New Nashville-based TV show launches on Wednesday: La Tertulia

Crew of "La Tertulia"

On Wednesday, May 11, Nashville will have a new, locally produced TV show for Spanish-speaking audiences: La Tertulia, co-hosted by Jon Alonso and Carolina Gruber. La Tertulia will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 19 on Wednesdays at 4:30 pm, Thursdays at 10:30 pm, and Saturdays at 9:00 pm. At first, the show will debut without subtitles, but in June, English subtitles will be added.

According to the show's bilingual blog, episodes will include interviews with serious guests but also "the wisdom of Dr. Gruber in the Linguistic Laboratory, along with the often outlandishly askew humor of our collaborator, the illustrious Don Santiago de Trastámara y Azpeitia."  So there's going to be sketch comedy, and the press release photos show the characters in costume and makeup, too.  This might be interesting.

In Spanish, the word "tertulia" can be roughly translated as a party of friends in conversation. It is commonly used in regard to literary gatherings, as in the English word "salon."

Here is the press release:

La Tertulia is a show that contains education, interviews, entertainment and humor.

“Our humble intention is to provide an example, so we all together, can look at ourselves in order to improve our lives and the ones of our children,” said La Tertulia’s creator and host, Jon Alonso, “we want to give a voice for those whom want to speak and ears for those whom want to be heard and, while we are educating, we will also try to snatch a smile with a little bit of humor,” he added.

“Our initiative is to show the community that we all are part of by introducing into their households the opinions of our leaders, our neighbors, and our brothers,” La Tertulia’s co-host Carolina Gruber said.

On the first show, Amelia Post and Leticia Alvarez, volunteers at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugees Rights Coalition, talked about the different perspectives relating to the enforcement of the immigration law in our nation specifically in Tennessee. They explained that the current laws are in a process of negotiation. Also, they emphasized that working as a community would prevent the violation and limitations of the rights of Hispanics.

Don’t miss our second episode, coming up this week in which Luz Belleza-Binns and Helena Ortegon will talk about domestic violence.

For those who do not have Comcast as their cable provider, you can watch the show via Internet at http://www.youtube.com/user/TertuliaNash

Remember that our show will be on the air every Wednesday (4:30pm), Thursday (10:30pm) and Saturday (9:00pm).

Read the Spanish-language press release on espanol.hispanicnashville.com