Greetings from Tucson

Greetings from Tucson
Also known as Just Like You
This Time
Genre Comedy
Created by Peter Murrieta
Written by Michael Begler
Jeff Bye
Directed by Mark Cendrowski
Dana De Vally Piazza
Starring Pablo Santos
Aimee Garcia
Rebecca Creskoff
Bobby Chavez
Julio Oscar Mechoso
Composer(s) Los Lobos
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 22
Production
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 30 minutes
Production company(s) 3 Arts Entertainment
Big Ticket Television
Turner Television
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network The WB
Original release September 20, 2002 (2002-09-20) – May 9, 2003 (2003-05-09)

Greetings from Tucson is a television sitcom which aired on The WB during the 2002-2003 season. The series was executive produced by Rob LaZebnik, Peter Murrieta, Howard Klein and David Miner.

Though reviews were mixed, critics applauded the abilities of the mostly-Latino cast, calling the show "a welcome addition to TV's largely white landscape," [1] and compared its premise to I Love Lucy, The Jeffersons and the thought-provoking 1970s comedies of Norman Lear.

Plot

The show's title was meant to imitate the caption of a postcard, and the title sequence displayed the cast and credits on a series of postcards. The same visual device was used to transition between scenes. The exterior shot of the daughter's apartment building is a photograph of a real Tucson apartment complex, Casa Royale. The show's theme song was performed by Los Lobos.

Greetings from Tucson was based on the life of series creator Peter Murrieta. The stories were seen through the eyes of 15-year-old David Tiant (Pablo Santos), the oldest son in an ethnically-mixed, upwardly mobile family. His father Joaquin (Julio Oscar Mechoso) was a proud, pragmatic Mexican-American; his mother was a feisty Irish-American. His older sister (Aimee Garcia) was a socially-active cheerleader who rejected her Mexican roots and insisted she was Spanish.

In the pilot episode, the audience was told that Joaquin was awarded a major promotion at the copper mine, enabling him to move his family to a better neighborhood. The Tiants' last house was in such an impoverished area that it had bars on the windows and was subject to frequent police helicopter flyovers. The pilot episode took place six months after the Tiants moved.

Greetings from Tucson attempted to examine the themes of cultural identity, family and class. For example, in one scene, a Caucasian neighbor tells Ms. Tiant, "We were thinking of getting some work done in our yard, and I saw those Mexicans building a wall for you. I hear they're really good, and those guys look trustworthy. Maybe I could get their number from you." "Those guys," in fact, are Joaquin and his brother. The series lampooned stereotypes of Mexican culture and used them self-deprecatingly. In one episode, young David enters a clothing store, family in tow, and proclaims, "Of all the parts of my Mexican heritage that I'm most proud of, taking the extended family to the mall in one car to buy one item is probably my favorite." When Ms. Tiant hears that her daughter has been telling people that her family is Spanish, she replies, "She lies like a Spaniard."

Cast

References

  1. ↑ Greetings from Tucson | PopMatters Television Review
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