real talk
‘Mexican Dynasties’ provides a glimpse
into the lives of Mexico City’s elite
By Jacqueline Spendlove,
Andrew Warren and
Francis Babin
TV Media
$outh of the border: Bravo
is headed south with its new-
est reality TV series, “Mexican
Dynasties,” premiering Tuesday,
Feb. 26. The series should be right
at home alongside the network’s
multiple Real Housewives itera-
tions and spinoffs as “Dynasties”
likewise follows the lives of a
group of absurdly wealthy social-
ites and tycoons as they go about
their absurdly wealthy lives — in
Mexico City, in this case.
The dynasties in question are
the Allende, the Bessudo and the
Madrazo families, who found
their fortunes in entertainment,
beverages and luxury cars, re-
spectively. They’re all connected
through decades of personal and
professional relationships, which
makes for plenty of history —
which, in turn, makes for plenty
of drama.
Allende family patriarch Fer-
nando was an ‘80s heartthrob
in his younger days and found
fame as a singer, actor and artist.
He and his wife Mari have been
married 30 years and are the par-
ents of two sons, Elan and Adan,
both of whom aspire to careers
in music.
Known as the “Grand Dame of
Beauty” in Mexico, Raquel Bessu-
do is a TV host and fashionista
who was recently widowed after
losing her husband of 58 years,
Leon, earlier this year. Though
close with her daughter Doris,
the owner of a successful public
relations and media company,
the two have been known
to butt heads.
Siblings Oscar and
Paulina Madrazo are a suc-
cessful pair. They co-host
an entertainment talk show,
“Qué Madrazo,” and Paulina
is an executive at her
brother’s modeling
agency — the
largest and most
prestigious in
Latin America
— which he
launched when
he was just 18
years old.
20 | Screentime
Though they all lead busy
lives, they still have plenty of
time to argue, get in each other’s
business and, of course, party.
“Mexican Dynasties” premieres
Tuesday, Feb. 26, on Bravo.
Take my wife: Call it a
promising sign in these divided
times: CMT has revived a classic
reality series that aims to bring
people from different walks of life
together.
“Wife Swap” stages a return
to television on Thursday, Feb. 28,
with the first new episode for the
format since the show’s celebrity
spinoff wrapped up in 2015.
The idea behind the show is
pretty simple: take two married
women who lead dramatically
different lives and swap them. At
first the wives have to live by the
rules of their new families, eating
what they eat and generally just
going along with their day-to-day
activities. Halfway through their
stay though, they get to lay down
their own rules and take charge
of the family.
It’s a situation that’s primed
for drama — but also for under-
standing. Taking anyone away
from their family is stressful for
everyone involved, and once the
wives start setting their own rules
it often isn’t long before their
substitute families push back.
The key ingredient here that
makes the whole thing work is
that the two families tend to be
quite different from each other,
like a sports-obsessed working
class family switching spouses
with a wealthy one that spends
its free time doing crosswords
together. It makes for situations
that are just primed for
drama, but also for under-
standing as the families
get to know each other
and hopefully realize that,
despite their differences,
they maybe aren’t so
different after all.
“Wife Swap”
first premiered
on ABC back in
2004 and ran
until 2010. A
one-season re-
vival brought the
show back in 2013, and a spinoff
version featuring celebrities ran
from 2012-2015
Whatever walk of life they
come from, all wives have some-
thing in common: they all have
families. Find out what happens
when those families get switched
when “Wife Swap” premieres on
its new home Thursday, Feb. 28,
on CMT.
Let’s get fabulous: Finding
and accepting oneself in a media
obsessed society is not easy. We
are constantly bombarded with
images of men and women with
perfect bodies (or at least bodies
that we are led to believe are
perfect). We are told that to be
happy, we must look, feel and act
a certain way. For Whitney Way
Thore, the struggle is all too real.
On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the body
positivity activist continues her
crusade to find happiness in an
all new episode of “My Big Fat
Fabulous Life,” on TLC.
