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'Mexican Beverly Hills': Valderrama to produce new CBS series

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Michelle Rose / TV Media
Wilmer Valderrama behind "Mexican Beverly Hills"

Wilmer Valderrama behind "Mexican Beverly Hills"

'Mexican Beverly Hills': Whenever a series regular's name is linked to a new TV project, fans often fear that their favorite character may soon be written off the show. This was recently the case with "NCIS" star Wilmer Valderrama, who is involved in a new series currently being developed for CBS.

A single-camera family comedy, "Mexican Beverly Hills" is the story of a working-class Mexican American family that moves to the wealthy and heavily Latinx city of Downey (dubbed Mexican Beverly Hills). Once there, the family members soon realize they fit in and stand out in the most unexpected ways.

As reported by Deadline, the potential comedy series is inspired by a New York Times personal essay written by Telly Award-winning writer Erick Galindo. Galindo will write and serve as executive producer alongside comedy writer/director Aaron Izek ("Broke"), who is an alumnus of the CBS Writers Mentoring Program. Valderrama is also on board as an executive producer along with Kaitlin Saltzman, vice-president and head of Scripted at Valderrama's production company, WV Entertainment.

While many took to social media to congratulate Valderrama on his new project, some fans -- perhaps those still reeling from the departures of Sloane (Maria Bello, "Grown Ups," 2010), Bishop (Emily Wickersham, "Gone," 2012) and Gibbs (Mark Harmon, "Freaky Friday," 2003) -- worried about what it meant for Nick Torres' (Valderrama) future.

But Valderrama, who welcomed his first child earlier this year, has worked on several other projects since joining the cast of "NCIS" in 2016. He's also attached to "Mexican Beverly Hills" as an executive producer instead of a starring role, so it seems "Congratulations" may be in order instead of a preemptive "Farewell."

 

Back to the past: With rib knits, baggy jeans and lug-sole boots dominating fashion right now, the '90s are back in a big way. But who would have thought that our feelings of nostalgia would extend beyond fashion and into the workplace?

Johnny Galecki, who starred as Leonard Hofstadter in all 12 seasons of "The Big Bang Theory," has teamed up with "Will & Grace" executive producer John Quaintance to develop a new workplace comedy for CBS.

Titled "AOK" (no relation to the viral TikTok hit "A-O-K" from singer Tai Verdes), the half-hour multi-cam sitcom is set at an internet startup company in "pre-AOL" 1991. The potential series focuses on a group of "young and mostly idealistic entrepreneurs who work together, hang out together and fall in and out of love with each other, all while trying to change their world and hold up a mirror to ours" (per CBS).

"This specific period of time is personal to many, including all of us involved, so it's important to make the show feel as authentic as possible," Galecki told Deadline, which first broke the news of this new project. "We are excited to reimagine the '90s sitcom through a modern lens as John [Quaintance] has created something truly special. We hope to surprise people in a familiar place with characters you will fall in love with."

No word yet on whether Galecki will remain behind the scenes or if he'll make an appearance on screen. This one is still early in the production stage, so expect more news to come.

 

Post 'Crown': Emma Corrin has earned rave reviews and even an Emmy nomination for her performance as Princess Diana in Season 4 of Netflix's "The Crown," and she'll be front and center when Season 5 debuts in 2022.

But given the series' unusually high cast turnover rate -- the lead roles are recast every two seasons in order to reflect the characters' aging in real life -- no one can fault her for lining up a few post-"Crown" projects.

Next up for Corrin is a role in FX's upcoming mystery drama "Retreat." From "The OA" creators Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the limited series centers on Darby Hart (Corrin), an amateur detective who attempts to solve a murder at a secluded retreat. Hart and 11 other guests were invited by a reclusive billionaire, but when one of them is found dead, Darby must move quickly to prove it was murder "against a tide of competing interests and before the killer takes another life."

"Retreat" is currently in pre-production but is expected to land sometime in 2022. In the meantime, Corrin is busy filming Netflix's TV adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's classic novel, "Lady Chatterley's Lover," in which she portrays the title character. That one is also due out in 2022, as is Amazon Studios' "My Policeman," in which Corrin stars opposite Harry Styles.

"My Policeman" doesn't have an official release date yet, but it's currently in post-production and may debut in mid-to-late 2022.