Gordita Chronicles Gets unceremoniously cut from HBO Max
As part of its overall corporate strategy to pull back on its “Live-Action, Kids and Family Programming”, HBO Max, and parent company Warner Media Discovery, announced the cancellation of Gordita Chronicles after only 36 days streaming on their platform and despite the show, and all involved, receiving universal high critical marks. Its unquestioned popularity and a loyal and growing fan base including this reviewer seemingly disregarded. So it is a big surprise that this semi-autobiographical family comedy about a young Dominican girl’s immigrant story from the creative mind of Claudia Forestieri is unceremoniously yanked off the streaming platform stage like a contestant on The Gong Show. Or is it?
“It’s the Same Old Song”
That classic Four Tops hit song exactly captures what all too often happens to what seem to be outstanding Latino TV series only to meet an early untimely demise. Here’s a very, very short list of Latino TV shows that had their life support plug pulled before they had a chance to get any traction.
Here are just two shows which pulled after only one season that showed promise but were not given a chance.
The Baker and the Beauty (TV series 2020). This romantic comedy, family drama about a working- class Cuban-American family running a bakery in Miami featured a talented Latino cast with Victor Rasuk, David Del Rio, Lisa Vidal, Carlos Gomez, Dan Bucatinsky and Belisa Escobedo. The love story between the baker’s son and a famous Australian movie star, played by Natalie Kelley, was filled with so many interesting plot possibilities. But unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be and ended after one season.
Cristela (TV Series 2014 – 2015). This ground-breaking TV series tells the story of a Mexican-American law student on the verge of getting an internship with a progressive law firm and her struggles to balance her career ambitions and maintain her traditional Mexican-American values. Cristela Alonzo, the hilarious stand-up comic and the pride of San Juan, Texas, was the very first Latina to create, executive produce, write and star in her own eponymous network series on ABC.
Patience is Its Own Reward
At one time, the networks allowed TV shows the chance to develop their storylines and characters. The Seinfeld Chronicles is a perfect example of the networks having patience with a fledgling TV show. It took a couple of tough, trial-run seasons before Seinfeld found its footing and became a hit iconic TV sitcom series.
By contrast, Gordita Chronicles led by a stellar cast of newcomer Olivia Goncalves (as Cucu), , Diana Maria Riva, Juan Javier Cardenas (as her mother and father) and Savannah Nicole Ruiz (as her sister)hit the ground running with its fast-paced, witty, Screwball Comedy-like dialog, quirky characters struggling to navigate their way on the long and winding bumpy road to the American Dream. Gordita Chronicles didn’t require an embryonic stage of development to find itself. Thanks to the writing talents of its creator, Claudia Forestieri, it was born fully formed.
So, how is it that this coming-of-age, rite of passage, authentic immigrant story that was humming along on all eight cylinders suddenly got handed a pink slip by Warner Media Discovery now the parent company of HBO Max? A Latin Heat March 2022 Warner Media Discovery Merger Criticized for Apparent Disregard of Latinos article featured a headline by UnidosUS, the largest advocacy Latino group which posed the question to Warner Media Discovery, “Dear Discovery: Does Diversity Include Hispanics or not?” The answer, with the summary cancellation of Gordita Chronicles, seems to be a resounding “NO”!
A Hopeful Future
Latinos make up almost 20 percent of the US population, but according to the 2021 UCLA-Hollywood Diversity TV report, they are only roughly only 5% of lead roles on broadcast, streamers and cable.
To change the tune of that same old song with its haunting refrain of Latino shows coming and going through the turnstiles of White Hollywood, the Latino community is beginning to see the need to finance their own stories, build their own networks and streaming platforms to be able to greenlight their authentic stories, and give them a chance to stay beyond one season.
There are signs of change, of creatives taking control of the Latino narrative. Executive producers/showrunners, like Gloria Calderon Kellett. (One Day at a Time, With Love) do have creative authority and management responsibility for their television shows. And the number of Latina/o showrunners is increasing, from Tanya Saracho who created Vida which ran for 3 seasons on Starz, Steven Canals (Pose) to veteran showrunners like Cynthia Cidre (Dallas, Cane), and Gordita Chronicles’s own showrunner Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz. They make sure their shows accurately reflect their experience on the many different strands of the Latino tapestry to a wider audience. But still, the question of if their shows live to see another season or not, remains in the hands of the Hollywood powers that be.
However, Latina creatives of Gordita Chronicles, that include creator Forestieri, showrunner Muñoz-Liebowitz, Eva Longoria (Executive Producer and director) and actress Zoe Saldaña who is also executive producing), are currently searching for a new home as Muñoz-Liebowitz tweeted the same day the news of the cancelation was announced. Stay tuned for more developements.