* Now, I’ve long agreed with the sentiment found in this blog’s headline, but I was unaware that a popular telenovela was also on board with it! The hit Colombian soap from which this provocative translation comes — Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso — is now becoming part of a landmark, multi-platform creative initiative for NBC Universal. An English-language version will be produced for NBC, along with a Spanish edition using a different cast, script and production team, for Telemundo. The story is based on a bestselling, true-life story of a young woman seduced by a world of easy money, who agonizes that her lack of an ample figure is a barrier to deliverance from poverty and a pampered life as a drug trafficker’s lover. “We recognize that the telenovela phenomenon is here to stay,” says Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. “It will be fascinating to see how American viewers embrace this kind of unique storytelling.” Er … I think we might know, Marc. Wasn’t that experiment known as MyNetworkTV? Of course, none of those novelas had the word “breasts” in their titles.
* Discovery’s Deadliest Catch ends its third season this Tuesday at 9pm ET/PT after hauling in more high ratings (according to the network, the show spent 11 weeks as the No. 1 non-sports-ad-supported cable program on Tuesday nights — and you thought baseball had ridiculously detailed stats!). Right after the final episode will be a behind-the-scenes look at how the series was produced, including interviews with the camera operators who risked life and limb capturing the lives of the Bering Sea fishermen like this poor guy to the right.
* If you’re looking for something more productive to do with YouTube than watch the Lebron James Etch-A-Sketch video, here’s your chance. The hugely popular web site is teaming with CNN to host the first voter-generated presidential debates. A live forum will feature video questions submitted to YouTube, which will be broadcast and answered by the candidates on CNN (the Democratic debate takes place July 23; Republican debate September 17). You can submit your questions here, and maybe you’ll even be one of the select YouTube users to be among the live audience at the debates! Now, be nice you guys.
* Hip-hop diva Eve will be flipping the turntables all next week on BET’s Rap City. Airing June 18-22 at 5pm ET, the series allows Eve to bring a lady’s perspective to the longest-running rap show in TV history. Eve will be bringing in five of the most important women in hip-hop to discuss the current state of women in the genre, the power of women in the industry and how physically appealing the game has become. Joining Eve will be editor-in-chief of Vibe Mimi Valdes; rap’s street sweetheart Remy Ma; DJ Jazzy Royce; Britain’s Monie Love; and the rap intellect of Dr. Roxanne Shante.
