‘Jane the Virgin’ Boss Intends to ‘Embrace all the Tropes’ of the Telenovela

TCA 2014: Jennie Snyder Urman hopes to balance the expectations of an American audience with the soapy possibilities

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From left, Andrea Navedo, Gina Rodriguez and Justin Baldoni. (Getty Images)

Jennie Snyder Urman, the executive producer of The CW’s upcoming series, “Jane the Virgin,” wants to honor the show’s Venezuelan telenovela roots.

“I fully want to embrace all the tropes of the telenovela,” Urman told reporters during Friday’s Television Critics Association press tour.

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“I mean the evil twins, everything,” she continued. “But, by having the main cast remain grounded and having them react to these things in the ways any normal person would should keep the show believable.”

“Jane the Virgin” features Latina, Jane (Gina Rodriguez), who’s abstaining from sex until she’s married. But through a bit of nutty mixups, Jane is accidentally inseminated with a strange man’s sperm.

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“I didn’t want to do a straight exact adaptation, because that show has already been done,” Urman explained of her intentions for the show. “I didn’t want to do a satire, because that’s not what I came to do. I kept reminding myself that I’m writing love letters to the telenovela. That’s the spirit in which I tried to approach this.”

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