Caray, Caray!

I only wish my father was still alive. Since he was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley he would be howling with laughter to hear that a telenovela is taking place in FRESNO!!!
 

LOL! FRESNO!!! I know that place well. You go through it to get to Yosemite! LOL.

This telenovela sounds interesting and I'll be sure to try to follow it! Thanks for the synopsis!
 

I think this is Alternate Universe Telenovela Fresno -- you know, the one with the tropical pools and dripping orchids. ;}

CAN'T WAIT.
 

Sigh. Beautiful downtown Fresco. Dust and raisins.
Qué exotica! Napa would have been better.
Does this story take place now or back in the days of the big Spanish (orange/grape) ranches?
I really like so many of the actors, though, that I want to watch this one.
 

Isn't Fresno the "Raisin Capital" of the world?
 

Cap'n Sharkbait, Ma'am, muchas gracias, and I'll put a link to this at La Plaza de Caray!

Boy, you Californians are really cruel to Fresno. Wow. Bunch o' mean girls is what y'all are. Shame, shame.
 

Oh, Mike, we have not yet BEGUN to snark.
 

I *THOUGHT* I saw a glimpse of the infamous Unibrow in the preview! But perhaps he's been tweezed? He was the most atrocious galan ever. Perhaps he'll do better as a villain.

I've sworn off watching the melodramatic (murder) telenovelas - but those of you who have been keeping up with them - what do you think was the cruelest/most depressing/most murderous tn you've seen?
 

MEAN girls, Blue Lass, not Maine girls!! Hey, have you seen the L.L. Bean Bootmobile yet?

Jane, where to begin with your question... The worst thing I recall was Sara in QE injecting poison in the steaks in the catering kitchen. Then the cold blooded killing of Ana Martin's character being shoved off the balcony in STuD, and, also in STuD, Rosendo killing Eric Castillo's character by setting fire to the hut.
 

Ah, beautiful Fresno. The Armpit of California. :)

Melinama- Tia Carloca in En Nombre del Amor was pretty cruel. She poisoned her niece's fiance the evening before their wedding with a "special" drink, right in front of both families. I think at some point she even has her niece serve him the drink. He died the next morning, writhing in pain, dressed in his tux with the bride dressed in her gown bawling by his side. And he was such a nice young man too. I am still sad thinking about the death of Inaki.
 

Yikes, Vivi that's pretty bad. I didn't watch that one but I remember hearing y'all go nuts about Carloca.

Speaking of Barrera de Amor (the telenovela we dumped because it was so bad), I do remember that the evil matriarch, Dona Jacinta, was especially nasty to babies. I believe many of us watched the finale just to see her demise.
 

I just read in an article that El Talisman will air at 8:00 p.m. So the prime time lineup will be 7:00 Una Familia, 8:00 El Talisman, 9:00 La Que No Podia Amar...until Univision inexplicably moves things around again. At least the exhausted recappers of Familia will get to go back to 1 hour episodes starting Jan 30th.
 

Hmmm. I'm debating watching this one. I adore Navoa since A Corazón Abierto, and my other telenovela buddy (who gives me her gently read copies of TV y Novelas magazine) is planning to watch it.

Too bad it won't be in Smell-o-Vision so we could smell the stockyards.

Vivi, I agree. Carloca was the gold standard of villains.
 

For me it is Barbara Greco. She tortured all around her and even herself. It was revealing that she had been tortured by others ALL of her life. Even her almost dying the writer's tortured her with life after self flaulation (sp.?) So redundant telenovela writers.
 

Gasca in Alborada was pretty vile. He couldn't use insanity as an excuse like Don Diego. He was just a cold-blooded, nasty opportunist who had no qualms about committing heinous acts.

I also recall enjoying the villainous Tio Maximo from Duelo de Pasiones.
 

I hope that this telenovela is half as amusing as "Fresno" was in the mid eighties. Check it out!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno_(TV_miniseries)
 

I will watch this, as the cast sounds interesting.

I think we will need to submit candidates for Highest Body Count on novelas by recounting how many victims per villain/a and their level of cruelty/perversion.

My current opinion is that the most victims is probably Fernando Escandon of FELS (also the most perverted), but the cruelest murders are probably by Carlota of ENDA.
 

Since I live in Florida & had to get my atlas to see how Iván got to LA right from Mex w/o hitching a ride, someone pls enlighten me about Fresno, nice name.
 

Guillermo Gácia Cantú, my favorite villain. He and Diana Bracho the ONLY reason to watch FELS.
 

All:
I am looking forward to recapping this novela. It can't be worse than LPNPA.

I think Carloca (ENDA) was the most purely evil anti-heroine I have seen, although Barbara Greco (Lucero in MEPS) gave her a real run for the money. The creepiest villain may have been Lisardo, as Agustin Dunant. All that sniffing made my imagination run wild with Hannibal Lecter-type imaginings.

