If you grew up watching The George Lopez Show like me, then you’re already familiar with his brand of humor and comedy. Well, George Lopez is back on prime time, this time alongside his real-life daughter, Mayan Lopez. In a Dorkaholics interview with George and Selenis Leyva who will be playing his onscreen ex-wife, George opens up about the renewed relationship he has with his daughter that led to Lopez vs. Lopez being green-lit. It’s a new side of George Lopez that is still funny but better equipped with vulnerability.
Dorkaholics: My first question is for George. You’re no stranger to the family sitcom genre. How would you say Lopez vs. Lopez brings a fresh take on the premise?
George Lopez: I like things that have value and have weight to them. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of mining my own life. The first show would have been mining for silver. And I think this show with Mayan and the things that Mayan and I have gone through the last 15 years with her mother and never thinking, and I mean truly I didn’t think that her and I would be restoring our relationship on NBC. So, to find the people that we did and to find these actors after auditioning 100 or more, and seeing everyone and then having everybody put together, I think we’re mining platinum, we’re mining gold and that this is a cast that’s built for the future. And in my heart I feel like when I look at them, I’m looking at the best people that we could find to tell these stories and to see Mayan every day, it’s almost like a flip book of someone’s life. I look at Mayan at least once or twice a day, and I see her as a little girl, and I see her growing up and I see her in her school uniform, and I see her with her braces and it’s heavy. It’s heavy for me. But also, I spent a lot of years where I didn’t see her. Imagine having a birthday party every day. I mean it’s something that’s celebrated every day. It’s very special.
Dorkaholics: Selenis, what are you excited for audiences to see on Lopez vs. Lopez?
Selenis Leyva: Oh my gosh, I’m excited for them to see what an amazing cast we have. Really, I mean it. I can’t even tell you how often I’m watching the monitors. Even if I’m not in the scene, I’m getting ready in my room and I’m watching the monitors. And laughing out loud because everyone is just so amazing. We also have an amazing writer’s room led by Debbie Wolf and when I tell you each script that comes is just stellar and just when you think it’s that’s it. Where can they go? They bring even more. So, I’m excited for the world to see this family. We’re not a perfect family, but we’re trying to make the best that we can. And I think that’s the beauty of the show. It’s imperfect people just trying to do the best that they can. At the core of it, it’s all love. You know, everybody has love for each other, these characters. Even when they fight, they love each other. And that’s why they fight so hard because guess what? When you love someone, that’s when you really fight. When you don’t care, you don’t care. You walk away. But that’s the beauty of the character of Rosie and George is that they go at it. But at the core, there’s so much love and they know each other so well, so I can’t wait for the world to see, to see this and especially Mayan. Mayan Lopez is really smart, funny, strong and very brave to put this all out there and she’s doing a kickass job. I’m in awe of her and I see her growing more and more and it just it thrills me
George Lopez: There’s a lot of streaming services. Everything can be streamed, and good shows are out there and a lot of good shows you have to find. They’re gonna say, oh, this is on Hulu, or this is on Amazon, or this is on, there’s a hundred places to watch a show. And the idea that network TV is still network TV. NBC, ABC, NBC are all still well-known. And they got America’s Got Talent, and they got Thursday Night Football. And if you went to a store and you were looking for something and it was on the top, you would find it easier than having to dig through things and find something a third of the way down, 7 aisles away. So, people had kind of taken a bit of a break from network TV. And now I believe that even with this show, that people are finding this show and they’ll find it in the easiest place and the place that has always been the most comfortable place for people to watch TV, which is network TV, a place like NBC. So, we’re all very grateful, but also realized that a lot of good shows land in the wrong place and this show has landed in the perfect place.
Dorkaholics: And my last question for both of you is what feeling would you like viewers to have from watching this show?
George Lopez: I used to watch this show and think what did they say, did they say that? And things that were new to comedy and things that were new to whether it was soap where the guy thought he was invisible like this, and things that stay even watching Everybody Loves Raymond and seeing Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. And you see these people and they start to become members of your family and extended family. And I saw a lot of comedians, Ray Romano got his show and that show, and Roseanne, I saw Roseanne before Roseanne had a television show. So, you know, I’ve been in the world of comedy my whole life and I’ve also seen lightning strike people hard. But lightning has struck me twice and I can’t wait to see how people respond to this show.
Selenis Leyva: Yeah, I hope people walk away feeling really good about just life in general. We have so many things going on worldwide that can be so taxing to the soul. And this is going to be a break from that. It’s going to be a delicious break from the everyday noise and it’s exciting and it’s done also in a beautiful way with smart writing. There’re so many layers to this show and that’s the exciting part. People think multicam and they think maybe superficial comedy. No, there’s absolutely nothing superficial about this. This is like the level of The Conners, this is the level of All in the Family. It’s comedic geniuses in the writers’ room and on that stage and we’re just really lucky. So, I can’t wait for the world to join in the fun.
Catch Lopez vs. Lopez – premiering tonight on NBC and streaming on Peacock!
