Image of the young cast of Freeform's 'Party of Five' reboot. They are all Latine. Two boys, two girls, and a baby. All of them have dark hair and brown skin. They're sitting on the stairs in a house.

I’m the Problem: 10 Latine Shows & Films I’m Ashamed I Never Watched

Teresa Jusino

Published: Sep 22, 2023 01:41 pm

I loved recommending quality Latine-led films to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month. However, making the list shined a big ol’ spotlight on all of the “obvious” Latine stories that I couldn’t include … because I haven’t seen them.

1. UGLY BETTY (ABC, 2006–2010)

Image of America Ferrera as Betty in ABC's 'Ugly Betty.' Betty is a Latina with teased, long curly hair in a ponytail with bangs. She's wearing glasses, has braces, and wears dangly earrings, a pearl necklace with a large "B" hanging from it, and a multicolored print top under a black leather jacket. — (ABC)

Despite becoming a huge fan of America Ferrera thanks to Real Women Have Curves and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I wasn’t watching lots of sitcoms in the 1990s-2000s. So, even though Ferrera starred in this adaptation of the Colombian telenovela Yo Soy Betty, La Fea, and I could personally relate to the protagonist’s experience as an “unattractive” 20-something Latina starting a media career, I never ended up watching.

The show didn’t need my help. Ugly Betty ran for four seasons on ABC and was nominated for many awards, with Ferrera winning the Golden Globe for Best Leading Actress in a Comedy Series in 2007.

Comedy has come a long way in the past decade, causing me to reevaluate my relationship with sitcoms past. Was I too quick to judge sitcoms back in the day? Did my judgment keep me from watching a quality Latine project? Did the story of a geeky, “not conventionally attractive” Latina assistant hit too close to home? I guess I’ll find out!

Ugly Betty is available on Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and Netflix.

2. THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW (ABC, 2002–2007)

Promotional image of the cast of ABC's 'The George Lopez Show.' They are sitting in a backyard on patio furniture and a picnic table. — (ABC)

As much as I loved George Lopez in Blue Beetle, The George Lopez Show was another casualty of my youthful reluctance to watch sitcoms. Though the general quality of comedy then wasn’t the only issue.

I saw a couple of episodes in passing when it was on. It seemed decent enough. But the theme song was “Low Rider” by War. The central family was Mexican, and the show felt very Mexican. As a young Puerto Rican, I was happy to see Latine representation on TV, but I was disappointed that the representation never seemed to be Puerto Rican. Puerto Rican actors that were on TV were always playing Latines from other cultures, or were ambiguously “Latine.” Yet there were no specifically Puerto Rican stories, despite (or maybe because of) Puerto Rico being a U.S. territory. So, I admit this was a barrier to my enjoyment of the show back then. I was jealous, I guess.

I’ve since watched and loved Latine comedies centering cultures that aren’t mine: One Day at a Time (Cubans), Jane the Virgin (Venezuelans), and Gentefied (Mexicans). While I’m still waiting for a Puerto Rican-centric anything (I did a quick Google search for “sitcom about a puerto rican family” and the only thing that came up was a Nickelodeon show from 2001 called Taina that I don’t remember at all), I love getting the opportunity to learn about and celebrate other Latines. In the U.S, when any of us wins, we all win. I should give Lopez’s current sitcom, Lopez vs. Lopez a whirl, too!

The George Lopez Show is available on Peacock, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV.

3. SUPERSTORE (NBC, 2015–2021)

Image of Ben Feldman as Jonah, America Ferrera as Amy, and Nico Santos as Mateo in a scene from NBC's 'Superstore.' They are standing in the store smiling while wearing their work vests, blazer, and nametags. — (NBC)

I feel like I owe America Ferrera an apology or something. Or maybe I’m just more drawn to her in film. Either way, Superstore is another Ferrera-led comedic vehicle I never watched, despite hearing nothing but good things about it.

While it had a rough start, Superstore got stronger throughout its first season, and by its second season critics and fans alike were loving the show, both for its central romance and for the ways in which this show about a Wal-Mart-esque big-box chain store handled timely issues. A Latina-led comedy that speaks to my politics and ethics? How did I let this one go by?