EJ
 

Perhaps the ranch is hypnotic because everyone is stoned on the smell of manure.

I may give this one a try only because I remember Aaron Diaz from Barrera de Amor when he was just a teen. Or playing a teen anyway. Dona Jacinta from there wasn't SO bad. She mostly only tortured her daughter-in-law and tried to control everyone else. Fina (from CME) certainly wins for most attempts at evil. She only actually killed 2 people which isn't so great when you count how many times she tried. (I'm counting 5 fails).

Kelly
 

Fresno.

Well, Fresno is the fifth largest city in California with some half-million people, with maybe a million in the total metro area. The town is square in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is the southern half of the 400++ mile long Central Valley which is the heart of our agricultural economy in California.

To put it in rough perspective, imagine a great long oval valley some 400+ miles long and 50 to 150 miles wide with the Pacific coastal mountains lining the West side of the Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains lining the eastern side. The Sierra Nevada contain the highest mountain in the continental US, Mt Whitney at 14,505 feet above sea level.

There is one opening from the Valley to the Pacific Ocean and that is at San Francisco Bay, where the waters of the Sacramento River (northern part of the drainage) and San Joaquin River (southern part of the drainage) meet.

Fresno is down in the east central portion of the San Joaquin valley. We Northern Californian's think of it as hot, flat and agricultural. It is a semi arid climate and the lush green scenes we have seen in the previews bear no relationship to any place in Fresno I have ever seen.

This is ag country and planted to lots of varied crops including stone fruits, grains and grapes. Most grapes grown in this area are for eating, juice, jug wines and drying, with relatively few premium varietals planted to wine making. In other words, it may be grape country but it is not wine country.

As far as I can tell, the active Spanish land grants had little or nothing to do with the development of Fresno. The area was certainly once part of New Spain (Mexico) but was not really settled much by non-indigenous people. I believe the area provided a relatively rich life for its indigenous people for thousands of years.

The active Spanish land grants required someone to commit to settle and manage large pieces of property and there was really no way for this to practically be accomplished away from the system of mission establishments that ran from San Diego in the south to Sonoma as the northernmost California Mission. These settlements were coastal or semi-coastal and a long distance from what became Fresno.

I hope the writers give us some reasonable backstory on the two ranches that appear to be the core of El Talisman, the TN.

EJ, the geography geek
 

Kelly-

5 and a half kills for Fina: Roberto, Rafa, her old boyfriend the mayor (after he killed Detective Cantu on her behalf), Blanca, Berta, and the half is Dona Cata who died of a ehart attack when Fina was about to shoot her and was stopped by Antonio. Attempts: Gina (4 times- by knife in front of the center, by poison at the hospital, by gun at the costume party, and by gun in front of the church); Gonzo (2 times); and Nata.
 

Vivi:

Amiga, I am so glad to be in community with you!

So, Fina was a 4.5 star serial killer! LOL. Certainly her(failed but sincere) attempts should earn her and extra 1/2 star for a 5 star finish in the annals of Telenovela antagonists.

Still chuckling.

EJ
 

LOL EJ! I know it's crazy thay my mind hangs on to these deatils. I love your detailed description of Fresno. I remember passing by on my way to Yosemite for camping trips. I don't remember a thing about it other than the name. It seems that just by being Californian it's in our DNA to make fun of Fresno, without even knowing why. :) Why would they set a tn, filmed in a lush locale in Florida, in Fresno?! Why not just say it's a town in Florida, or somewhere else in the South?!
 

EJ, thanks for the run down on Fresno. I think I'll by-pass it when I make my anticipated road trip from San Diego to Vancouver.

I wonder if we'll be able to see the Pacific Ocean from the rancho (jaja).

As for villains--I've seen more female ones than males. Does anyone remember Tia Bertha from Heridas de Amor? She was diluting medicine from her niece Florencia who had a heart condition, to keep her fragile and then committed a lot of other crimes through her envy of the three girls' mother.

We can't forget the infamous Marcela from Eva Luna (how quickly we forget) who was slowly poisoning Don Julio--not her first poisoning victim (her preferred method)--to end up with everyone's money and power.

I felt rather deprived when all we got to see at her end was a fake inferno and the spirit of Leonardo stepping in to escort her to their firey new abode.

Did we ever have a body count and near body count for her? Daniel's parents, one of Don Julio's nurses, her brother, Claudia's baby...there must have been more before the finale when she shot El Gallo in the warehouse. That's six right there and probably would have done in Justa if the earthquake hadn't led her to believe it was a natural death.

