¿Qué Pasa, USA?

I'll be out of town the rest of the week, so I figured I should leave you all with a nice long post to chew on. It's one that I've been thinking of posting for a long time. I hope you enjoy it.


One of my favorite TV series of all time is ¿Qué Pasa, USA?. For those of you who may not be familiar with the show, it was a bilingual sitcom which ran on PBS in the late 1970's and chronicled the life of a Cuban-American family in Miami.

Mainly a comedy, each of the 39 episodes captured the essence of late 70's Miami, as well as the dynamics of a three-generation Cuban-American family living under the same roof. Although the situations in the episodes were frequently over-the-top and very exaggerated, every Cuban-American young and old, first-generation or third-generation, can relate to them and can relate a similar experience in their lives. Think of the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding, make it hyper-Cuban, and you have an idea of what the show was about. Granted, it did had limited appeal (face it, if you weren't Cuban or Hispanic in general, you probably weren't going to get any of it).

As alluded to above, the show harkens back to the days when Miami basically consisted of four main groups: the established white Non-Hispanics or "Anglos", African-Americans, Jewish-Americans (otherwise lumped under the first group but mentioned separately here to distinguish from the other non-Hispanics), and Cubans. The executive producers were the Cuban-American/Jewish combo of Jose Bahamonde and Bernard Lechowick, typical late 70's Miami. Bahamonde and Luis Santeiro were the main writers. They captured lightning in a bottle, a stroke of genius never to be repeated.

The main characters were the Peña family, a three-generation Cuban-American blue-collar family living in Little Havana. Pepe, the father, was a construction worker. Juana, the mother, worked in the "factoria". The kids, Carmencita and Joe, were typical teenagers stuck in the cultural vise between their exiled parents and their American home, all presided over by the typically Cuban old-fashioned grandparents, Abuela Adela and Abuelo Antonio. All so quintessentially Cuban. The series even spawned the careers of Steven Bauer (Joe) née Esteban Echevarria, and Andy Garcia (who played Carmen's fiancé in one episode).

¿Qué Pasa, USA? was not only groundbreaking because of its bilingual dialogue, but because of the issues covered in its episodes. In many ways it was well ahead of its time. Topics ranged from homosexuality, to drugs, to ethnic/racial relations, to religion and everything else in between.

One thing it never dealt with too much was, believe it or not, politics. In fact, the "f" word was never uttered EVEN ONCE in any of the episodes! I'm not talking about the four-letter word that rhymes with puck, but the five-letter one that ends in L and is never capitalized by many Cuban-American bloggers. That is (was) an amazing feat, and part of the magic of the show.

I have seen every one of the 39 episodes many times over, thanks to the miracle of reruns. I was in grade school during its original run, therefore I didn't fully appreciate it until I got a little older and saw the reruns every afternoon on Channel 2 after getting home from school. Each of those 39 episodes contains at least one nugget, one gem that can and never will be duplicated.

Let's go over some of the show's classic lines and sayings:

"Yo soy Pepe Peña!" - Pepe in full Cuban macho mode, particularly when feeling threatened.

"Carmencita, go to you roon" (Carmencita, go to your room) - Parents and abuelos in unison whenever they wanted to shelter poor Carmen from reality.

"Estoy nunca hubiera pasado en Cuba" (This would have never happened in Cuba) - Abuelos (and sometimes parents) criticizing modern life in the USA.

"Good morning, good afternoon" - Marta la chismosa (Marta the nosy neighbor).

"Aquí se formó el show cubano" - Carmen's best friend and ultra-cubanasa Violetica.

"I'm sick of you Cubans parking on my lawn" - "Anglo" neighbor Mrs. Allen.

Here are my top 6 episodes, some with samples:

1. Limpieza General: Catholic priest and santera bump into each other at Peña house.
2. Citizenship: Who would have thought that Abuela Adela was a prostitute?
3. Joe Goes to Heaven: Joe explores homosexuality by writing a research paper on the subject.
4. Mi Abuela Driving School: "Ok you can bring your little friend along" - Driving instructor to Abuela after she insists on placing a small statue of St. Christopher on the car's dashboard during Carmen's driving test.
5. Joe Goes to the Hospital: Joe has an appendectomy, Peñas act as if he's dying.
6. We Speak Spanish: Kids ordered to speak only Spanish in the house, chaos ensues.

Honorable Mention (in no paticular order):

Super Chaperone
Dream
Here Comes the Bride (featuring Andy Garcia in his debut acting role).
TV Interview
Bad News (Cuban funeral scene is hilarious)
Malas Compañias

Okay all you loyal readers...which is your favorite episode(s)?

Make sure you visit the "official" ¿Qué Pasa? website here. It's full of goodies, including photos, a Cuban-American dictionary, clips of several episodes, and a bio.

Rumor has it that filming is underway for a ¿Qué Pasa? documentary. Let's hope it comes out soon.

Hope you all enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me.