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“Lotería Loca” premieres Monday night on CBS following the end of the long writers strike — but host Jaime Camil said the game show’s timing is coincidental.
“This [show] is not the result of the unfortunate events of the strikes,” he said. “We’ve been working on [‘Lotería Loca’] for two years and we pitched it to a lot of networks and finally found the right home on CBS.
“We shot a proof-of-concept [show],” he said. “It’s been a labor of love and a hard-working process to put this show on its feet.”
The high-energy, hourlong variety-show-style “Lotería Loca” — developed by Jeff Apploff (“Beat Shazam,” “Don’t Forget the Lyrics!”) — includes the “Loca Dancers,” enthusiastic audience interaction and a live band led by acclaimed percussionist Sheila E. It’s inspired by the traditional Latin game of bingo (“Lotería“) with the potential, each episode, for one lucky contestant to win $1 million (or to walk away with what they’ve already accrued).
“How the hell do you make bingo interesting for television, right?” Camil said. “Jeff [Apploff] came up with all of these ideas and we brainstormed together. He really thought out-of-the-box and with my feedback and the writers’ feedback came up with this brilliant concept.
“He said, ‘Think of it as if a variety show, a game show and a late-night show had a baby, it would be us.'”
The Mexican-born Camil, 50, best-known to US viewers for his roles on “Jane the Virgin” and “Schmigadoon!,” keeps the action moving along and interacts with the contestants and with the Loca Dancers (he sings a bit, too).
“You want average Americans to win a lot of money but at the same time you want to find contestants who are exciting to hear from and get to know,” he said, “and for them to feed me the right content I need as the host to interact with them and make jokes.”
The game itself is easy to play (each “Lotería” card has a Spanish word on it) and moves along at a rapid clip.
“Every single Mexican family owns a Lotería game or Lotería cards, without a doubt,” Camil said. “It’s not that far away from the mainstream audience as well; there are restaurants with Lotería motifs and clothing brands with Lotería collections … so [the US audience] is familiar with it and they know what the game is about.
“This is not a show that was supposed to be on a Latin American network and ended up on CBS,” he said. “It’s a game show designed for the CBS primetime audience and the huge underserved [Latin] audience that will appreciate the effort and be very proud to see their culture represented on TV.”
“Lotería Loca” airs 9 p.m. Mondays on CBS.
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