Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘GRAND’ PLAN
Eva Longoria’s new show is set in Miami Beach.
ABC is picking up a pilot from Eva Longoria called “Grand Hotel,’’ a drama series set at a Miami Beach hotel and focused on the family and staff who run it.
The show, which would broadcast during the 2018-19 TV season, is based on the Spanish drama “Gran Hotel” that was set in Spain in the early 1900s, according to Variety.
That soapy series, which has been called a “Spanish Downton Abbey,” chronicled the mysteries of the owners of a hotel and their servants during the reign of Spanish King Alfonso XIII. That series ran for 39 episodes from 2011-13 in Spain.
The entertainment industry magazine also reported that Longoria, the “Desperate Housewives” alum, and Ben Spector will executive produce the project under their UnbeliEVAble Entertainment production company, which produces films, documentaries and television programming.
It’s the second program that Longoria has produced with a Miami backdrop.
In 2016, the actor starred in, produced and directed “Telenovela,” an NBC sitcom about the on-and-off camera drama of a Spanish-language soap opera in Miami.
That series also starred Miami Cuban-American singer Jencarlos Canela, who played a soap star and the fictional ex-husband of Longoria’s character.