Seasons 1-6 of Superstore are streaming on Peacock, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

4. JOHN LEGUIZAMO’S LATIN HISTORY FOR MORONS (2018)

Image of John Leguizamo in a scene from 'Latin History for Morons.' He's a light-skinned Latino standing in front of a blackboard with writing on it wearing a suit jacket, vest, tie, and white buttondown and a gold crown on his head. He has his fists on his hips and stands as if delivering a speech. — (Netflix)

You might know John Leguizamo from his film and television career, but he’s also an accomplished theater performer and writer with four one-man shows that went to Broadway (Freak, Sexaholix, Ghetto Klown, and Latin History for Morons) and playing Walter Cole in the 2008 Broadway production of American Buffalo.

Leguizamo’s shows were each nominated for Tony Awards. He won the Emmy for Outstanding Performance in a Variety Special in 1999 for the televised version of Freak, and when Latin History for Morons was up for the Best Play Tony in 2018, it didn’t win, but Leguizamo received a Special Tony for all of his contributions to theater.

I love that Leguizamo wrote Latin History for Morons as an attempt to teach his bullied son about how Latines have contributed to the world, despite many of their efforts being erased, to inspire pride in his heritage. Seems like the perfect thing to watch this month.

John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons is available on Netflix. If you love audiobooks, there’s a version of it on Audible, too!

5. PARTY OF FIVE (Freeform, 2020)

If you’re going to do a reboot of a show, a remake of a film, or a cover of a song, there should be a new, interesting reason why you’d re-do something that’s already been done. I never watched the original Party of Five, despite its solid premise (and friends going on and on about Scott Wolf and Neve Campbell). It was about the five Salinger children, orphaned after their parents die in a car accident, needing to make it on their own.

In the Party of Five reboot, the five Acosta children are Mexican, and their parents are deported back to Mexico. That is a premise that warrants a reboot! That tiny shift in perspective allows for a whole new avenue of storytelling the original would never have been able to take while staying true to the original coming-of-age story.

Sadly, the show was canceled after one season, making me feel hella guilty about not watching it during its original run. Season one of the Party of Five reboot is available on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

6. GRAND HOTEL ( ABC, 2019)

Image of the cast of ABC's 'Grand Hotel' in a scene from the show. It's a group of five people (with Mexican actor Demián Bichir wearing a casual suit with a light blue jacket in the center) standing in a circle in front of a dessert table at a daytime party drinking champagne. Two men and three women. All Latine except for one of the men, who looks like he might be Asian. — (ABC)

Eva Longoria produced this updated remake of the Spanish period mystery drama, Gran Hotel, which took place in Spain at the turn of the 20th Century. Grand Hotel takes place in modern-day Miami and centers a Latine family, but the mystery element remains the same.

The show didn’t get great reviews, with some criticizing that the Latine cast was mostly white-passing or light-skinned, and that despite wading into important issues and class conflict, it dismissed real substance in favor of rich people looking glam. Still, I’m curious. One of my favorite genres of TV is Stupid Rich People Doing Stupid Rich People Stuff. Bring on the Stupid Rich Latines!

Grand Hotel season one is available on Hulu and Amazon Prime. If you’re curious about the Spanish original, 2011’s Gran Hotel is available on Disney+ and Apple TV (as ‘Grand Hotel’).

7. DEVIOUS MAIDS (Lifetime, 2013–2016)

Promotional image of the cast of Lifetime's 'Devious Maids.' They are all thin Latinas with long dark hair. Two of them are wearing navy blue maid uniforms, the others are in casual clothes. They are sitting outdoors on concrete steps. — (Lifetime)

Eva Longoria’s another Latina I owe an apology. Devious Maids is another Longoria-produced Latine joint I missed, and I have to admit I missed it because of my snobbishness about networks. It was a Lifetime show. A Lifetime show. I’d heard that Lifetime had some great shows, but I’m of a generation where I hear ‘Lifetime’ and think cheesy movies-of-the-week.

I also had mixed feelings about the premise. It was about Latina maids. Talk about stereotypes. Would there be a spin-off show called Devious Gardeners? I should’ve known better. The show was created by Marc Cherry, who was known for his satirical dramedy, Desperate Housewives (on which Longoria starred). It ran for four seasons, and I imagine that like Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids played up stereotypes to subvert them. I’ll find out when I dig into it!

