Nickelodeon Adapting Telenovela for Nick at Nite

Picks up 80 episodes of daily series 'Reach for a Star'

By Tim Baysinger -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/24/2012 3:00:49 PM

Nickelodeon, in partnership with Televisa, announced Tuesday that it has ordered 80 episodes of Reach for a Star, a U.S. adaptation of the popular Mexican telenovela Alcanzar una Estrella.

Reach for a Star will air on the network's "Nick at Nite" programming block. The series follows a teenage girl whose life changes completely when she becomes a star and wins the love of her teen idol.

"We have experienced first-hand the popularity of the daily scripted format with our kid audience through the success of House of Anubis and our teen audience with DeGrassi: The Next Generation, and our Nick Latin American channel has already had great success in producing telenovela's with Televisa," said Cyma Zarghami, president, Nickelodeon Group. "We're looking forward to introducing this first true English-language telenovela to Nick at Nite's family audience."

Jose Bastón, president of television and content for Televisa added: "We are convinced that the daily series will be well received by Nick's family audiences, and will capture their attention daily as it has happened in different markets in the world where Televisa has exported its production capabilities. The Televisa and Nick alliance will certainly result in a successful formula, and we envision Reach for a Star as the first of many joint projects."

Reach for a Star will be produced in association with Sony Pictures Television and is set to premiere later this year. Production begins in March in Los Angeles. The series will be co-executive produced by Jill Farren Phelps (General Hospital, One Life to Live) and Hisham Abed (The Hills and The City).  Josh Griffith (Young and the Restless, As the World Turns) will serve as head writer.