Taina is an American sitcom created by Maria Perez-Brown that originally ran on Nickelodeon from January 14, 2001, to May 11, 2002. It was originally filmed at Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, Florida and was the last comedy show to be filmed there before being later moved over to the Nickelodeon on Sunset in Hollywood for its second season. The series only lasted for two seasons before being cancelled in 2002 due in part to increasing production costs.
Premise
Taina Morales is a young Latina teenage girl who aspires to be a singer and actress. She, along with her best friend, Renee Jones, attend the Manhattan High School of the Performing Arts. Once there, they reunite with Lamar, whom neither has seen since elementary school. Taina and Renee's nemesis, Maritza Hogg attends the same school they do, and is also an aspiring singer/actress. Every episode features Taina daydreaming of eventual super stardom, with occasional performances of a new song.
Cast and characters
Main
Christina Vidal as Taina. Taina Maria Morales is a young, beautiful and talented Latina with hopes of being a professional singer and actress. She attended a performing arts school with her best friend Renee, rival Maritza, and friends Daniel and Lamar. She and her friends often got themselves into wacky situations in an attempt to become stars. Though Taina's impatience and impulsiveness would occasionally get her into scraps, she always let her honesty and compassion get her out of it. The name Taina is the female form of the indigenous Indian tribe which inhabited Puerto Rico. Most Puerto Ricans have Taino ancestry.
Khaliah Adams as Renee. Renee Aretha Jones is Taina's best friend. She is an aspiring comedian and rapper. A crazy girl, she attended the performing arts school to become a comedian and a rapper. She often helped to ground Taina when her imagination ran away with her. Renee also tended to chase after boys frequently; unfortunately, her love interests were never the right ones for her.
Chris Knowings as Lamar. Lamar Carlos Johnson is Taina's passionate guy friend and an aspiring director and writer. Not only did he serve as an editor of the performing art school's newspaper, he also had a crush on Taina and waited for the day she would finally come around. His best friend was Daniel, and the two often join forces to make a quick buck. He served as a support for Taina and the others, offering level-headed advice.
David Oliver Cohen as Daniel. Daniel Nathaniel McDaniel is a multi-instrumentalist, who also shares the same school locker with Taina. Sweet and opinionated, his loves included writing songs, playing different instruments and chasing after girls. Daniel prided himself on being quite the ladies' man, but often ended up snubbed. It was hinted that he had true feelings for Renee. He loves The Beatles, and usually accompanied Taina's songs on his guitar.
LaTangela as Maritza. Maritza Hogg is Taina and Renee's rival. She also aspired to be an actress and singer, but tended to be more ruthless than Taina. She loved to upstage others in her quest to become a star. However, she was not pure evil, and sometimes collaborated with Taina and her friends to make money or defeat other rivals. She prided herself on being an "evil diva".
Production on the show began sometime around the summer of 2000. The pilot was partially shot at the Laguardia Performers School in 1999 and finished at Nickelodeon on Sunset. Season 2 was shot from December 2001 – January 6, 2002. The show premiered on January 14, 2001 on Nickelodeon where ratings grew. New episodes would eventually move into the TEENick block at launch on March 4, 2001 starting with its eighth episode and lasted for two seasons. Taina was scheduled to air every Sunday at 6pm. The show was even put on Nickelodeon's SNICK lineup on Saturday nights from January to May 2002, where ratings more than doubled in its second season. Despite its popularity, the show was cancelled that June because Nickelodeon thought the show only appealed to girls. CBC reran the show for a few months in 2003.
Cancellation
In July 2002, Nickelodeon announced that Taina was cancelled after two seasons, due to their consensus that the show was appealing to girls. According to Josh Cruze, the show was also getting more expensive to produce. According to Vidal in a later interview, scripts for a third season and a made-for-television movie of the series were already written before Nickelodeon cancelled the show.
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2001)
Season 2 (2002)
DVD releases
Only one DVD release of the show titled after the pilot, "Be Careful What You Wish For"', was released in the UK, which features the first four aired episodes. The DVD is region 2 and has yet to be released in the U.S. but is available at Amazon.com, however not playable on American and Canadian DVD players. The entire series is currently viewable on YouTube and is currently the only way to see the show.
Soundtrack
On February 19, 2002 during its second season, Nickelodeon released the Taina soundtrack, featuring songs by Christina Vidal and LaTangela. Other songs on the soundtrack were sung by 3LW and Dream, who both guest starred on the show. The album, released by Sony Music Soundtrax, Columbia Records and Nick Records, includes songs such as "I Thought That We Were Friends" and the show's theme song, "Gonna Be a Star". Tracklist: 1. Gonna be a Star - performed by Christina Vidal 2. Carnival - performed by Christina Vidal 3. I Represent - performed by LaTangela 4. Feel Good - performed by Christina Vidal 5. Not while I'm Around - performed by LaTangela 6. Not this Time - performed by 3LW 7. I'm in Love with Me - performed by LaTangela 8. Thought that we were Friends - performed by Christina Vidal 9. In my Dreams - performed by Dream 10. Voy a ser una Estrella - performed by Christina Vidal Note: The album actually credits the artists as their character with the exception of Dream and 3LW.
