By Justina Bonilla
ABC’s United We Fall highlights the importance of having a positive image of a blended Latino family on television. Especially in a time when multiple Latino oriented programming both on television and on streaming platforms are being canceled or ending too soon, including Vida, Broke, and The Baker and the Beauty.
Following the Ryan family, United We Fall shows a blended Latino and White family, with wife and mother Jo (Christina Vidal Mitchell) and husband and father Bill (Will Sasso) their two young daughters, the loving but blunt mother-in-law Sandy (Jane Curtain), and the very opinionated brother-in-law (Guillermo Díaz). Vidal Mitchell and Sasso are loving partners and parents navigating through life’s curveballs, taking enough time to enjoy the special moment’s parenthood brings into a couple’s life.
Taking on the traditional family sitcom format, United We Fall displays the challenges of modern parenthood. While also emphasizing the importance of family love, and accepting the reality that no family is perfect.
The show has been an audience favorite since premiering on July 15th, with a 0.58 (close to 4 million viewers) on their Wednesday night airings. And, although their subsequent shows have dipped a bit, the are currently on the upswing, attracting a viewership of about 3.70 million, and that bodes well for a possible second season pick up.
United We Fall, was created by showrunner/executive producer/writer Julius Sharpe, who’s best known as a writer for The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Family Guy. Sharpe based this show on his marital and parental experiences, with his wife, Latina actress Stephanie Escajeda, who is also a writer for United We Fall. Both Sharpe and Escajeda have worked on trailblazing Latino primetime shows, with Sharpe as a co-executive producer and writer for ABC’s sitcom Cristela and Escajeda on FOX’s animated series Bordertown as Maria, the mother.
In her interview with Latin Heat, Vidal Mitchell expressed how she felt Jo was, “…a character that I’ve always wanted to play”. Adding, “And then when I read the script, I just loved the writing.” She also noted how her experience as a mother of two young daughters herself, a two-and-a-half-year-old toddler and one-month-old baby, made Jo that much more of a relatable character.
Vidal Mitchell and Sasso are a great comedic duo, with great chemistry, making Jo and Bill a loveable and realistic couple. On her experience working with Sasso, Vidal Mitchell praised him, revealing, “He is a generous person, generous actor, which makes it really easier for the people working with him to kinda like fit into it.” Also adding, “He’s not thinking about just how he can shine; he’s thinking about how to make the picture work.”
Another important part of Vidal Mitchell’s and Sasso’s connection is, “When it comes to sitcoms, we kind of had the same attitude about the timing and the humor to it,” said Vidal Mitchell. “And on top of that, he’s a very kind person. He never makes you feel like you’re screwing up… He is very, ‘I’m here for you’.”
Now Showing on ABC Wednesday nights at 8 PST and streaming on Hulu.
