Awaiting A Gringo Crumb

By Richard Zoglin

In 1974, several years before she turned her attention to the decadent doings of wealthy Wasps, Dynasty Co-Creator Esther Shapiro brought NBC a script for a much different sort of TV show. Called Maid in America, it was a bittersweet movie about a Hispanic girl who goes to work for an upper-middle-class Anglo family. NBC executives praised the script but ultimately turned thumbs down. The reason, Shapiro recalls, was expressed in one blunt comment: "Tacos don't get numbers."

Food, fashion and network attitudes have changed since then -- but, oddly, not that much. Several Hispanic stars have made it to the medium's mainstream, among them Jimmy Smits, of L.A. Law, and A Martinez, the Latino heartthrob of NBC'S soap opera Santa Barbara. And a few prime-time series, from Chico and the Man through I Married Dora, have featured Hispanic characters and themes. But in contrast to their achievements in the other arts, Hispanics are still waiting for their La Bamba breakthrough on TV.

Not that the medium isn't trying. Trial and Error, a sitcom starring Mexican-born Comic Paul Rodriguez as the grungy half of a mismatched pair of Hispanic roommates, debuted on CBS in March. But the show drew abysmal ratings and was canceled after just three weeks. Juarez, a drama about a Mexican- American lawman in El Paso, was intended to go on ABC's prime-time schedule last January. It was abandoned because of "creative differences" between the network and Writer-Producer Jeffrey Bloom (who had his name removed from the credits when one episode was finally aired in late May). Among the pilots considered for slots on next fall's network schedule were NBC's The Cheech Show, a comedy-variety series starring Cheech Marin, and CBS's Fort Figueroa, a drama about the multicultural residents of a run-down Los Angeles apartment building. Both were turned down.

The lone Latino breakthrough on the networks for next season: Benjamin Bratt, the part-Hispanic actor who starred in Juarez, will play one of the leads in Knightwatch, a new ABC series about a community crime-fighting group. "It's absurd that we don't have one half-hour of Hispanic-themed programming on network television," complains Marin. "We can make stuff as bad as the stuff that's on." Says Rodriguez: "There is no lack of talent in our community, but we are waiting for gringos to toss us a crumb."

Why hasn't the large Hispanic community -- which watches 32% more TV than the rest of the population, according to a survey commissioned by Univision, a Spanish-language network -- been courted more aggressively by mainstream TV? One reason may be the proliferation of Spanish-language TV stations (130 outlets broadcasting full or part time in Spanish), which have siphoned off a portion of the available audience. The Nielsen ratings, some charge, have long underestimated the Spanish-speaking audience, thus giving the networks less incentive to program for it. Equally problematic is the dearth of Hispanic writers and producers who have the experience or clout to get their projects made. "We're not on the inside, working, developing our craft," says Eduardo Cervantes, a vice president of current programs at Columbia Pictures Television and one of the few Hispanics in a top studio position. Most so- called Hispanic shows are written by Anglos, and as a result depend heavily on outsiders' stereotypes. "Mr. and Mrs. Producer," says Rodriguez, "come home every night to their Hispanic maid and gardener. That is all they know."

Network executives insist that they are receptive, even eager, for shows $ dealing with Hispanic characters and culture. "Everyone is dying to come up with a Hispanic show," asserts Thomas Murphy, chairman of Capital Cities/ABC. "It would be good for the Spanish-speaking population and for the network." What is needed most is a successful series that would encourage TV's favorite pastime: imitation. Says Norman Lear, whose a.k.a. Pablo (also starring Rodriguez) had a short run in 1984: "As soon as a TV hit comes along, they'll copy it 100 times."

Some advances are being made. Planned for next fall is a syndicated music- variety series called The Latin Connection, a Hispanic-flavored cross between American Bandstand and Entertainment Tonight. Bravo, a Philadelphia- based talk show focusing on Hispanic issues, is gearing up for nationwide syndication. The show will be taped, uniquely, in two versions: English and Spanish. By far the most ambitious upcoming project is El Pueblo/L.A., a 14- hour mini-series being planned by CBS for telecast in 1989. The series, produced by Actor Peter Strauss, will chronicle the interplay of cultures that helped shape the city of Los Angeles from 1840 to 1975. A Hispanic Roots? Maybe not. But if El Pueblo/L.A. scores big in the ratings, it could do what Roots did for blacks: turn Hispanics, belatedly, into TV's hottest minority.

With reporting by Martha Smilgis/Los Angeles