Title: Greetings From Tucson
Running Time: 24 minutes without
commercials
Media: The WB Original Series Premiere
Pilot (NTSC VHS Screener)
World Premiere Friday, September 20,
2002, at 9:30pm (ET)
Network: The Warner Brothers Network
(Check your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
“Greetings From Tucson” has a
Mexican American family moving up the ladder into an upper middle class
neighborhood and pokes fun at the adjustments the various family members have to
make. In some ways I can relate to this because I am half Puerto Rican” and
grew up in a neighborhood that was largely filled with white middle class
people. Since I do not look like the stereotypical image of a Hispanic male, I
grew up hearing lots of racist remarks spoken openly around me by people who had
no idea my last name was “Rivera.” Well this series does not go that deep
into cultural tension, but at times it does touch upon it like when the wife,
who is not Hispanic is greeted by a neighbor who asks about the Mexican migrant
workers in her backyard not realizing they are her family or having a Hispanic
kid tell her son he’s lucky to be “half white.”
Now honestly I think the series does
touch upon a truth rarely explored with Hispanic families in a sitcom, but at
the same time I did not know what the aim of the series was. Are we going to
tackle these issues head on or is it just something to poke fun at? I have never
particularly felt Hispanic or non-Hispanic, but always see myself as an
American. As a result I can identify with the characters to a point, especially
the daughter’s advice to her younger brother on how she copes with their
father, but I wonder if other people will?
“Greetings From Tucson” will
premiere on Friday, September 20, 2002, at 9:30pm (ET) on The WB.
© Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.