Friday nights are getting a little sudsier, thanks to AMC Networks’ female-targeted WE tv.
Starting Friday, Oct. 7, at 10 p.m. ET, WE tv will air the eight-episode My Life Is a Telenovela, a “docu-reality” series that turns the camera on the drama transpiring between the actors on a fledgling Telemundo soap opera when they’re not reciting lines from the script.
Set in Miami, the series follows a group of “beautiful, talented and hard-working Hispanic actors” working in the hyper-competitive world of telenovelas. Hour-long episodes will run through December.
Stars include veteran actress Sissi Fleitas, a former model and presenter on the now-concluded Univision Saturday-night staple Sábado Gigante. Fleitas has also been featured on the cover of Playboy magazine in Latin America.
Also featured on the series are Telemundo telenovela actress Maria ‘Raquenel’ Portillo, who first gained fame as “the Mexican Madonna;” Venezuelan actor Enrique Sapene [Borderline; Hacienda Heights]; Mexican actor Gustavo Pedraza [Eva La Trailera; El Talisman]; former Sábado Gigante co-host Alina Robert; and Liliana Rodríguez Morillo, the outspoken and temperamental daughter of José Luis Rodriguez “El Puma.”
In the premiere episode, several female cast members are vying for the same role in a telenovela being produced for NBCUniversal-owned telenovela, “resulting in jealousy, betrayal, backstabbing, rivalry and fireworks on both sides of the camera.”
My Life is a Telenovela is produced for WE tv by Matador, a New York- and Los Angeles-based production company founded in 2012 by longtime friends Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin. Since its launch, Matador has produced nearly two dozen TV series, including Spike’s Lip Sync Battle, GSN’s horror-themed competition series Hellevator, and History’s “comedic historical series” Great Minds. Matador is also responsible for HBO’s Emmy-nominated documentary Banksy Does New York, as well as sports and feature documentary specials, virtual reality content and digital programs across several networks.
My Life is a Telenovela is executive produced by Peterson and Lubin, alongside Jerry Carita and Megan Sanchez-Warner. Nathan Carpenter is co-executive producer, while executive producers for WE tv are Lauren P. Gellert and Suzanne Gladstone Murch.
The soapy series is not the only show Matador is producing for AMC Networks:Geeking Out, starring Kevin Smith and Greg Grunberg, is being produced for sister channel AMC.
