Cristela’s road to being on ABC was not an easy one. After being passed on, the show’s star and producers wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Instead they borrowed studio-mate Last Man’s Standing’s sets, redressed them and shot a “test sequence” that later grew into a pilot. When producers invited in a live audience and later showed their pilot to focus groups, the love they showed coupled with a strong push from 20th Century Fox (who produces the show) twisted ABC’s arm into giving Cristela a chance.
So what’s so special about the show? Well for one the show is lead by a Latina woman, which is something not many network shows can say. Secondly the show heralds the “return” (it never really went away) of the rarely-seen multi-cam sitcom.
Cristela tells the story of a young woman (played by comedian and executive producer Cristela Alonzo) looking to get a law internship as she finishes up her law degree. This is much to the chagrin of her brother-in-law who she is living with along with her mother and sister. Cristela doesn’t let this pressure get her down as she puts all her effort into achieving her goals and dreams. Her efforts pay of as she (spoiler alert) gets the internship and makes amends with her brother in-law landlord.
The buzz word around the ABC line-up this year is “diversity” and where there’s diversity there’s racism. That means that in the pilot we see Cristela get mistaken for a custodial worker and later asked how she got to Texas if she doesn’t know how to swim. This goes back to the same points I made in my review of Black-ish: why are these jokes necessary if the show is just supposed to be about a relatable family? It’s like they think we need to hear the audience shocked reaction to know that these aren’t appropriate things to say in real life. The sad truth being that if you’re really racist enough to not know these things are offensive then you’re probably not going to be watching Cristela.
Racism aside the show is actually funnier and more enjoyable than I would have thought. I even caught myself laughing out loud a couple of times. Cristela herself is extremely likable and the workplace set-up in the pilot seems like it could be lead to a lot of fun.
Flying under the Nielsen radar on Friday nights really takes a lot of pressure off of Cristela. That’s how its lead-in, Last Man Standing, has survived to see a fourth season even though you didn’t know it was still on until I just told you. Unlike some of Cristela’s multi-cam counterparts like Two and a Half Men or Two Broke Girls, I won’t feel the need to reach for the remote when it’s on. If the show catches on I can see it living in the niche of cable syndication but don’t expect it to be the next Big Bang Theory