Luis

Yes, amigos, Luis is often laugh-out-loud funny - a clich that Fox has my permission to use in its advertising for this show.

Luis is part of a noteworthy change in the way ethnicity is depicted on network TV. In that sense, if no other, it is worth a look. [19 Sept 2003, p.1E]

Most of Luis so far is underdeveloped and oversold. [19 Sept 2003, p.B48]

Luis retains the creaky, cliched feel of a laugh track relic from another time. Even in the '70s, this ethnic comedy cartoon wouldn't have seemed all that funny. With manic Luis, more is less. [19 Sept 2003, p.6H]

Luis is a four-car pileup on the interstate - metal-on-metal loud and abrasive, and just about as funny. [19 Sept 2003, p.12]

Like Whoopi, Luis just barrels along on coarse writing and over-the-top performances. This obnoxious show is the salmon doughnut of sitcoms. [19 Sept 2003, p.E1]

Miserable excuse for comedy. [19 Sept 2003, p.E-11]

What is it about this television season that made TV executives say, "I think what Americans want to watch in a sitcom is people taunting, disrespecting and insulting one another"?...Insult humor courses through the veins of Fox's Luis, an alleged comedy that provides few laughs.

In fact, whether racism is a fact of life or the ne plus ultra of social transgression, how did television writers forget how little comic potential it offered in the first place?

A largely one-note performance that does little to hook an audience. [19 Sept 2003]

Hurrah for diversity! If only this were a show that was actually worth watching. [19 Sept 2003, p.C01]

Horrific.

The pilot script manages to poke fun at more ethnic groups than the average episode of "All in the Family," but without any of the wit. Most of the jokes, like most of the characters, just sit there.

None of this material is even slightly original, and Guzman - who has done good work on "Oz" and in movies such as "Traffic" - is sorely lacking in the punch-line delivery department. He over-projects, as if he were on a stage at a noisy comedy club, which, unfortunately, he isn't.

The only thing keeping Luis from a flat-out F-grade is its employment of a multi-ethnic cast. That's commendable on the face of it, although under these circumstances all involved might be better off unseen.

Advocacy groups pushing for more Latinos on TV may hang their heads after watching Luis. Fox's laffer indeed puts a Puerto Riqueno front and center, but the show pastes together every possible cliche --- race- and sitcom-related --- at the expense of sophistication and, more seriously, the advancement of minorities on series television. Weak punchlines come fast and furious, and so do plenty of off-color jokes that take this half-hour in the wrong direction. [18 Sept 2003, p.14]

If a sitcom works on Fox, it's generally the best comedy on TV. But when it doesn't, like Luis doesn't, the failure is grand.

Turns out the "new" version of Luis is virtually unchanged from the abominable pilot that was made last spring. [19 Sept 2003, p.E8]