Eva Longoria’s ‘Devious Maids’ Debuts In English and Spanish

Cast of Devious Maids

Eva Longoria’s buzzed about new show “Devious Maids” is pulling out all the tricks to attract Latino viewers. Airing this past Sunday, the show will be available in both English and Spanish digital platforms. Following the June 23^rd premiere the network will make each subsequent episode available in both languages.

The Lifetime network, which picked up the show from ABC last June, said they were “thrilled to work with our distribution partners on making Devious Maids available in both English and Spanish.”

Centering on five Latina maids, played by Ana Ortiz, Dania Ramírez, Roselyn Sánchez, Edy Ganem and Judy Reyes, the drama follows the women as they work for Beverly Hills rich and famous. They form a strong bond after a fellow housecleaner is murdered.

The controversial show has stirred up communities thoughts on whether this is a good look for Latinas. Longoria herself has seen the success of shows with  similar formulas. Differing in story lines, the mix of women, money and drama, equates the same to the producer’s former show, “Desperate Housewives.”

The show is based on a Mexican telenovela called “Ellas Son La Alegría Del Hogar.” Marc Cherry, who also created “Desperate Housewives,” developed the show and recruited Longoria to sign on. But since putting her name on the project as one of the executive producers, Longoria has faced criticism for perpetrating Latino stereotypes.

Longoria told the Canadian Press last week that she believes “with the demographics of the United States changing rapidly, we should represent our diverse country on television.”

“It’s a fact that we do make up a large percentage of domestic workers, and so when somebody criticizes us saying, ‘Why are you telling their stories, it’s so stereotypical?’ I always say back, ‘You’re telling me their stories aren’t worth telling, that maids are not complex, that they don’t have a life, that they don’t have a story to tell, and they do.'”

She said it’s the first show to ever have five Latina leads in television.

Longoria was also quick to dismiss the criticism that “a white male is writing these Latina characters.”

“Well, he’s also a white male who wrote ‘Desperate Housewives,'” she said of Cherry. “So it’s like, you just have to be a good writer and have good content, and the show has really nothing to do with race…It’s a really great drama, it’s a great mystery and it’s a lot of fun.”