Teresa Gutierrez — The Marquesa

Viewers of La espada y la rosa will remember La Marquesa, Carmen Santillana de la Roquette, as a powerful ally of the de la Vegas.

The actress who played The Marquesa passed away earlier this month in Colombia. She was born on October 28, 1928 and died on March 10, 2010. She was a major Colombian television star.

Telemundo Zorro Update #2

In the original airing of the telenovela in 2007, the show had English captions on CC1 and Spanish captions on CC3. When the re-airing of the show began last month, Telemundo was displaying the Spanish captions on CC1 and had no English captions.

I have not verified this, but I have been told that Telemundo has now added the English captions to CC3. Apparently enough people requested the English captions that Telemundo decided to add them to this airing of the show.

Zorro on Telemundo Update

The Zorro telenovela form 2007 is currently airing in reruns daily on Telemundo. Several people who missed the show the first time it aired are recording it. Most people missed the beginning of the reruns and are not sure how to label their DVDs.

I recorded the show on Monday to see how far along the reruns are. On Monday, episodes 26 and 27 from the original run aired.

The current run does not match up with the original run because the original run aired in 112 episodes and the current run is airing as 120 episodes. The telenovela was filmed in 120 episodes. When the show first aired, quite a few episodes aired as 90 minute episodes. Each of those episodes was comprised of 1 1/2 of the original episodes.

#16-25 in the original run aired as 90 minute episodes. Using this as reference:

http://www.zorrolegend.com/zorro2007/episodes26-30.html

#16 on the above website is #16 with 1/2 of #17 in the current run
#17 is 1/2 of #17 with #18
#18 is #19 with 1/2 of #20
#19 is 1/2 of #20 with #21
#20 is #22 with 1/2 of #23
#21 is 1/2 of #23 with #24
#22 is #25 with 1/2 of #26
#23 is 1/2 of #26 with #27
#24 is #28 with 1/2 of #29
#25 is 1/2 of #29 with #30
#26 aired as one hour so is #31
#27 aired as one hour so is #32

If anyone sees anything wrong with this, please let me know. I have looked over it a few times, but I could have made a mistake.

If I have this right, then what aired on Monday is #31 and #32 as originally filmed. For those of you recording this, Monday's should be labeled as #31 and #32.

Zorro Is Back on Telemundo!

Check your television listings. Telemundo is now re-airing La espada y la rosa each weekday on Telemundo. Many people have wished that they had not missed out on seeing this great telenovela, and this is the first time the series has aired since its finale in July 2007.

La espada y la rosa tells the epic story of Diego de la Vega and his love, Esmeralda, who fight to be together against all odds.

From ZorroLegend.com:

This version of Zorro bends history and places Zorro in a setting that at times is almost like an alternate reality. The telenovela was filmed in Colombia, and the essence of Colombia and South America is very much a part of every episode. The setting is supposed to be Los Angeles, California, but it is as though Los Angeles is a part of Colombia, South America.

The novela contains every outrageous plot device that a person could want from slave traders to cannibals, mystical Indians, Amazon warrior women, witches, gypsies, piranhas, pirates, lepers, an exorcist, victims of demon possession, and even a dwarf and a hunchback. The amazing range of bizarre characters and plot elements combine to create a version of Zorro that is quite unlike any of the previous versions.

It is one of my three favorite versions of Zorro alongside the New Word Zorro and Walt Disney's Zorro. Purists might not like it, but I feel that this version incorporates all that is fun about Zorro into an intriguing romantic story. The fun is in the journey, and the telenovela is a very fun journey.

Zorro: Generation Z to air on Telemundo

Zorro: Generation Z will air on Telemundo in the United States beginning in Spring 2009. This animated version of Zorro is set 10 years in the future and has Zorro riding a motorcycle. The first season of 26 episodes was released on DVD in 2007. The second season of 26 episodes is currently in production.

Zorro: Generation Z is in English, but it is quite possible that Telemundo will have it dubbed into Spanish. It will be fun to have a chance to watch Zorro on Telemundo again, even if it is just an animated version. I have always preferred the live-action versions.