Seasons 1-4 of Devious Maids are available on Hulu and Amazon Prime.

8. MALA MALA (2015)

Image of a light-skinned, blonde Latina trans woman holding her chihuahua and kissing its snout in a scene from the documentary 'Mala Mala.' — (Strand Releasing)

I’m sorry I missed this when it was originally released, as it’s about a subject that’s close to my heart for many reasons. Mala Mala is a feature-length documentary about trans people in Puerto Rico. Featuring drag queen April Carrion (RuPaul’s Drag Race), the film centers on the historic passage of Law 238-2014 in Puerto Rico, which prevents employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Mala Mala won nearly every film festival award it was nominated for during its festival run and won second place for the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014. It was also nominated for Best Documentary Feature at Tribeca and for Outstanding Documentary at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2016, though it didn’t win either.

Mala Mala is available on Amazon Prime or Apple TV.

9. ROMA (2018)

Black and white image of Yalitza Aparicio and a young, white blonde boy in a scene from the film 'Roma.' Aparicio is an Indigenous Mexican woman with long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and wearing a checkered smock over a short sleeved shirt. She is serving the boy breakfast at a table. — (Netflix)

I remember Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma getting lots of attention as one of the first Netflix films competing critically and financially with the Oscar-bait films from the legacy studios that year. I also started hearing a lot about Indigenous Mexican actor Yalitza Aparicio and loved it. It’s so rare that Indigenous Latinas (hell, Indigenous folks in general) get that level of attention. But the film got lost in the shuffle in my attempt to watch that year’s Oscar nominees.

Roma received mostly glowing reviews, though there was criticism about Cuarón’s blind spots as a white Mexican portraying Aparicio’s character as a “noble, hard-working” domestic worker. (Roma is based on Cuarón’s life and his family’s nanny/maid.) That makes me even more curious, though. Class and race are huge points of contention in Mexico, and I’m interested to see how this successful, white, Mexcian filmmaker does (or doesn’t) address those things.

Roma is available on Netflix. It’s also the first Netflix film released on DVD and Blu-Ray as part of The Criterion Collection.

10. Y TU MAMÀ TAMBIÉN (2001)

Image of Gael Garcia Bernal, Maribel Verdú, and Diego Luna in a scene from 'Y tu Mamá También.' They are all lanky, light-skinned Mexicans. Bernal is wearing a red bandana covering his short, dark hair, a blue t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the bottom pulled up to reveal his midriff, and khaki pants. Verdú is a woman with long dark hair wearing a white cowboy hat, a long-sleeved buttondown shirt with the top and bottom buttons undone, and a brown knee-length skirt. Luna is wearing a brown cowboy hat, a white shell necklace, a black and white shirt, and grey shorts. They're standing on a dirt road in a field. — (20th Century Studios)

Y tu Mamá También is Alfonso Cuarón’s fourth feature as a director. Interestingly, after his first feature, Sólo con tu Pareja, he did two larger-budget, English-language films (A Little Princess and Great Expectations) before returning to his Spanish-language Mexican roots with this film.

I’m ashamed of myself for never having seen the film that broke Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna internationally. I’ve since become a huge fan of theirs thanks to stuff like The Motorcycle Diaries and Rogue One, but this was the first time the world got to see these IRL BFFs together on screen. Originally, Cuarón didn’t want to cast Luna, because Luna was a teen idol and telenovela star. Bernal convinced him, however, insisting that their real-life friendship would sell the on-screen relationship. Clearly, he was right.

Y tu Mamá También is available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

(featured image: Freeform)

The Mary Sue is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy

Author

Teresa Jusino

Teresa Jusino (she/her) is a native New Yorker and a proud Puerto Rican, Jewish, bisexual woman with ADHD. She's been writing professionally since 2010 and was a former TMS assistant editor from 2015-18. Now, she's back as a contributing writer. When not writing about pop culture, she's writing screenplays and is the creator of your future favorite genre show. Teresa lives in L.A. with her brilliant wife. Her other great loves include: Star Trek, The Last of Us, anything by Brian K. Vaughan, and her Level 5 android Paladin named Lal.