TELENOVELA WATCH: 'Metástasis' Premieres Tonight; Plus, Favorites for the Week

Two Univision novelas featured gay-themed storylines last week.

Metástasis, the Colombian adaptation of Breaking Bad, premieres Sunday, June 8 at 10 p.m. ET, following the two-hour finale of La Viuda Negra. Univision is attempting the same “event TV” launch for Metástasis that proved successful for La Viuda Negra, simulcasting the premiere episode across the Univision family of networks: Univision, UniMás and Galavision. It will move to its regular slot on UniMás on Monday where it will air weeknights at 10 p.m. ET.

A Colombian co-production by Teleset and Sony for US broadcast on UniMás (Caracol in Colombia), Metástasis is the story of Walter Blanco, a chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal cancer, who turns to making and selling methamphetamine with one of his former students in order to secure his family’s financial future before he dies.

Diego Trujillo stars as Walter Blanco. A Colombian character actor not well known in the US even to telenovela watchers, his most prominent role to reach our screens is probably the roguish antagonist of Los Reyes, currently airing its final episodes weekdays on MundoFox at 2 p.m. ET. In Colombia, he is coming off the title role in a hit telenovela called ¿Dónde Carajos está Umaña?, a raucous coastal comedy that aired here on the cable channel WAPA America. The Jesse character, José Miguel in this version, is played Roberto Urbina, a Colombian actor who has bounced back and forth between US and Colombian productions, appearing in the excellent Colombian novela Correo de Inocentes, as well as guest spots on Grey's Anatomy and The Mentalist. Walter’s wife, named Cielo in this version, is played by Sandra Reyes, probably the most familiar face in the cast to American telenovela audiences due to her lead role in the enormously popular 2002 telenovela Pedro El Escamoso.