I'm kind of tired of all the "expirations," I hope El Talisman finds another way to show us who is evil.
Anita
 

Vivi--It's hard to locate a tn in Florida if it's going to be based on cattle ranching. But, hey, they could have and just made it a citrus "ranch" and maybe we'll get a few shots of the Ocean (without the 3-D letters, I hope).
Anita
 

I think cattle ranching in Florida would require a smaller beanie than tropical birds in Fresno...

And EJ, you forgot to mention the gossamer clouds of pesticides that waft over the valley.
 

Vivi- Can't believe I forgot about Roberto and Rafa already! Those were sort of accidental though, so she still fails as a killer. So 2 on purpose (Blanca and Detective), 3 accidental or missed targets (Roberto, Rafael, Berta), and 7 misses. She sucks at murder but given her treatment of Renata, she still gets lots of stars for evilness.

Given that there's not a lot to do in the central valley, I expect the body count to be high on ElT. "I'm bored. I think I'll take up life-destoying as a hobby. Fun!" At least with all those dried fruits our villians will be regular.

Kelly
 

Sylvia- thanks. Was starting to get withdrawal not checking in daily to Caray. Synopsis sounds alright- guess we'll have to see how the writing and acting does. At least it's not a Meija production..

Vivi, out of the TN's I've seen, I too bow to the Purple Queen, Carloca in ENDA. Even writing about her, I get the shivers remembering some of those intensive stares into the camera, with the light highlighting those purple eye-shadowed eyes.
 

I feel the raisin jokes coming on...

"ARRUGAS? You just need a little CREMA DE CONCHA NACAR!"
 

You folks are pretty darn funny. I've missed yucking it up with everyone after CME.

"At least with all those dried fruits our villians will be regular." Ha ha Haaaaa! Good one Kelly.

Blue Lass, with all that blazing sun in tropical Fresno our characters will definitely need Crema de Concha Nacar!!

An undocumented worker ending up in Fresno...that is very likely given all its agriculture. I would say either Fresno or Salinas would be where field workers or ranch hands might end up.
 

OMG Blue Lass, LMAO.

So glad the TV show Fresno got mentioned.
 

I am so sad that I was only 10 at the time Fresno aired and missed this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lIAZiTI56I
 

I'm looking forward to this one. Aaron Diaz is mighty easy on the eyes, and there will probably be even more to the show than that ;).

I put my vote in for Tia Carloca in En Nombre del Amor as the most evile and murderous. She was absolutely coldblooded and remorseless, and packaged herself in religious piety, which made it all the more creepy.
 

"[rapid-fire Spanish] Fresno [rapid-fire Spanish]!"

I was planning on watching this for the leg porn (and Karyme Lozano, which may or may not be inclusive of same), but...Fresno. They're sticking a lush country estate/whatever--actually, two of them!--in Fresno? Even better!
 

Another clip from Fresno. Notice the big block letters that announce locations, even INSIDE the house, LOL!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_79SiaBYudA&feature=watch_response
 

Vivi--The link didn't work for me. Any suggestions?
 

Anita- Try this: http://bit.ly/waTHFa
 

Let's not forget Bernarda from TdA. I think she murdered at least 6 people (Gonzalo and his wife, Octavio, Tomasa, Padilla, the Mother Superior, Eva) and made attempts on the lives of Padre Jeronimo, Victoria, Maria, Max and can we think of anyone else? All with a religious veneer that couldn't hide her hubris.
 

Boy, you Californians are really cruel to Fresno. Wow. Bunch o' mean girls is what y'all are. Shame, shame.

You don't understand Mike because you've never lived there lol

For those of you who are unaware it is in the middle of california and the base for the state's agricultural valley. It is really in the middle of nowhere and the biggest city for at least 3hrs north, south, east, and west. When we make fun of it, it's not because we're mean girls but because its laughable that that would be a chosen spot when there is literally nothing there lol I wonder if they actually filmed there...
 

Urban A,

Was just about to bring up Bernadina de Iturbide when I saw your post. For me she was the most frightening.

Variopinta,

Good to hear from you again. Didn't realize you are from Florida. What part?

Vivi,

Loved Iñaki! What has become of Luis Hacha?
 

Is there a petition we can sign to get Luis Hacha a prominent role in something we'll watch? A role in which he survives to the end? I still haven't gotten over Iñaki's death.
 

Very well, comrades, I have reflected and conducted self-criticism and realize you're right.

Really, I remember when the F-word's airport was known as Fresno Air Terminal (IATA identifier: FAT) but has since self-aggrandized into The Fresno-Yosemite International Airport, regrettably retaining the inelegant FAT code. International service is via Aeromexico and Volaris, w/ AM having Fri/Sat/Sun service to Guadalajara and Cd de Mexico.

Compare that to our local aerodrome, The Newport News Williamsburg International Airport, TAFKAPatrick Henry Field or PHF. Not grand enough for the locals, I guess. International? Well, PHF has no sched int'l service but let's not quibble.

