Loteria Loca Review 2023 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
Tonight, CBS audiences will get to see something new from the game show world when Lotería Loca premieres at 9/8c on the eye network. The show is hosted by Jane the Virgin favorite Jaime Camil, who helps usher in the traditional Latin game with flair for mainstream audiences.
For Camil, who was born in Mexico City, it was very important that the show not be a caricature of the culture but instead celebrate it in authentic ways. The Messenger spoke with Camil about how he approached this very bold new role of hosting the game show and what sets it apart. Read on to find out how Camil assured the look and feel of the show would be genuine — and find out how he feels about being a TV grandpa now that his former on-screen daughter (in Jane) Gina Rodriguez has welcomed a real-life child.
Well, it’s a challenge. As you know, America has grown up with very iconic game shows like Family Feud, The Price Is Right, etcetera. So the fact that we are bringing a new option to the U.S. market, it’s really important — especially an option that resonates so highly with my community, with an underserved audience, that means a lot. But make no mistake about it, we are doing a game show that is meant for CBS, for the prime-time, mainstream market. That’s the most important thing. We are going to deliver an amazing, well-crafted show for the mainstream market, and, of course, the Latin community will also feel very proud about the show.
Oh, that’s a very, very difficult explanation. Are you ready? Okay, it’s Bingo! It’s Bingo with very colorful and fun cards that come alive with animation and sounds, and it’s pretty special. It’s just basically Bingo, and the mainstream market might be more familiar than they think. Because I’m sure you’ve seen Lotería Grill in Los Angeles and other restaurants, Lotería-motif things like maybe clothing brands with Lotería cards printed on the dresses, tote bags… So I think Americans are familiar with the game and the concept. They just need to connect the dots.
What we tried to do with the set is that we didn’t want to do like a waiting area at Señor Frog’s on Spring Break in Cancún. We didn’t want to stereotype Mexico. So what I told the set designer was, “Hey, think about or Google ‘Magic Towns.'” We call them “Pueblos Mágicos” in Mexico, which is pretty much like Santa Fe, New Mexico. If you go to Santa Fe, and you go to a chain of restaurants, you will not see the classic façade outside of the restaurant, but you will see like the adobe-colored theme buildings, so “Pueblos Mágicos” is the same in Mexico. They’re protected by UNESCO, and that was the vibe. I really wanted to bring a realness to the set, not so much a stereotype with piñatas hanging, things like that. I think the set feels like you are walking into the Land of the Dead from my movie Coco a little bit, and also like a “Pueblo Mágico,” like a magic town from Mexico.
It’s very colorful, it’s very vibrant. We Latin Americans, Mexicans, will live our life in a very colorful and vibrant way. So of course we wanted to spread the joy to the contestants, and they get into it.
Also Jeff Apploff, my producing partner who created Beat Shazam and Don’t Forget the Lyrics, iconic game shows, his team is very good at casting contestants … I don’t mean casting like an actor kind of way, but people who want to be in the show. They have interviews with them because you also want people that will have good energy, who will be very excited to be on the show.
Well, I love hosting. I’ve hosted the Grammys, a Billboard Awards, dozens of Latin American award shows. I’ve also hosted the GLAAD Awards here in Los Angeles, the SAG-AFTRA Awards. I love hosting. I feel very comfortable in the hosting universe, but definitely the game show [world], it’s a different beast to tackle. But I am an actor, so I connect with my fellow actors, and I connect with people on set. So I think I brought that to the table: connecting with the contestants, hearing them out, celebrating with them when they win money, and being super bummed when they lose money, for example.
We have a great connection with the contestants because I never wanted to be a host that comes out, lays down the rules… “If you win, good for you, if you lose, see you next time.” No. I knew that I did not want that at all for my hosting type. I really wanted to be happy and energetic and connect with the contestants and have some sort of empathy with them and connection, and I think that’s the difference.
Oh, they’re fun. You know, me and my wife and my family will love watching game shows — The Price Is Right, Family Feud, or whatever — and we, like many families in America, were shelling out the answers as we’re watching the show. We were like, “Oh my god, it’s this one — of course, this one!” I wanted the Loca challengers to generate the same feeling with American families that are watching the show from home. I really wanted them to interact with us and play along with us and scream the answers… That’s what I was looking for with the Loca challenges, as well as to put the contestants in fun situations — for them to have physical challenges as well.
We would love to have a Celebrity Loca day for charity. This season, we were very lucky because even though it’s a new show, we got to do a heroes episode, a Día de los Muertos episode, a holiday episode, the twins episode… We have a lot of special episodes for being a new show. It was fun. And of course, hopefully, if God permits and we have more shows or more seasons to offer, of course we’ll do the Grammys version, the Tony Awards version, the celebrity charity versions. So hopefully we’ll have all of that in the future.
No, not yet. We text a lot, and she’s super sweet and sends me tons of pictures of Charlie, so I feel that I know the baby already, but no, I haven’t met him in person. But I’m super happy for Gina and Joe. I love them very, very much. And now well, I guess it’s safe to say this: She’s not a virgin anymore.
