By Julio Martinez
If season one of Lopez vs Lopez was all about the problems, one can say that season 2 is about solutions and moving on, which is refreshing and equally hilarious!
On April 2, NBC will premiere the second season of Lopez vs Lopez, with back-to-back episodes at 8 and 8:30 p.m., which will continue in those time slots going forward.
“We’re back, baby,” George Lopez exclaims. Indeed! The first season of this comedy sitcom made its debut on NBC, November 2922, starring actor/comedian George Lopez and his real life daughter, Mayan Lopez, created by the Lopez duo and showrunner Debby Wolfe.
“There might be some overlaps with the first season, George confides. “But this one deals with many more contemporary issues,” says Mayan. “There are millennial life decisions and other generational problems that my character needs to explore.” “Yeah, her dad is trying to stay sober, that’s his generational issue,” George explains.
Although the sitcom still is captures the Latino experience, George and Mayan feel there are other aspects that will be universally appealing to audiences no matter their background, which George attributes to the talent in the writers’ room. “On the show right now, we have a lot of Latine writers,” he explains. “We have people who are younger; we have people who are gay, and from every facet of everyday life. They can write for all the shows and not just the one that deals with a specific issue. These stories are everybody’s stories. The friction between parents and their kids while getting older hasn’t changed.”
The comedy tells the story of a working-class, old-school blue collar worker, who moves in with his modern Gen Z daughter as they rebuild their dysfunctional relationship one argument at a time. The season 2 opening episode addresses the problems of his alcoholism, and points out the “addictions” the family as a whole need to deal with. Additionally, Mayan focuses on keeping a handle on the household which includes a son (Brice Gonzalez), her “Gringo” husband (Matt Shively), and her clean-freak mom played by Selenis Leyva. Though it all, George keeps reminding Mayan nachos are a finger food and that he is not to blame for all her troubles, her one liners comebacks are pristine!
“Mayan has been funny her whole life,” George affirms. “We’ll be working on the set and I can see her when she was five, seven and a 10-years-old girl. That’s the way my mind works. It’s hard for me sometimes to believe that the little girl, whose cord I cut in the hospitais the young lady who’s on the television show with me. It’s really beyond my imagination.” Contributing to George’s show vision are Mayan and Wolfe are the other series regulars, Selenis Leyva, Brice Gonzalez, Matt Shively and Al Madrigal.
This season the cast of surprise guest stars include Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias, Diana Maria Riva, Jaime Camil and Marshawn Lynch.Creator/showrunner Debby Wolfe executive produces with Bruce Helford, George Lopez, Michael Rotenberg and Katie Newman. Lopez vs Lopez is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba and 3 Arts.