(Photo: HBO Max)
FOR YOUR EMMY CONSIDERATION:
The Garcias is a New Cadance Production. The sitcom and its talent both in front and behind the camera have been submitted for consideration for 29 Emmy nominations by the production Company. Deadline to vote by Television Academy members ends on June 27.
By Roberto Leal
The HBO Max TV series, The Garcias is a carryover from its earlier incarnation, The Brothers Garcia, which ran on Nickelodeon from 2000 to 2004. It was created by Jeff Valdez, along with Gibby and Mike Cevallos and originally aired on Nickelodeon.
Venza Leza Pitynski & Alvin Alvarez (Photo: Nickelodeon)
InThe Brothers Garcia, we are introduced to the three brothers, Larry, George, Carlos and their sister, Lorena. They are the typical Texican family dealing with everyday life in their San Antonio suburb. The family of six, includes their history professor father, Ray, and their mother Sonia, a hairdresser.
The Brothers Garcia made television history as the first English language sitcom with an all-Latino cast, directors, and producers. In the new reimagined storyline the kids are now grown adults with children of their own. The Garcias and their expanded family find themselves vacationing at their fancy family beach house in Mexico, with kids and parents in tow. They are now the American Latino family in Mexico, and soon that creates a new set of modern-day family dynamics.
Living in Paradise
The Garcia family find themselves spending the summer relaxing, refreshing and recharging at their beautiful seaside resort in Mexico, still plagued by the usual family dynamics. The brother rivalry between George, (Bobby Gonzalez, Carlos (Jeffrey Licon), and Larry (Alvin Alvarez) continues unabated. Sister Lorena, (Veneza Leza Pitynski) has joined the family in Mexico after her infamous on-air quitting of her TV reporting job went viral on YouTube.
But when the family finds themselves stranded in Mexico due to stormy weather, they settle in for a couple of months.
Meanwhile, historian dad Ray played by Carlos Lacamera, (The Mexican, Independence Day) is writing a book on the ancient Maya and annoying everyone within earshot with mundane factoids of life in the Mayan civilization. While Sonia, Ray’s wife played by Ada Maris (Mayans MC, Nurses) is restless and bored with the vacation and wants to go back to work as a hairdresser. So without telling the rest of the family, she takes a job in town at a hair salon.
As the showrunner/director, Valdez wants to see Latinos represented in television beyond subservient or demeaning caricature portrayals. The Garcias is a huge success in that regard. Their family problems, presented in a light-hearted, quirky and funny way are universally recognizable and appeal to a wide audience. However, Valdez also has some fun exploring some cultural conflicts within the Mexican and the Mexican-American communities.
To Be or Not to Be a Mexican
George is adamant about identifying as a Mexican. But his native-born Mexican wife, Ana, (Nitza Chama), who lovingly calls him Gordito (chubby), reminds him he was born in Texas and not Mexico. Meanwhile, George and Carlos meet two potential Mexican business partners who want to strike a deal with them but dismiss them as “pochos del otro lado” or Mexicans born in the United States.
And when Sonia takes the job in a local hair salon, she is immediately dubbed as la gringa (not a “real Mexican”). However, Sonia’s excellent hair cutting skills garner her new wealthy Mexican clients who insist on only Sonia cutting their hair. When Sonia points out the Mexican owner of the salon can cut their hair, they refuse. The owner later explains to Sonia that the new wealthy clients she has attracted would never lower themselves by allowing the hairdresser who cuts their maids and servant’s hair, to cut theirs.
Lorena lands a part in a film about the Maya, being filmed locally. When Ray, the expert on ancient Mayas visits the set and discovers the whole cast looks very Anglo, he declares to anyone within earshot, “The Mayas didn’t look like Vikings.” Lorena becomes disenchanted with the role and the inaccurate portrayal and quits.
George discovers his neighbors in the big house next door are filming a reality show titled, Keeping Up with the Cartels. When the director says he thinks George looks like a cartel member and offers him a small part in the show, George is flattered and accepts. But that night he is awakened by a ghostly apparition who informs him that shows like Keeping Up with the Cartels reinforce every negative stereotype of Latinos as gang bangers, drug dealers, gangsters and criminals. George wakes up and realizes he can’t do the part.
Valdez avoids making these cultural points in a heavy-handed, “author’s message” way. But instead makes his points in a humorous, self-effacing manner that delivers the intended emotional impact but is neatly blended within the flow of the overall storyline.
The Tease of an Eternal Vacation
Season 1 of The Garcia’s was filmed on location in Quintana Roo, Mexico. By setting the story in this gorgeous part of Mexico, Valdez has intentionally made the location an important and very eye-pleasing character in his story. So, it was disheartening when Ray, as head of the family, announced that when summer is over, it will be time to return to San Antonio, Texas.
But a glimmer of hope was raised in the final episode of season one when Carlos announces to the family, he has secured a major business deal with some Mexican investors that will allow the Garcia clan to stay in Mexico in a new location, teased to be revealed in season 2 of The Garcia’s.
Staying in Mexico would create some interesting storylines for the Garcia family. For instance, would the Garcias hire native-born Mexicans to work as cooks, housekeepers, or gardeners in their new, large home? How will Carlos’ business success affect his relationship with his brother, George? Will Sonia open her own hair salon business?
Whatever challenges the Garcias face in season 2, through the talented vision of Valdez and head writer Joey Gutierrez, they will face it with a characteristic Mexican-American sense of humor and charm, guided by the universal Latino principle of “todo para la familia”.
Season 1 of The Garcia’s is streaming on HBO Max.
