Think of it: Hispanic comics making fun of the way Anglo bigots make fun of Hispanics-and doing it on Anglo television, vet. That knockoff of “American Gladiators” recently aired on “Culture Clash,” a Latinized comedy series airing on Fox stations in southern California, Texas and Illinois. The show’s such a smash it may soon go network-and it’s about time. Although the nation’s 25 million Hispanics comprise the fastest-growing segment of the population, they remain virtually invisible on the home screen. By one count, Hispanic-Americans currently fill a paltry 11 of TV’s 800 prime-time parts. (By contrast, African-Americans account for seven times as many roles.) Yet if their surging numbers have failed to win them video equality, Hispanics are discovering a more heartening fact of TV life: money talks, and the money wielded by this ethnic group-whose annual buying power has tripled to nearly $200 billion since 1973-finally has programmers listening. The payoff: a sudden sprinkling of Hispanic-themed programs that promises to become a flood.
The most ambitious, and least stereotypic, network offering is CBS’s “Second Chances.” This sweetly affecting sitcom stars four Hispanics, and nary a one of them plays a drug pusher or a prostitute standard parts for actors of Spanish ancestry. Instead, “Second Chances” presents a strong, caring, middle-class Mexican-American family. The rare chance to play a positive role entranced Hollywood’s Hispanic community. “At the auditions,” reports producer Bernard Lechowick, “we had middle-aged men in tears saying, ‘I’ll do anything for the part’.”
Syndication and cable companies are also hearkening to the Latin beat. In Los Angeles, a stand-up comic showcase called “Comedy Compadres” has sometimes outdrawn David Letterman. HBO is gearing up a similar series (“Loco Slam”) along with a Hispanic variety show (“House of Buggin”) starring chili-hot comedian John Leguizamo. Next fall, syndicator Blue Pearl Productions will unveil “Videoactive,” a magazine show for Latin teens, as well as four specials on Hispanic issues hosted by Jimmy Smits of “L.A. Law.”
TV’s Hispanic boomlet is being partly driven by shifting demographics. in the past, Spanish-language networks like Telemundo and Univision enjoyed a lock on the Hispanic-American market, despite a menu heavy with sugary novelas (soap operas). “Programmers and advertisers,” says Fox development head Scott St. John, “traditionally believed that you just appeal to the older folks through Spanish-speaking media and they’ll buy your brand forever.” The new, younger generation of Hispanics, however, tend to speak English and shun the old ways, both in viewing and in buying. Says “Culture Clash” cocreator Richard Montoya: “Spanish-language TV sucks for the most part. That’s the back door for us.”
What young Hispanics want, apparently, are customized versions of the comedy shows on which they were weaned, notably Letterman and “Saturday Night live.” A sendup of “Jeopardy” on “Culture Clash,” for example, skewered Anglo ignorance of Latin heroes. Host: “He was the most famous Aztec emperor of the 16th century.” Contestant #1: “Who is Jose Jiminez?” Contestant #2: “Who is Cheech?” Yet these Hispanic comics are just as likely to spoof their own people, presumably on the theory that co-opting ethnic stereotypes helps expose their absurdity. On “Culture Clash” a mock commercial for “Mayan University” urges: “Enroll in our human-sacrifice studies-the first in the nation to sacrifice healthy, Calvin Klein models.” On “House of Buggin” a running gag called the “Chicano Militant Minute” features three cholos in gang attire making outlandish claims. “Everyone knows Christ was a Latino,” snorts one. “Why else would he be named Jesus?”
Like all ethnic-flavored television, this one’s survival prospects hinge on luring a “crossover” audience. One promising sign: in Los Angeles, three fourths of “Culture Clash’s” viewership is of non-Spanish descent. A bigger problem could be the fact that Hispanics form the nation’s most multicultural culture: what breaks up a Chicano in, say, San Antonio may leave a Dominican in the Bronx scratching his head. The trick is to hit universal chords of the Spanish-American experience. Kenya Bennett, a hilarious Hispanic comedienne, capped off her act on “Comedy Compadres” by comparing the sexual come-ons of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban men-replete with pelvic gyrations. It brought down the casa.
With the population of Hispanic-Americans expected to double in the next 12 years, their prime-time presence would finally seem assured. But John Leguizamo, for one, remains less than sanguine: “There’s opportunity now, but we really have to push for it. It’s not like the supermarket where you step on the mat and the door opens.” For now the door has only opened a crack and, given the tube’s power to legitimize, that’s a pity. “Television tells children where they are in society,” says Esther Renteria of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. “If you’re not on TV, you’re not important. And right now we’re still very unimportant.” That’s the dark side. The bright side is that with all their surging economic clout, Hispanics may simply purchase a place in the cathode rays.
