ANA ORTIZ FROM "UGLY" TO "TRUE BLUE"; CROSS-CULTURAL WEDDINGS ON MTV Tr3S

TeleVISION by Julio Martinez

ORTIZ SURVIVES THE DEMISE OF ‘UGLY’…Despite ABC unceremoniously booting Ugly Betty off the air this Spring, the network is not casting off Ana Ortiz, who is staying on ABC, starring in the network's cop drama pilot, True Blue. The cop show centers on a group of San Francisco homicide detectives reunited to solve the murder of one of their own. Ortiz plays a civilian secretary at the precinct. Poppy Montgomery co-stars. Exec producing are Jon Feldman, Chris Brancato and Bert Salke; Peter Horton is directing the pilot. There are a lot of pilots hatched during the Spring with no guarantee of finding a nesting place in the Fall primetime lineup. Ortiz has proven she has the star quality to make memorable any show she is in. Other pilot casting coups include Oswaldo Castillo being nabbed for NBC's untitled Adam Carolla comedy pilot. The pilot stars the comedian as a divorced contractor rebuilding his life. Castillo, a frequent collaborator of Carolla, will play his roommate and co-worker. Also in the works, Carmen Ejogo has taken a role in CBS drama pilot, Chaos.

THE COLORFUL... POLITICS OF ‘I DO’…With Quiero Mi Boda, MTV Tr3s takes an inside look at cross-cultural weddings and the hustle and bustle surrounding them. Producer Jorge Talon affirms, “Weddings are a special event in the life of a couple, a day where not only two people join in matrimony but also a day when two families unite. Now imagine these two families being from completely different cultural backgrounds, tastes, traditions, religion and sometimes even different languages.” Having premiered in on January 18 (10pm EST), Quiero Mi Boda shows what happens when you intermingle Mexicans with Cubans, Dominicans con Gringos, or even Puerto Ricans with Chinese! The final two Monday episodes air March 15 and 22 (9pm, EST).

INDEPENDENT LENS FOCUSES ON THE ‘LOST SOULS’…The Emmy Award-winning PBS series, Independent Lens, is premiering Lost Souls (“Animas Perdidas”), Tuesday, March 23rd at 10 PM (check local listings). Monika Navarro, a young Latina filmmaker born and raised in Ventura County, set out to make a documentary about her troubled uncle Augie, who was deported to Mexico after serving time for drug dealing, even though he was raised in the States and had served in the military. Navarro relates, "I found myself telling a different story -- about the kind of exile that has nothing to do with the government." Turning the camera on her parents, uncles and cousins, Monika shines a light on her family's dark history of abuse, addiction and abandonment as well as achievement and strength.

Finally, Carlos Gomez (Shark, Sleeper Cell) and Kiele Sanchez have landed co-starring roles on A&E's drama pilot Sugarloaf. More about that in next week’s TeleVISION.

LATIN HEAT welcomes breaking news, especially if you have landed a role on the little screen. Send submissions to submissions@latinheat.com and interview requests to Julio@juliomartinez.net.