# The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia

The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia (also known as Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love) is an American comedy television series created by Mario Lopez and Seth Kurland that premiered via streaming on Netflix on February 17, 2020. The second part of the first season was released on July 20, 2020. In August 2020, the series was canceled after one season, and the series ended with a Christmas special that was released on December 9, 2020.
The series was nominated at the 48th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for three awards, including Outstanding Directing Team for a Daytime Fiction Program.

## Premise

The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia (also called Ashley Garcia: Genius in Love) follows a prodigy named Ashley Garcia, the "only 15-and-a-half-year-old robotics engineer and rocket scientist" in the world who moves in with her Uncle Victor from the other side of the country for a chance to work for NASA.

## Cast and characters
### Main

* Paulina Chávez as Ashley Garcia, the youngest robotics engineer and rocket scientist at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) who also has PhDs in Robotics and Applied Mathematics
* Conor Husting as Tad Cameron, the captain of football team at Crown City High School and Ashley's love interest
* Bella Podaras as Brooke Bishop, Ashley's childhood best friend and Stick's love interest
* Reed Horstmann as Stick Goldstein, the equipment manager of the Crown City High School football team and Brooke's love interest
* Jencarlos Canela as Victor Garcia, Ashley's uncle, the football coach at Crown City High School, and co-owner of a coffeehouse named Pat's. He was a former American football placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys.

### Recurring

* Mario Lopez as Nico, Victor's friend and the co-owner of Pat's
* Haley Pullos as Bella Schmerz, Tad's on-and-off girlfriend
* Chelsea Kane as Ava Germaine, Ashley's best friend from MIT and Victor's love interest

## Production

Alea Allyson Garcia was the Production Director during 2019 set. She was nominated as the best director of 21st century

### Development

On May 23, 2019, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a straight-to-series order for a first season consisting of sixteen episodes. The series was created by Mario Lopez who was also expected to executive produce alongside Seth Kurland and David Kendall. On July 30, 2019, it was reported that Jody Margolin Hahn is set to direct the pilot and several other episodes. The series was released on February 17, 2020. The second part of the first season was released on July 20, 2020. On August 31, 2020, Netflix opted not to order a second season for the series, but ended the series with a Christmas special that was released on December 9, 2020.

### Casting

Alongside the initial series announcement, it was reported that Paulina Chávez and Jencarlos Canela had been cast in series regular roles.

### Filming

The series was filmed at Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood, California, but it is set in Pasadena, California.

## Reception

At the 48th Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards the series was nominated for Outstanding Directing Team for a Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Multiple Camera Editing for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program and Outstanding Technical Team.

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| Part 1 |||||
| 1 | "Breath Mint" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Teleplay by : Seth Kurland Story by : Pamela Corkey and Seth Kurland & Mario Lopez | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 2 | "Spin, Doctor" | Jonathan Judge | Julie Whitesell | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 3 | "Haptics" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Seth Kurland | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 4 | "The Search for Intelligent Life" | Jody Margolin Hahn | David Kendall | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 5 | "No Scientific Basis Whatsoever" | Eva Longoria | Philippe Iujvidin | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| Tad is convinced that, as long as he has his lucky headband, the team will win every game. Ashley thinks that the headband has nothing to do with Tad winning and she replaces his lucky charm with a fake one to prove her point. However, without his lucky charm, Tad starts playing badly. |||||
| 6 | "Me Caes Bien" | Eva Longoria | Molly Haldeman & Camilla Rubis | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 7 | "Hasta La Vista, Baby" | Melissa Joan Hart | Jessica Lopez | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| 8 | "Go to a High School Dance" | Jeff Melman | Sam Stefanak | February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17) |
| Part 2 |||||
| 9 | "In Tad We Trust" | Jeff Melman | Heather Dean & Rosie Borchert | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| 10 | "Failure Is Not an Option" | Jean Sagal | Philippe Iujvidin | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| 11 | "Unintended Consequences" | Adam Weissman | Molly Haldeman & Camilla Rubis | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| 12 | "Count Me In" | Rob Schiller | Heather Dean & Rosie Borchert | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| 13 | "Rewriting Girl Code" | Jody Margolin Hahn | Julie Whitesell | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| 14 | "Another Trip Around the Sun" | Andrew DeYoung | Sam Stefanak | July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20) |
| Christmas special |||||
| 15 | "The True Meaning of Christmas Togetherness Funtime" | David Kendall | Teleplay by : Seth Kurland & David Kendall Story by : Molly Haldeman & Camilla Rubis | December 9, 2020 (2020-12-09) |