When she was still in college,
Thore’s life changed forever. After
developing a condition called
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
(PCOS), the small-town dancer
gained 200 pounds in a year.
Naturally, she had a hard dealing
with this sudden change, and
unhappiness took over her once
vivacious and fun-filled life.
Several years ago, Thore decid-
ed that she no longer wanted to
live in fear of what others thought
of her. She wanted to be happy
and at peace with herself. After
moving back in with her loving,
supportive albeit often meddling
parents, she decided it was time
to take her life back. Since then,
she has made the decision to
embrace her body and live her
life anew.
Over the course of the series,
we’ve seen the fabulous Thore,
with the help of her ever-helpful
friend circle, rediscover her love of
dance, jump back into the dating
pool and even confront body-
shaming online bullies. On Tues-
day, Feb. 26, live the fabulous life
as Whitney Way Thore continues
her mission to find happiness in
an all new episode of “My Big Fat
Fabulous Life,” on TLC.
Oscar Madrazo stars in “Mexican Dynasties”
February 20, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
Late laughs
Conan
The weather is really
messing up everything.
Amtrak is canceling services
in some areas. In other
words, Amtrak is not
affected.
They couldn’t get anyone to
play the Super Bowl
halftime show this year.
They had a very hard time.
They finally got Maroon 5.
Apparently, Maroon 1
through 4 said no.
If you turn on the TV, all
anyone’s talking about is
the polar vortex. It’s crazy,
that’s the big story.
Midwest, polar vortex. But,
here in Los Angeles, we
have something just as bad:
moderate rain.
Here’s a weird truth: if you
know there’s a football
team in L.A., chances are
you’re probably playing on
it.
The Tonight Show
With Jimmy Fallon
The whole country is
dealing with crazy weather
right now.
Today, the
polar vortex
brought the
coldest
temperatures
in 20 years to parts of the
Midwest. And
Midwesterners were so
upset, they ALMOST started
cursing.
An 80-year-old crossing
guard in Iowa said the cold
won’t stop him from doing
his job. Then his boss said,
“Nothing stops him — we
fired that guy 40 years
ago.”
The Super Bowl is this
Sunday, and on game day, a
marijuana dispensary in
Oregon is delivering pizza
AND weed. When they
heard that, every Domino’s
delivery guy was like, “Oh
please, we’ve been doing
that for years.”
Super Bowl 53 is on
Sunday! Which means we’re
just a few days away from
your drunk friend walking
in front of the TV at a
crucial moment.
The Late Late Show
With James Corden
The most popular time of
the day to use Tinder is
apparently 9 p.m. And, by
the way, the most popular
time to
completely
give up on
love forever
is 9:02 p.m.
January is the most popular
month for Tinder. So this is
good news if your New
Year’s resolution is to get
ghosted by a guy named
Xander who’s rock climbing
in every photo.
The American Kennel Club
has recently announced
that they will be opening a
dog museum in New York
City. ... Meanwhile, the cat
museum continues to be
your aunt Judy’s condo in
Tampa.
Thousands of people have
now signed an online
petition to merge North
Dakota and South Dakota
into a brand new state
called — I promise I’m not
kidding here — MegaKota.
Because if there’s one thing
you want your state to
sound like, it’s a monster
truck rally.
Jimmy Kimmel Live
They say it could be even
colder in Chicago this week
than it is in Antarctica.
Residents of Chicago are
being forced to slice into
deep dish pizzas
and crawl
inside them
for warmth.
It was 17
degrees below
zero in Chicago today —
the second-coldest day in
recorded history. There’s a
hashtag going around
calling Chicago “Chiberia,”
but no one is using it
because it’s too cold to
take your gloves off and
text.
Late Night With Seth
Meyers
A woman in England
recently found that she had
a ring stuck up her nose for
12 years, after she sneezed
it out. And despite making
him wait that long, she still
said no.
Due to frigid temperatures,
railroad tracks in Chicago
were set on fire today in
order to keep trains
running smoothly. While in
New York, we have no idea
why our train tracks are on
fire.