estrada and Cisario will also executive produce alongside Good Walk’s Kent Alterman and Sarah Babineau will serve as executive producer for Good Walk their production company. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.

With Forklift in the works, Estrada is proving that he’s not a one-hit wonder but a creative force with staying power. As he continues to navigate Hollywood on his own terms, fans can look forward to more of the sharp, socially conscious comedy that first put him on the map.

Estrada isn’t just back—he’s leveling up.

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It made big news when it premiered in August and is coming back with more of the irreverent comedy that audiences loved.  This Fool, the Hulu Original comedy series, produced by ABC Signature has been renewed for ten more episodes of creator and star Chris Estrada’s comedy series.

Season one of This Fool premiered this year on August 12 streaming on Hulu with 10 episodes. You can still watch it if you have not seen it and want to get up to speed for season two.  The series is written and executive produced by Chris Estrada, Pat Bishop (Corporate), Jake Weisman (Corporate) and Matt Ingebretson (Corporate). Jonathan Groff (Black-ish) and Fred Armisen (Los Espookys) also serve as executive producers on the series. 

This Fool is a half-hour comedy about a working class ordinary (very ordinary) “Joe”.  Julio Lopez is a 30 year-old man who still lives at home, a prim and proper, self-righteous man with an on-and-off girlfriend who, the worse she treats him the more he pursues her.  She is his high school sweetheart…who is not very sweet to him.  Julio works at a non-profit gang rehabilitation where he takes his cousin, recently released from jail, in hopes of rehabilitating him.  Which is easier said than done.  

At Hugs Not Thugs, the non-profit works for, Julio takes his job of reforming his ex-gang member cousin seriously, but it proves to be harder than he imagined.

The supporting cast is stellar.  In addition to Estrada who plays the lead, Frankie Quiñones who plays Julio’s cousin,  Laura Patalano plays his mom Esperanza; Michelle Ortiz plays his girlfriend Maggie, veteran actress Julia Vera plays Maria his grandmother and Michael Imerioli plays Minister Payne.  

This cast of characters quickly endeared themselves to a ready audience who have been waiting for season two!

Chris Estrada is repped by United Talent Agency

Cowboys Movies Back in The Saddle Again

Not sure how much Kevin Costner’s western series Yellowstone has had a hand in raising the profile of the western genre, but Indie filmmaker Mario Van Peebles (Power Book III: Raising Kanan) just wrapped production on a new western called Outlaws which he directed and stars in.   His cast includes Whoopie Goldberg (Till), Cedric the Entertainer (The Neighborhood) and Edward James Olmos (Mayans M.C.) 

Van Peebles plays a renegade cowboy who assembles a team of multicultural friends to help him retrieve gold from an abandoned mine. It sounds like the feature Oceans 11, western style!  We are glad they included Olmos as one of the main characters because how can you make a movie about cowboys without them, when Mexicans invented the iconic cowboy genre.  Words like Buckaroo is an Anglicized form of the word in Spanish “vaquero” and “la reata” became lariat.  

Westerns are making a comeback and stories of Mexican “Vaqueros” are currently in development.  More on that in next week’s Hollywood Talks!

Edward James Olmos is repped by Ben Dey of Creative Artists Agency

Get Ready for Anna Garcia

You may not know Anna Garcia (Hacks) but soon you will.  She is a graduated of  the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Film and moved to L.A. in 2017..  She was a stand out in the 2022 CBS Comedy Showcase and after making appearances on TV shows like Hacks, Superstore and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, she is now ready for her film close up.

Garcia landed a much sought-after role in what will be her feature film debut in Project Artemis where she will work alongside Jim Rash (Harely Quinn), Ray Romano (Parenthood), Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: End Game) and Channing Tatum (The Lost City). 

The film, whose plot line is listed on IMDB as “under wraps” is rumoured to be a 1960s space race film.  It is being directed by Greg Berlanti for Apple Studios and produced by Johansson, Jonathan Lia and Keenan Flynn of These Pictures.  Rose Gilroy and Sarah Schechter wrote the script.

