WE tv will follow the lives of Telenovela actresses as part of a new unscripted series, the network said Monday.

The Real Women Of Telenovelas will chronicle a group of beautiful and fierce Latina actresses and actors working on Telenovelas, or short-run Spanish-language soap operas, said network officials. The reality series will be produced by Matador.

“The world of telenovelas has everything we look for in a WE tv show – compelling characters, conflict, consequence and comic relief,” said WE tv president Marc Juris. “We could not be more excited about this project and bringing these beautiful women and their stories and highly charged relationships to WE tv viewers.  I think we’ll find the lines on the scripts in these TV dramas sometimes pale in comparison to real life.”

Actress Elizabeth Peña, who recently completed work as a regular on El Rey Network series Matador and also appeared on ABC's Modern Family, has died at age 55 of undisclosed natural causes after a brief illness, according to obituaries. Her death was reported by her nephew, Mario Francisco-Robles, in an obituary and tribute on Wednesday.

In Matador, she played the mother of lead character Tony Bravo (Gabriel Luna). El Rey Network said in a statement, “We are deeply saddened by the passing of our friend and colleague, Elizabeth Peña. She was a role model, a truly extraordinary performer and an inspiration in every sense of the word. Our thoughts are with Elizabeth's family and friends during this difficult time. She will be deeply missed.”

Her career (IMDB) was well chronicled in Francisco-Robles's Latino-Review.com article and in outlets including THR.com, which noted her memorable roles in John Sayles film Lone Star, for which she won an Independent Spirit Award, La Bamba and Down and Out In Beverly Hills. On Modern Family, she played the mother of Sofia Vergara's character. She also starred in the 1980s ABC sitcom I Married Dora, about a green-card marriage, and was a series regular in (and directed an episode of) Showtime's Resurrection Blvd.

Actor Lou Diamond Phillips, who starred alongside her in La Bamba (1987), said on Twitter: "I am stunned and heartbroken, just found out about the passing of my friend Elizabeth Peña. She was such a Life Force it's hard to believe. Elizabeth was not only an amazing actress, she was one of the most vibrant, wonderful people I have ever known. My prayers to her family."

The cable industry once again received strong grades for its LGBT-inclusive programming in the latest GLAAD “Where We Are on TV” report. Yet cable was somewhat overshadowed by its fast-rising over-the-top video competitors.

The GLAAD report, which looked at primetime programming from June 2013 to this May, said that primetime cable shows featured 64 regular lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters — up from 42 last season — compared to their broadcast brethren, with 32 LGBT characters.

ABC Family, HBO and MTV earned “excellent” grades for their LGBT-inclusive programming, according to GLAAD’s Network Responsibility Index. HBO had the most LGBT characters, with a total of 15 regular or recurring roles. Most of those images came from its drama series Looking, which offered the most “out” characters of any scripted series on television. ABC Family and Showtime followed with 13 characters each.

Other cable series that introduced LGBT characters this summer or will do so later this year include Please Like Me (Pivot), Matador (El Rey Network), Broad City (Comedy Central), Witches of East End (Lifetime) and Hit the Floor (VH1).

GLAAD praised cable but also gave major props to its online video-streaming competitors. Netflix dramedy Orange Is the New Black contained more LGBT characters than nearly any broadcast or cable series currently on air, according to GLAAD.

Netflix’s Hemlock Grove and Lilyhammer also featured lesbian, gay and bisexual characters, and the OTT service plans a new series, Grace and Frankie, to feature two bickering wives whose husbands fall in love with one another.

Hulu original series East Los High and Amazon Prime shows Alpha House and Transparent feature several LGBT characters.

“As [television networks] move forward with new programs and storylines, networks must also keep an eye towards diversity and strive to include significant transgender content comparable to those efforts being made by their online competitors, such as Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and Amazon’s Transparent,” GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said.

Beverly Hills -- El Rey has greenlit a second season of its original soccer-themed series Matador ahead of the show’s July 15 premiere, the network said during its Thursday Television Critics Association summer tour session.

The series, which follows a professional soccer player who also serves as CIA operative, will debut on the upstart Hispanic-themed, general entertainment network next Tuesday, said network vice chairman Scott Sassa. El Rey will sneak peek the premiere episode on various platforms including iTunes, Vudu and Xbox 360.

 The 13-episode second season of the series will launch in 2015.

"It fit the mode of what I wanted to do right away with the network,” said El Rey founder and chairman Robert Rodriguez on the network’s decision to greenlight a second season for Matador. “This show exceeded every possible expectation we had in terms of great storytelling, incredible action and unique characters.”

James Callis, the actor best known for his role as Dr. Gaius Baltar on the Sci-Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica series, has been added to the cast of spy thriller Matador. 

Matador, which premieres on the El Rey Network on Tuesday, July 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, follows the story of Tony “Matador” Bravo, a professional soccer player who doubles as a CIA agent. Bravo is portrayed by Gabriel Luna. 

Matador was created by Roberto Orci, Dan Dworkin, Jay Beattie and Andrew Orci.