George Lopez

The actors are all very good, particularly Moreno and Valentine Rodriquez who plays his pal, Ernie...It's not there yet - not by a long shot - but it's got potential. Chances are good that the producers will work it out. [27 Mar 2002, p.72]

Basically it's an amiable sitcom about a family that--sit down if you aren't already--happens to be Latino. [27 Mar 2002, p.C6]

It's an ancient TV dilemma: Bring an edgy comedian aboard, then make him tone down what he does best in order to avoid offending anybody. The problem is only compounded for ethnic performers who know they'll get little time to develop an audience...Lopez's amiability, however, gives it a chance to work. [27 Mar 2002, p.E6]

Judging by the pilot, George Lopez is no laugh riot, but it definitely has its moments, and it's refreshing to find a touch of Mexican-American flavor on TV somewhere other than Showtime and Nickelodeon. [27 Mar 2002, p.D01]

There's a little "Everybody Loves Raymond" here, and that's not a bad thing.

[It] would be pleasant enough if someone hadn't decided it needed spicing up. Belita Moreno as George's phenomenally unlikable mother drags this whole proposition down. [27 Mar 2002, p.49]

It's nicely cast but pretty much a pure formula piece from the Bruce Helford ("The Drew Carey Show") factory. The welcome diversion from the family sitcom recipe is that it puts a Latino (who happens to be pretty funny) in the lead role. But Helford drops in altogether too much gratuitous crudeness to make this acceptable as family viewing. [27 Mar 2002, p.C3]

Is this show in danger of being too nice? Somebody must have thought so, because George has been given a harridan for a mother.

Even with all that support, George Lopez looks like a wispy, amateurishly performed show serving jokes that are bland, coarse or predictable. Lopez has a talent for delivering one-liners but he's a limited actor. [27 Mar 2002, p.E1]

The series is so derivative you can almost see its creators playing all the angles. It's "My Wife and Kids," but with a Latino family and not quite as upscale. It's "The Bernie Mac Show" but with a less brash father figure and not quite as upscale. Like "The Drew Carey Show," (Bruce Helford is a creator and producer of both), it is strategically poised between blue-collar and white-collar worlds, one of the few shows with an upwardly mobile, working class hero...The situations are utterly predictable.

Lopez might just be trying to prove that Latinos have as much right as anyone to bomb on ABC. [27 Mar 2002, p.F1]