TVSquad

When I got the Flight of the Conchords DVD, I was slightly disappointed to see that there aren't any fun special features. I spent about ten minutes watching Bret and Jemaine dance through the title menu before I finally accepted that the two-disc set consisted only of the 12-episode season. Again, my disappointment was only slight, because the overall awesomeness of the series is enough to keep anyone happy. Little did I know there would be a sneaky surprise waiting for me in plain sight. This is an appropriate time to use "tee hee".

After watching about three marathon-runs of the DVD, I poked around the menus a bit more and saw that there was a language setting for Spanish. I usually like trying out foreign language dubbings on my DVDs at least once so that I can hear how much the voice actors sound like the on-screen people. Yes, I'm one of those types. Easily amused. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the guy playing Jemaine had a very similar deep voice, although Bret's guy was a little off-mark. Then the musical numbers rolled around and I almost fell out of my chair. They actually went through and re-recorded all the songs in Spanish?

The normal icy stigma against appearing on TV for film stars has been thawing as of late. Damages has Glenn Close, Saving Grace has Holly Hunter and now PBS has Gwyneth Paltrow.

Paltrow, the star of Shakespeare in Love and the upcoming Iron Man movie, will be traveling to Europe this fall for a new cooking show exploring the usually overlooked world of Spanish cuisine.

Some South American countries will soon be getting their own Desperate Housewives. Buena Vista Television Latin America is creating Spanish and Portuguese versions of the hit ABC show, complete with their own casts. The Spanish version, called Amas de Casas Desesperades, will air in Colombia, Argentina, and Ecuador while the Portuguese version, called Donas de Casas Desesperades will air in Brazil. Buena Vista says the soap opera-like show is so similar to the Spanish telenovelas that it's bound to be a big hit. There are some cultural differences that will be changed in the show. For instance, the Spanish creators of the show said they'll have to change the occupation of the 'Mike' character because, in South America, there's no way a plumber would live in an exclusive community. Hey, what is that plumber doing there anyway?

Here's an interesting fact: founder, chairman and CEO of Univision, A. Jerrold Perenchio, does not speak Spanish. Now, he's also the central figure in the recent decision to put the popular Spanish language channel up for sale. Some speculate the channel could draw in as much as $12 billion from possible buyers, and people like CBS' Leslie Moonves, Rupert Murdoch, Time Warner, and Televisa, one of Univision's content providers, have all expressed varying degrees of interest. Univision hasn't been failing in the ratings. On the contrary, it's actually been doing exceptionally well. The decision to sell the company appears to be based on the 75-year old CEO's desire to finally leave the network he began.