Starz has renewed the freshman series “Vida” for a second season, Variety has confirmed.


The half-hour drama focuses on two Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of Los Angeles who couldn’t be more different or distanced from each other. Circumstances force them to return to their old neighborhood, where they are confronted by the past and shocking truth about their mother’s identity. Melissa Barrera stars as Lyn while Mishel Prada plays her sister Emma. The series also stars Maria Elena Laas, Chelsea Rendon, Carlos Miranda, and Ser Anzoategui.


Series creator Tanya Saracho serves as showrunner. Saracho also signed an overall deal with Starz in February. Her previous credits include HBO’s “Girls” and “Looking,” ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder,” and Lifetime’s “Devious Maids.”


Big Beach TV produces the series with executive producers Marc Turtletaub, Peter Saraf and Robin Schwartz. Lionsgate retains all domestic and international multiplatform rights, including broadcast, home entertainment and digital for the series. Starz senior vice president of original programming Marta Fernandez and manager of original programming Kathleen Clifford are the executives in charge of “Vida.”


The series earned critical acclaim upon its debut, with Season 1 holding a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. John Griffiths wrote in his review :


“Starz certainly deserves a big gracias for disrupting Hollywood’s #SoWhiteMale status with this scrappy half-hour, which showrunner Tanya Saracho has said reflects her mission to introduce ‘the brown queer perspective’ to TV (the show’s writers, directors and actors also identify as Latinx). Sporting vibrant East La La Land locations and piquant touches of magical realism, the first six episodes ultimately unfold like an arthouse-y pastiche of Showtime hits ‘The L Word’ and ‘Shameless’ and Netflix’s Cuban-spiced reboot of ‘One Day at a Time.'”