I would be the first to say that one of my favorite shows of all time was The George Lopez show. Part of the reason was that the show was funny since the show centered around George Lopez. I was sad when the show was cancelled and hoped that he would be back again someday.
Unfortunately, my wish did come true because he is back in his new show, St. George, which is on FX. This is a network that seems to have no boundaries in their shows since they have Charlie Sheen on a show. In addition, I thought it was extremely outrageous that they started the new season on FX where there is a shooting by a teenager in a church.
Part of me wanted to watch the show because George Lopez is on it and I thought, how controversial would the show be? Well, it’s not controversial, but I would say that it seemed like the writing of the scripts have been in poor taste to say the least. There are other members of the show who also make me cringe.
Yes, the show is built around George Lopez but in many of the episodes, he seems to be the one that comes out as the one who is abused. His mother in the show, who locks a kid in a closet in one episode, is always calling him fat ass or telling people how he soiled his underwear. Her character, Olga Meridez, only seems to get worse with each show.
Then there are the jokes which fall flat, especially the ethnic ones. Lopez saying that all Latina women are crazy. Then there are the maids in a room and George says don’t you have a kid to take care of and they run off, remembering that they do have to take care of someone. Lopez really seems to struggle for laughs especially when he tries to say that it’s normal for a police helicopter to circle his home while doing a dance.
Danny Trejo and David Zayas bring some humor back to the show as two goofy characters. Trejo appears in a show dressed as a wrestler, trying to do a back flip but falling straight to the ground. Then there is the scene where Trejo and Zayas are in the bathroom during Lopez’ son’s party with the maids, drinking from a keg of beer while watching TV shows. The jokes on the sweat from Trejo’s body being bottled as a cologne fall flat though.
There are some great moments in the shows, especially where George is a teacher, using that as a basis for jokes about is family. Diane Maria Riva, who plays the Principal of the school, is great even though she is limited in her role. She did bring a lot of great funny moments to one of my favorite shows called The Good Guys on Fox.
George’s ex-wife, MacKenzie, doesn’t bring much to the show, playing the liberal wife where her jokes and her issues on the environment or with her son seem to fall flat most of the time. You can see her clash with George many times in the show but most of the lines go to Lopez, not her.
I think the ethnic jokes are the biggest turnoff on the show for me. If there was one show that did not have to go this route, I would say to look back on Sanford & Son. Red Fox was amazing, playing the father to Lamont, the big dummy. His bouts with Esther were more than funny when he closed his eyes, or with his wife where he held his chest saying Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you. The writers never had to use ethnic jokes on that show and that was the reason it was a great show and Fox was a legend.
I’m very disappointed in Saint. George. I had hoped for better things for George Lopez and I really wanted to like this show. I think it’s a disaster and for now, I give it two stars.
Ron Hummer
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