There once was a time when summer was the dumping ground for TV shows. Hot weather was meant for beaches and blockbusters, not couch potatoes. But no more. A quick look at what’s coming may finally convince you that the best way to deal with the onslaught of heat and humidity is in the safety of your own living room. Just be sure to have some snacks handy, a powerful AC unit, and for good measure, a Netflix account (for chill purposes, obviously.)
If you’re looking for a handy refresher of which Latino actors are coming to small screens this summer, you’re in luck! Here’s a timeline of 11 premieres that will tide you over until Jane the Virgin, Superstore, and Shades of Blue are back later this fall.
1
Devious Maids
Marc Cherry was once able to stretch the sudsy storylines of Desperate Housewives into eight seasons, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that his Eva Longoria-executive produced Devious Maids is now entering its fourth season. As usual, it features plotlines as deliciously melodramatic as you’d expect from a show that follows a group of Latina maids (played by Ugly Betty’s Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramirez, Roselyn Sánchez, Edy Ganem, and Scrubs’ Judy Reyes) working in Beverly Hills.
Season 4 premieres June 6 on Lifetime.
2
Orange Is the New Black
Everyone’s favorite female prison is back for a fourth season and from what we saw in the trailer shit is about to get real in Litchfield. We’re particularly excited to see Jessica Pimentel’s character, Maria, get a bigger storyline while no doubt Dascha Polanco (fresh off her stint in Jennifer Lawrence’s Joy), Selenis Leyva, Jackie Cruz, Diane Guerrero, and Elizabeth Rodriguez will remind us again why we love these badass Latinas.
Season 4 premieres June 17 on Netflix.
3
Gran’pa Knows Best
William Caballero’s 86-year-old abuelo, Victor Muriel, knows a thing or two about life. And with Gran’pa Knows Best, which began as a web series and is now airing on HBO Latino, Caballero hopes to share Muriel’s hilarious musings with the world. Addressing real-life questions from viewers, a 3D-printed Gran’pa figurine doles out hilarious life advice (“You know the rap music is no good for you”) that’ll have you laughing all the way home.
Season 2 premieres June 17 on HBO Latino, HBOGo and HBONow.
4
The Fosters
Executive produced by Jennifer Lopez, The Fosters is entering its fourth season. That means we’ll get to see more of this progressive blended family which includes adopted twins Jesus and Mariana Adams Foster (played by Noah Centineo and Cierra Ramirez), as well as their biological mother, Ana Gutierrez (Alexandra Barreto), who just last season gave birth to another girl.
Season 4 premieres June 20 on Freeform.
5
Queen of the South
The OG Reina del Sur Kate del Castillo has been making waves all year, but now it’s time for another actress to slip into the kickass heels of Teresa Mendoza, the self-made woman who becomes a drug kingpin. Alice Braga is starring in this US adaptation of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s book of the same name which also begat the Telemundo miniseries that led to that Chapo-del Castillo drama we’ve all been following.
Series premiere June 21 on USA.
6
East Los High
East Los High is unlike anything else on television right now. After all, it’s a teen drama representing the American Latino perspective by focusing on a group of high schoolers in East Los Angeles. Created by Carlos Portugal and starring Danielle Vega, Gabriel Chavarria, Alicia Sixtos, and Vannessa Vasquez among others, the show returns for its fourth season this summer, making it Hulu’s longest running original series.
Season 4 premieres July 15 on Hulu.
7
Power
The drama, executive produced by 50 Cent, follows James St. Patrick, nicknamed “Ghost,” who not only runs a successful New York City nightclub but is a major player in the local drug trade. Now going into its third season, the show features a bevy of Latino talent, including Lela Loren as Angela Valdes (a federal prosecutor who has feelings for James), J.R. Ramirez as Julio (the new right-hand man of Ghost’s former partner in crime) and Luis Antonio Ramos as Carlos “Víbora” Ruiz (the leader of a Puerto Rican gang).
Season 3 premieres July 17 on Starz.
8
Looking: The Movie
Will our dreams of a Patrick-Richie reconciliation come true this summer? Andrew Haigh promised Looking fans that the story of these San Francisco gay friends show would get a proper ending in the form the form of a feature-length TV special. And while we would have loved a third season, the TV movie will have to do.
Premieres July 23 on HBO.
9
The Get Down
Netflix has been teasing its Baz Luhrmann TV series for months, including staging a fascinating conversation between the visionary Australian director and music critic Nelson George (who also worked as a staff writer on the series) at the Tribeca Film Festival. Featuring newcomer Herizen Guardiola, Luhrmann’s show is focused on the hip-hop scene in the Bronx in the late 1970s, and it’s as glittering and kinetic as you’d imagine. Co-starring Jimmy Smits, The Get Down already looks like the best binge-watch of the season.
Premieres August 12 on Netflix.
10
Elena of Avalor
Remember when Sofia the First was announced as Disney’s first-ever Latina princess only for us to be disappointed because not only was she modeled on Spanish royalty but was voiced by Modern Family’s lily-white Ariel Winter? Disney probably hopes you forgot because they’re ready to hand over a spinoff to the real first Latina princess Elena of Avalor (voiced by Aimee Carrero), who will be coming to toy stores er, television screens late this summer.
Premieres July 22 on Disney Junior.
11
Narcos
Hot off its Golden Globe nominations for Best Drama Series and Best Actor in a Drama Series, the Wagner Moura-led Pablo Escobar series is back for its sophomore season. Let’s hope that Moura has gotten better at his paisa accent before he is, as sources claim [SPOILER ALERT] killed off by the end of this second season.
Season 2 premieres in August on Netflix. Specific date TBA.