Eva Longoria embraces the anything-can-happen atmosphere of 'Telenovela'

Eva Longoria's return to prime-time television on the NBC comedy Telenovela comes four years after she said goodbye to her career-defining role as wealthy Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives. And in this particular moment, it's a role that has her drenched in water.

As Ana Sofia, the over-the-top leading lady of the show-within-the-show Las Leyes de Pasión (The Laws of Passion), Longoria is the star of a comedy that peers behind the scenes of a popular Spanish-language soap opera, a telenovela, where the drama offscreen is just as melodramatic as the drama on-screen. Ana Sofia is bossy but lovable, out of control while trying to be the one who holds things together. And she often finds herself in wacky situations.

But Longoria's not just acting here. She's also directing. And did we mention producing?

The spoof on Spanish-language soap operas - which previewed last month and gets its official premiere Monday - comes at a time when networks are looking at Empire's success and striving for more diversity to appeal to underserved audiences. Telenovela joins Jane the Virgin, Narcos, Bordertown, and other series that weave Latino culture into their foundations. Telenovela is also one of three NBC series launching midseason with Latina leads, with Jennifer Lopez in the drama Shades of Blue and America Ferrera in the workplace comedy Superstore. It's a shift that follows years of English-language networks' struggling to find ways to cater to a growing Latino demographic, which in 2013 accounted for 17 percent of the U.S. population.

For Longoria, who has solidified her role as a Latina activist in recent years, the fight isn't over. "Look, I think the Hispanic community is making progress on television," Longoria says. "But we're still severely underrepresented."

The 40-year-old actress is seated in the stark white dining room of her character's Miami home during a day off from filming.

"When it comes to diversity in television, we have to have more people behind the camera," she says. "We have to have more producers and writers - specifically, writers - in order to create those stories and dig from the well of our community, which has been untapped. And that's what we're doing here."

Developed by Cougar Town veterans Chrissy Pietrosh and Jessica Goldstein from an idea by Longoria, Telenovela features an all-Latino cast. Latino representation behind the scenes, however, is less robust. On Telenovela's 14-person writing staff, just three are Latino. Longoria says some were brought on through NBC's diversity writing program; others, knowing of Longoria's advocacy work, submitted material directly to her production company, UnbeliEVAble, which she runs with producing partner Ben Spector.

"I've been lucky to be a magnet for that," Longoria says. "But it's hard to find that talent. And with the Latino talent that's already out there, they're swooped up fast because there are some 400 scripted programs a year. There is a need for a better pipeline because there's this chicken-or-the-egg problem."

But Longoria doesn't want Telenovela to be viewed as Latin show.

"I wanted to focus on good content because Hispanics will show up when the content is good," she says. "It's not hitting people over the head, 'We're Hispanic!' But at the same time you can be proud that you are that different voice."