REPLACING THE BRADYS LATINOS FIGURE PROMINENTLY IN TODAY'S FAMILY SITCOMS.Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer When comedian Cheech Marin's family left behind the mean streets of South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. for orange-grove scented Granada Hills in the 1950s, they were a distinct minority in the mostly white San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . ``When I first got to Granada Hills Elementary School elementary school: see school. , it was all white kids,'' recalled Marin, 57. ``The first day I got into a fight because somebody called me Blackie black·ie n. Offensive Variant of blacky. . `Now you are blackie and bluey Blue´y a. 1. Bluish. n. 1. A bushman's blanket; - named from its color. We had to wring our blueys. - Lawson. 2. too.' I got kicked out of school a bunch of times.'' Fast forward to the present-day San Fernando Valley, where Latinos outnumber whites, 42.1 percent to 41.6 percent. Once the backdrop for white-America sitcoms such as ``The Brady Bunch'' and ``The Wonder Years,'' today's Valley is the setting for two Latino family-themed sitcoms - ``The Ortegas,'' upcoming on Fox, and ``The George Lopez
George C. Lopez (born April 23, 1961) is an American comedian and actor. He runs and produces his own show called George Lopez. Show,'' now in its second season on ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. - both featuring a cast of mostly Latino actors, including Marin. ``It's about time It's About Time may refer to:
``We have been banging at the door for years and years and constantly been shut out. Now the tide is too great. No doors can hold us back.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the 2000 census, Hispanics have eclipsed blacks to become the largest minority in America. Hispanics make up 13.5 percent of the nation's population - 38.8 million people - with an annual purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. estimated at close to $500 billion, according to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. ``When we are the largest minority and growing by leaps and bounds, it's just not good business to ignore us,'' said Luisa Leschin of La Canada Flintridge, co-producer of ``The George Lopez Show.'' ``The Ortegas'' will premiere Nov. 2 on Fox, which will roll out another Hispanic-centered sitcom, ``The Luis Guzman Show,'' on Sept. 19. These two shows come on the heels of the success of ``The George Lopez Show.'' Other Hispanic-themed shows also on the air now include ``American Family'' on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, and ``The Brothers Garcia'' on Nickelodeon. Touted as the most successful sitcom featuring Latino stars since Freddie Prinze's ``Chico and the Man'' in the 1970s, ``The George Lopez Show'' features a blue-collar Latino family loosely resembling the stand-up stand·up or stand-up adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. comedian's hard-luck life growing up in Mission Hills. Lopez plays an aviation factory manager who lives with wife, their two children and his mother. ``This show is not about Latino identity,'' Leschin said. ``It's about a real man with his family. They happen to be Latino, which like so many Latinos living in the Valley, they go eat hamburgers, play Little League. ``What this show is doing is it's really portraying we are not outsiders. We are just regular folks who happen to have Latino surnames and whatever other flavor there is. That's huge in moving Latinos into acceptance by America, as being part of American life.'' Leschin, a Latina, said as a struggling actress, she was often cast in stereotypical roles, such as pregnant mothers or mothers of gang members. Like ``George Lopez,'' ``The Ortegas'' plays out against a domestic suburban setting - Van Nuys to be exact, whereas the Lopez show features composite images of the San Fernando Valley - and mines much of its humor from its cast and creators' ties to the Valley. Van Nuys is familiar territory both to Marin and executive producer Wallace Wolodarsky Wallace Wolodarsky is an American television writer and director; he wrote for The Simpsons during the first four seasons, & all of his episodes were co-written with former writing partner Jay Kogen. . Marin's father, a retired police officer, once worked out of the Van Nuys police station, and Wolodarsky is a 1981 graduate of Birmingham High School Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school is a part of District One of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). in Lake Balboa. ``My Valley is a great place to sort of salute and tease at the same time,'' said Wolodarsky. ``The Valley is where a lot of Mexicans are. That's why we want to get it out of East L.A. Once you make it to the Valley, you are American.'' Wolodarsky describes ``The Ortegas'' as the story of every immigrant family. ``For me, it's the identical story to my family, except they are Russian,'' he said. ``As we shot the pilot, quite a few people talked about how it's very similar to their families - non-Hispanic families. ``It just has to do with the very common outsider experience that every immigrant family experiences coming to this country. It's something that's universal beyond being even Hispanic.'' Marin, whose parents still live in the Valley, believes ``The Ortegas'' will go a long way in helping the rest of America understand that Hispanics ``are not just American but quintessentially American.'' ``We are saying it's all right, you don't have to be afraid of this group of people. They are your neighbors and they will be your neighbors forever,'' he said. ``We have always been here. We live in a city called Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and a place called San Fernando Valley.'' Helen Gao, (818) 713-3741 helen.gao(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Cheech Marin, left, seen on the set of Fox's upcoming ``The Ortegas,'' is glad more TV shows are portraying Latinos as ``quintessentially American.'' Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer (2 -- color) One of the more popular family-oriented sitcoms was ``The Brady Bunch,'' featuring an all-white cast and based on 1970s life in the San Fernando Valley. (3) Stand-up comedian George Lopez, center, is the star of ABC's current hit ``The George Lopez Show,'' loosely based on his life growing up in the San Fernando Valley. Bob D'Amico/NBC (4) Robert Reed, top right, and Florence Henderson, bottom row, second from left, were the parents of ``The Brady Bunch,'' the hit ABC sitcom of the 1970s. |
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