Anna is repped by Valerie Champeau at Paradigm Talent Agency 

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Inspired by the life and standup career of star and co-creator Chris Estrada, the 10-episode Hulu series, This Fool, centers around 30-year-old Julio (Estrada), who almost dementedly attempts to avoid conflict at all costs. Living and working in South Central Los Angeles, Julio navigates his way through a series of codependent relationships with his family Grandma Julia Vera and mother Laura Patalano, who he lives with; his girlfriend Maggie (Michelle Oritz), whom he’s been dating since high school; his older cousin Louis (Frankie Quinones), who has just gotten out of prison and is now living with Julio’s family, and his co-workers at Hugs Not Thugs, a South L.A. gang rehabilitation center. The comedic elements come from Julio’s inability to avoid dealing with his problems, punctuated immensely by the colorful portrayals of his castmates. 

In fact, the opening episode relies too much on the off-the-wall antics of the people who inhabit Julio’s world. Estrada’s adept timing happily allows the others to shine, keeping the action moving non-stop. In the process, we come to see that Julio is clearly one of the more miserable characters to be on a sitcom, while proving Estrada to be one of the most effective straight men working in television. In viewing the chaos of living in a troubled neighborhood, one wishes that Julio would try harder to rise above the situations that converge against him. But the character is often no match for the people in his life. While Julio struggles to be sane and rational with his supposed girlfriend, Maggie dominates, at one point casually taking his car, steamrolling his protests with breezy aplomb. In the meantime, Quinones’ Louis is a bombastic loudmouth who reduces his cousin to the timid little boy whom he has dominated all his life. 

What saves Julio is how he spends his days working at Hugs Not Thugs, trying to help reformed gang members and ex-cons make successful re-entries into society. He proves himself to be a worthy, insightful helpmate, even though his workdays don’t always move along smoothly, especially when dealing with his boss, the less than holy and highly unconventional minister-in-charge of Hugs Not Thugs, portrayed with dead-pan humor by Michael Imperioli. But it is at this rehab center that Julio manages to occasionally rise above the chaos of his life, even managing to outwit his cousin, using Luis’ pride and ego to cajole him into making the rehab center’s famous cupcakes for an important sale. It also shows another side of Luis, from a wisecracking joker to a man looking to improve himself. 

If the series manages in its ensuing episodes to rise above the over-abundance of gang banger sight gags and sad sack jokes, placing Julio on more of an even keel with the people in his life, then This Fool has a chance of sustaining itself. Chris Estrada is a masterful comedian, who has created an intriguing premise and a potentially worthy hero that the viewing audience should be cheering on to succeed. It can be funny when Julio falls victim, but it would be more rewarding to witness the basic decency and goodness of the man when he helps those souls around him to build better lives for themselves.    This Fool, which debuts August 12, is written and executive produced by Chris Estrada, Pat Bishop, Jake Weisman and Matt Ingebretson. Jonathan Groff and Fred Armisen also serve as executive producers on the series. The Hulu comedy is produced by ABC Signature. 

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Estrada will lead his comedy special This Fool, whose greenlighting was announced at the media tour. Dawson will co-star in the opioid drama series Dopesick along with Michael Keaton (Birdman), Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) and Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man). And Gomez will be featured in in the crime/comedy limited series Only Murders in the Building along with two comedy legends, Oscar winner Steve Martin (Father of the Bride) and Martin Short (Three Amigos). 

The shows are part of the company’s lineup of upcoming original programming that also includes shows like Nine Perfect Strangers with a large stellar cast including Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy and Bobby Cannavale; two Hulu Originals true-crime projects, the doc Dead Asleep and the docu-series Captive Audience; and the cooking shows The Next Thing You Eat and Baker’s Dozen. 

FUNNY STORIES FROM THE BARRIO

“Breaking out new and distinct voices continues to be a hallmark of Hulu Original programming, and we are incredibly excited to add Chris Estrada to our roster of multi-hyphenate creators and to bring This Fool to our viewers,” said Craig Erwich, president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment. 

