The series revolves around America’s most successful Hispanic American comedian (George Lopez) playing himself, and explores how he struggles between his two worlds and crises, often of his own making. Too rich to go back to his working-class Latino roots and too 'brown' to feel comfortable in his affluent celebrity life, being George Lopez comes with many problems.
George may take a lot of grief, but Lopez, who benefits from the relaxed naturalism of this setting, and whose best moments are his quietest, is well-supported on all sides.
George Lopez comes off as genuinely uncomfortable in "Lopez," a vast improvement over his past few efforts. That's what makes this under-the-radar project such a treat.
Being bad is a good look for Lopez. He's not hamming it up like he's waiting for the studio audience to laugh. In this show, he plays down even his energetic stand-up persona for something more subdued.
It's not that "Lopez" is terrible, just terribly unoriginal as it depicts its lead character as slightly out-of-touch, overly concerned with his image, etc.
You could make the argument that the world thinks it already knows what to expect from a George Lopez sitcom, and Lopez could in time turn into the comedian's surprising rebuttal to that assumption.
Lopez is unusually edgy for TV Land, taking on such topics as the perils of fame and making direct hits on Lopez himself. Timely (if not always fresh-feeling) topics range from race and class to social media and last summer's Los Angeles drought.
