I don't have time to watch a lot of TV.
Life, work, school, it all blends together and creates havoc on my schedule. But there are times that I make sure to DVR something that means a lot to me, that entertains me, that opens my eyes, makes me laugh, and transports me somewhere else.
Oftentimes times I have high hopes and anticipate a show, such as "Cristela," because its characters, plot lines, and soul behind it, speaks to me on a much deeper level...even before the show hits prime time.
Understandably so.
Someone like me, a US-born Latina, has very little to look forward to on TV. Not because current TV programming isn't good, but, because there is very little that was created with, and for, someone like me.
No one on TV looks me, understands my upbringing, my one-foot-in, one-foot-out culture, and how easy it is to laugh at it, and learn from it, without being preachy and irrelevant to someone that doesn't look like me or grew-up like me.
"Cristela" premiers today and hopes to break the mold that US TV has dished to us about Latinos for quite some time; and the cast of "Cristela" talks about the premise of the show and how it comes from a time in Co-Creator and Co-Executive Producer, Cristela Alonzo's, life when she had to move back home to take care of her family. With everything going on in this world, including the horrid economical issues our country is still going through, that in itself is something that everyone can relate to.
We can all relate.
***
On a recent tour of the "Cristela" set led by my friend and colleague, Sue from Starring Sue, I confirmed that betting on "Cristela" to dispel stereotypical myths wIll make Latinos relatable to everyone.
I'm anticipating a fun yet real dialogue, that's an open invitation to laugh at the funny little quirks that make our culture, the Latino culture, uniquely American. While the very relatable battle that "Cristela" lives through is one of the many reasons I think that everyone MUST watch this show: "What you expect from this show is to get the story of me and my family. I want to make it clear from the top, that I don't want to represent a culture because when you aim to do that you are going to disappoint someone. The best thing I can do is be myself, tell my story from my point of view with the people I surrounded myself with, and every character on the show is based on someone real. That is something I wanted to make sure of because I wanted to make sure the show was authentic. That way, in case anyone has a criticism about anything I can defend it because it is based on reality" - Cristela Alonzo
"Cristela" premieres Friday, Oct. 10 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
