Television

TV: Network outlines fall lineup; new telenovelas planned

12:29 PM CDT on Monday, May 22, 2006

By MARIA ELENA FERNANDEZ / Los Angeles Times

The verdict is in: Original programming produced in the U.S. for Hispanics who live in the country will continue to be the cornerstone of Telemundo's programming.

"We had made a big bet and investment on original programming," says Don Brown, president of the Spanish-language network, locally KXTX-TV (Channel 39). "But at this point last year, ratings were heading in the wrong direction. ... We've stayed absolutely on focus with our strategy."

Reporting ratings growth in all key areas (prime time, daytime and weekend), the network's senior vice president of entertainment, Ramon Escobar, outlined his fall schedule this week and announced five new telenovelas.

One of them is a first-time production with Sony Pictures Television International to adapt Isabel Allende's lively retelling of the Zorro legend, El Zorro, into Zorro: La Espada y la Rosa ( Zorro: The Sword and the Rose).

The show, to be produced in Colombia, will be one of the few not made in the U.S.

Mr. Escobar also announced Vas o No Vas, its version of Deal or No Deal, which is already very popular in Mexico.

For the first time, the network will air an original telenovela during the afternoon.

Cuatro Rosas (Four Roses) is the story of four women who live in a neighborhood, share secrets and are in relationships, for better or worse. The network, part of NBC Universal, isn't making any connections between it and ABC's Desperate Housewives, but the Wisteria Lane familiarity is there.