George Takei, 'Orange is the New Black,' 'Amores Verdaderos' Among 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City

TV icon and LGBT advocate George Takei received the Vito Russo Award at Saturday night's 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City, the award was presented by Stafford Arima, director of the upcoming Broadway musical Allegiance starring Takei.

Global superstar Kylie Minogue performed at the show, as did Grammy Award-winning singer Kacey Musgraves, the first country star to perform at the GLAAD Media Awards in New York.

Following is a complete list of GLAAD Media Award recipients announced Saturday in New York:

Vito Russo Award: George Takei
Outstanding Film - Limited Release: Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Comedy Series: Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular LGBT character): "Snow Angels" Elementary(CBS)
Outstanding Film – Wide Release: Philomena (The Weinstein Company)

Univision Reaches 7.6 Million Viewers Sunday Night With the Grand Finale of AMORES VERDADEROS

Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, today announced that the two-hour grand finale of hit telenovela AMORES VERDADEROS (True Love) reached 7.6 million Total Viewers 2+, who tuned in to all or part of the grand finale and drove Univision to the No. 1 broadcast network ranking last night among Adults 18-49 and No. 2 among Adults 18-34. The finale delivered an average audience of 5.2 million viewers, making Univision the No. 2 broadcast network for the entire night among Persons 2+, ahead of ABC, NBC and FOX.

Throughout its full-run, AMORES VERDADEROS – which premiered in November 2012 – averaged 4.6 million Total Viewers 2+, 2.4 million Adults 18-49, 1.2 million Adults 18-34, 1.5 million Persons 12-34, 1.5 million Women 18-49 and 968,000 Men 18-49. As the network’s highest-rated primetime series this season, it also ranked within the top 20 primetime novelas of all time on Univision (since Nielsen measurement began in 1992) among Viewers 2+ and Adults 18-49 as well as top 50 among Adults 18-34.

TELENOVELA WATCH: AMORES VERDADEROS Finale Sunday Night; LA TEMPESTAD Debuts Monday

AMORES VERDADEROS finale
AMORES VERDADEROS concludes its US run tonight with a two-hour finale starting at 8 p.m. ET. Univision is trying something different scheduling the finale on a Sunday, a fairly regular occurrence in Mexico, but I can’t recall the last time it happened in the US. If this two-hour finale follows the usual format for Univision’s two-hour finales, the first hour will be a highlight or recap program and the second hour will be the actual final hour of the telenovela.

AMORES VERDADEROS remained a fairly silly adaptation of AMOR EN CUSTODIA, a story that is utter bunk, really, in all its versions, but that silliness also made it a palatable enough ride, kept afloat by the engaging performances of the four leads: Eduardo Yáñez, Erika Buenfil, Eiza González and Sebastián Rulli, with nice support from Sherlyn, Enrique Rocha, Francisco Gattorno, Susana González and (for a spell) Mónika Sánchez.

LA TEMPESTAD debut

Univision Ranked #2 In Adults 18-34 Last Week In Primetime

For the entire primetime ratings week (January 21-27, 2013), Univision ranked #2 among Adults 18-34, out-delivering ABC, NBC, and CBS. Also, for the third consecutive Friday, the network ranked #1 on Friday among Adults 18-34 and Adults 18-49.

At 8 p.m., Univision’s novela POR ELLA SOY EVA (For Her, I’m Eva) helped Univision rank as the #2 network for the hour (M-F) among Adults 18-34 and #3 for Adults 18-49. POR ELLA SOY EVA averaged 4.3 Million Total Viewers 2+, 2.3 Million Adults 18-49, and 1.1 Million Adults 18-34.

TELENOVELA WATCH: UN REFUGIO PARA EL AMOR Finale Airing November 30; Plus, AMORES VERDADEROS, ROSA DIAMANTE & CORREO DE INOCENTES

The finale of UN REFUGIO PARA EL AMOR (weeknights at 7 p.m. ET) airs this Friday, November 30th on Univision, though it would be understandable if viewers were confused as to the date of the finale as the promos affixed to the end of episodes until this week were listing the finale date as December 3rd.

To end UN REFUGIO PARA EL AMOR on the 30th meant Univision had ten days to air eleven episodes, and rather than give the telenovela an extra hour on Friday, Univision decided instead to egregiously chop up a few episodes, most noticeable on Monday’s broadcast – at one point, there were three consecutive cuts, in effect, jumpcuts, to Gala in her office, three separate scenes forced to run consecutively as a single awkwardly disjointed scene. Would it really make that big a difference in the scheme of things if the new novela started on the 4th rather than the 3rd or if POR ELLA SOY EVA was given a single Friday off?

TELENOVELA WATCH: AMORES VERDADEROS, UN REFUGIO PARA EL AMOR, AMOR BRAVÍO, ROSA DIAMANTE

AMORES VERDADEROS
Watching the second week of AMORES VERDADEROS (weeknights at 9 p.m. ET on Univision), I found myself enjoying the interaction between the protagonists while not much caring for the overall story – a not too uncommon response for me with telenovelas. The poor-meets-rich intertwining of the simple farmer turned bodyguard, José Ángel (Eduardo Yáñez), and his wealthy employer and charge, Victoria Balvanera (Erika Buenfil), is obviously something that’s been done many times before, but it is being played here with considerable charm and good humor by Yáñez and Buenfil. Victoria, a classy, cultured woman who reads Marguerite Duras and shuts herself in a private studio to paint while listening to Mozart, endearingly juvenilized into a mischievous, giggling schoolgirl as she snuck a peek at José Ángel in the shower. In a parallel scene in a later episode, José Ángel accidentally wanders upon Victoria while she is in the bathtub. He exits unnoticed by her only to have to then conceal himself in her bedroom from her husband Nelson (Guillermo Capetillo), attempting to hide his hulking frame at the side of the bed and behind some curtains before finally taking a leap from the second story to the ground below.

TELENOVELA WATCH: AMORES VERDADEROS First Impressions; AMOR CAUTIVO Preview

First impressions of AMORES VERDADEROS
AMORES VERDADEROS (weeknights at 9 p.m. ET) premiered this Wednesday on Univision, an action suspense telenovela produced by Televisa about two bodyguards and the women they protect and romance. The three episodes aired were not enough of a sampling to draw much of an opinion beyond some initial impressions. Thus far, AMORES VERDADEROS is a fairly mixed bag, with characters drawn too broadly and simplistically and a frequently silly plot; but featuring some appealing performances from the cast, in particular the protagonists, Eduardo Yáñez and Erika Buenfil, who manage to make the hour pass pleasantly enough.

AMORES VERDADEROS Reaches 5.5 Million Viewers During Premiere

More than 5.5 million viewers tuned-in to all or part of the Univision Network’s one-hour premiere of AMORES VERDADEROS (True Love) on Wednesday, November 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT (8 p.m. Central). Wednesday night’s premiere also delivered an average audience of 4.3 million Total Viewers 2+, 2.4 million Adults 18-49 and 1.3 million Adults 18-34. In comparison to the premieres of Univision’s top two primetime novelas of all-time – SOY TU DUENA and AMOR REAL, AMORES VERDADEROSwas watched by more Total Viewers 2+ and Adults 18-49.