And the city is still angry w/ noted cultural icon, Fifty Cent, for denouncing Newport News as "Bad Newz" in one of his classical adaptations.

All this talk has made me hungry for raisins.
 

Mike and All:

Love the info on airports. I had no idea Fresno had actually latched onto Yosemite and added it to the airport name. I can't stop laughing.

Yosemite National Park, one of our country's true public treasures is in the Sierra Nevada Mtns, about (and I am guessing here) 60 or 70 miles east of Flat Fresno as the crow flies. That is probably 80 plus miles driving on windy roads and it must take at least an hour and a half to get there from Fresno.

I spent a lot of time in Yosemite in my misspent youth, climbing rocks and backpacking and enjoying all the beauty—and tourists—that the park has to offer.

Here's me raising a glass to the possibility that the producers will film some beauty shots or romantic scenes or endings for the antagonists at the Park. That will be something to really look forward to! Also, all those waterfalls and granite escarpments make great locations for daring rescues of damsels in distress. Just thinking out loud—absolutely no spoilers for me.

EJ
 

Speaking of Yosemite, Elna Jung...

http://vimeo.com/35396305

Wow. Just wow.
 

Here's my favorite Fresno story because it's true. All Californians joke about Fresno, but none more than residents of the rest of the Central Valley - thoughts of Fresno make even Mendota look better!

My friend was teaching Sunday school to 4-year-olds in Visalia, not that far from Fresno. She asked, "If you love Jesus, where do you go when you die?" All the children called out, "Heaven!" Then she asked, "If you don't love Jesus, where do you go when you die?" No one was quite sure, except one little boy how called out, "Fresno!"
 

Meanest villain? Feonando from FELS is high on my list. But what about those classic TNs I've never watched, with a woman who had something terrible in her childhood (watched the mafia throw her whole family to the sharks, and she survived three days, hidden under a pile of dead bodies, or some such). She vows she will take revenge on them all. Even when she finds love, her evil and hatred overpower her, and she destroys her lover and herself because she is irredeemable.

I don't remember the names of any of the TN's, but it's an oft-used type. Was Xica one of them? What about the Brazilian one that Jacque Bracamontes did the Mex version of? Sorry so muddled.
 

Mike:

That Vimeo HD of Yosemite is just spectacular. Thanks for sharing. It really is one of the most beautiful places I have have seen, in all seasons.

Kudos to the photgs on their time lapse work. Wow is right.

EJ
 

Mike et al-- WOW doesn't even begin to describe what I saw. Especially here in the mid-Atlantic where we are all dull, monotonous grey and icy.

I've never been to Yosemite, but when I do, I'll need to take the music with me. It was a perfect meld.
Anita
 

Mike, WOW! I haven't been to Yosemite in a while, it's been too long. Thank you for that.
 

I stumbled on that video right after our discussion of F-word town's airport appropriating "Yosemite" as part of their name.

The night clips with the stars rotating and the airliners going over are my favorites.

Ansel Adams would be proud of what these folks have done.
 

Blue Lass:

LOL. This cracked me up, "And EJ, you forgot to mention the gossamer clouds of pesticides that waft over the valley".

Perhaps we will be asked to, once again, suspend disbelief and view said clouds of pesticides as romantic swirling fog, no doubt partially obscuring the "just outside of Fresno" haciendas.

Still LOL. Blue Lass I can tell we are going to have fun tag team recapping! Looking forward to it.

EJ
 

Chomping at the bit, EJ!

I just ran a test on my brand-new DVR by recording "Esperanza de Amor." It worked perfectly, records WITH captions, and as soon as the theme song came on the telenovela cat ran in and climbed into my lap. He is going to be soooo happy next week.
 

Ahoy all, I just posted "The Cast of Characters" for El Talisman.
 

sulhow about Cesar Evora as Federico Rivero from Abrazame muy fuerte? first he kills the leading lady's man in a hut fire...
then he kills a young boy by having him shoved off the roof of a building right in plain view from town plaza where the kids grandma(or was it aunt) Carmen Salinas was sitting, she was running for mayor at the time and Federico found that as a way to convince her to not run ...

I remember Roberto Vander making what Christopher called 'a mean fruit salad' in Salome, maybe here he will also go nuts when he loses or is forced to sell/give the ranch.
 

I Live Here In Fresno California Thats So Cool That They Make A Novela Out Of My HomeTown Thats So Amazing Is The Rancho Really Here in Fresno I WOuld Like To See It And Visit The Talisman.
 

It is kind of cool, isn't it? However I think it was actually filmed in Miami.
 

Does anybody knows if both ranches really exists.
 

It was filmed in Miami, and as built-up as Miami is, I'm guessing they used parks or historical sites.