Inspired by the life and stand-up comedy of star and co-creator Estrada, This Fool centers on Julio Lopez, a self-described “punk-ass bitch” who still lives at home and goes out of his way to help everyone but himself. In fact, the character’s self-description was the title of show’s pilot that was ordered by the streamer back in early 2021–still listed on the trade website IMDb. That website also lists Michelle Ortiz and Frankie Quinones as part of the cast.  

The half-hour This Fool explores Julio’s work at a gang-rehabilitation non-profit and his quest to overcome his codependency issues with his family as he navigates working-class life in South Central Los Angeles. 

This Fool is written and executive produced by Estrada, Pat Bishop (Corporate), Jake Weisman (Battle of the Sexes) and Matt Ingebretson (What a Nice Party). Fred Armisen (Portlandia) and Jonathan Groff also serve as executive producers. The series is produced by ABC Signature.

Estrada was seen recently in a half-hour comedy special Entre Nos on HBO Latino.

AMERICA’S MASSIVE OPIOID CRISIS
The drug addiction drama Dopesick examines how one company triggered what’s been reported as the worst drug epidemic in American history. In addition to Dawson, Sarsgaard, Stuhlbarg and Keaton, who also executive produces, the show also features Will Poulter (The Maze Runner), John Hoogenakker (Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan) and Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart). Guest starring also will be Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) and Jake McDorman (The Right Stuff).

The eight-episode Dopesick takes viewers to the epicenter of America’s struggle with opioid addiction, from the boardrooms of Big Pharma to a distressed Virginia mining community to the hallways of the DEA. Defying all the odds, heroes will emerge in an intense and thrilling ride to take down the craven corporate forces behind this national crisis and their allies. The limited series is inspired by the New York Times bestselling book by Beth Macy. 

Dopesick is written by Emmy-winner Danny Strong (Empire) and directed by Oscar-winner Barry Levinson (Paterno, Rain Man). Executive producing along with Keaton are Strong, John Goldwyn (Dexter), Warren Littlefield (Fargo), Karen Rosenfelt (Twilight) and Beth Macy.

The series will premiere Oct. 13.

GOMEZ’S COMEDY
With Only Murders in the Building, Selena Gomez is adding another comedy credit to her career. The limited series follows three strangers who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one. Gomez joins two comedy legends, Oscar winner Martin and Short, who also created the story and co-wrote the script along with John Hoffman (Grace and Frankie).

When a grisly death occurs inside their exclusive Upper West Side apartment building, Mabel (Gomez), Charles (Martin) and (Oliver) suspects murder and employs their precise knowledge of true crime to investigate the truth. They document their case in a podcast and unravel their building’s years-long complex secrets–all the while lying to each other. They soon find themselves facing the possibility a killer is living among their neighbors and race to solve the crime’s puzzle before it’s too late.

In addition to voicing the character Mavi in Hotel Transylvania, Gomez has starred in various other comedies like Spring Breakers, Another Cinderella Story and Ramona and Beezus.

Only Murders in the Building also features three other Latino actors, Aaron Dominguez (Shaft), Esteban Benito (The Binge) and Vanessa Aspillaga (Hustlers).

The 10-episode long series premieres Aug. 31.

HULU’S ‘EXPANDING SLATE’
“Looking ahead, we could not be more proud of the lineup of event series coming to Hulu through the end of the year and beyond,” said Erwich, the Hulu Originals president. “Led by the debut of ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ from the brilliant David E. Kelly and a truly all-star cast, and ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ which marks a return to television for Selena Gomez and two comedic giants—Steve Martin and Martin Short—as well as the incredibly timely ‘Dopesick,’ the return of acclaimed comedy series ‘The Great,’ and a rapidly expanding slate of conversation-worthy unscripted series and documentaries, Hulu viewers will have access to many of the best shows coming to television this fall.”

The TCA Summer Press Tour allows television and streaming companies to present their programming lineup for the rest of the year and beyond to the news media.

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