'Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies' Tried To Mask The Absence Of Johnathan Nieves

 

It turns out that as the first season of the Paramount+ original series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies wound down, T-Bird Richie Valdovinos wasn't really all there.

The series, a prequel to the film, chronicles the formation of the only girl gang at Rydell High to shake up the school's hierarchy. Valdovinos, played by Johnathan Nieves, was a main character who was the older brother of Olivia, a founding Pink Ladies member played by Cheyenne Isabel Wells, and one of Jane's two love interests. The ten-episode first season ended on June 1, but it was two days later when Martin Billany, better known as LittleKuriboh and creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged noticed something peculiar by the eighth episode, "Or at the High School Dance…". It appeared, and is in fact pretty apparent that they photoshopped a CG still image of his face onto the head of a body double for multiple shots. Attention spread pretty quickly

It was discovered that he was unavailable for particular scenes, so production, therefore, had to take measures to maintain the character's presence in the final episodes. The exact process is unconfirmed, as none of the involved parties have chosen to comment. Those being Paramount+ and Paramount Television Studios, who declined, and Nieves's representatives, who did not immediately respond to the request. He's also filmed from behind rather often. These tactics do not last long, as what ensues following the scene made an example of is pretty definitive Richie is arrested and sent to jail and is last seen being shipped off to military school, once again only seen from behind. By the time you're reading this or rereading this, the one season of Grease: Rise of The Pink Ladies is probably already gone from Paramount+.

Sources: Martin Billany on Twitter, Entertainment Weekly