Los García
Los García was a Puerto Rican television sitcom from the 1970s. First shown weekly on WAPA-TV, and later on TeleIsla, it depicted the life of a local fictional family, as well as that of some of their neighbors. The series' characters were based real individuals. It was the best-rated television program in Puerto Rico in three out of the six years of the program's run. It is still aired in re-runs by the local Puerto Rico community channel for DirecTV.
Origins
had a stream of radio productions in the late 1940s and 1950s, the most successful of which were family-oriented comedies. The two most successful ones, La Familia Pérez and Gloria y Miguel, featured comedic variations on real-life stories about married couples, essentially premiering sitcoms in Puerto Rico. When local television stations started their broadcasts in 1954, Muñiz tried the formula in two productions: Hogar, dulce hogar in the late 1950s, and a television version of Gloria y Miguel in the mid-1960s. Since broadcasts were live, and airings were frequent, Muñiz, who was the writer for these programs as well, felt that the family sitcom format was quite challenging to sustain. He felt slightly burned out by the time each program had run its course, and was quite reluctant to pursue the formula further.By the time his production company experienced a strike in 1973, Muñiz felt compelled to abandon television productions altogether. He remained as executive producer for various comedies, particularly those featuring José Miguel Agrelot, and had various other businesses to fall back to, but he had lost the desire to write and produce. As his other businesses fell in hard times, coinciding with an economic recession in Puerto Rico, he was repeatedly urged by family and peers to try producing yet another family sitcom, a tried-and-true formula that, they considered, would involve little risk. He reluctantly agreed, and when no actor was available to play the main role, he took a gamble and decided -against his own wishes- to star in the comedy as well.
Jean Baptiste Romanacce, the real "Juan Bautista García"
When Tommy Muñiz first sketched his new production, he intended the starring role to reflect an everyday man from Puerto Rico. The man who served as the main inspiration for the role had not been born in the island country. Tomás Muñiz, Tommy's father and a famous producer in his own merit, had met Jean Baptiste Romanacce-García, a Corsican immigrant whose name was adapted into Juan Bautista García, a Spanish-sounding name, upon his arrival to Puerto Rico in 1906. García was a self-made man who thrived after his orphaned childhood and became a handyman and freelance set designer for Puerto Rico's television stations. He was also known in the island country for having fathered ten children, adopting three more, and somehow managing the entire tribe. After using García's services often through the years, Tommy Muñiz befriended García. In turn, Rafo Muñiz, Tommy Muñiz's son, was a childhood friend of García's grandson, Roberto, who in turn was the son of Rodofreddo García.Tommy Muñiz was inspired by the decorations that García had done at the Parroquia Espíritu Santo -the neighborhood church near Muñiz's household,- and came with the idea of dedicating a television show to the García family. Based on this, Tommy's character became Juan Bautista García, and Rafo Muñiz's character was Godofredo, a young neighbor. The real García died on June 1, 1975, just before the series went on the air.
The cast
Casting for the series was fortuitous, as were many production details. While Tommy was writing his scripts, his son Rafael, who had played the family's son in the television version of "Gloria y Miguel", asked to play Godofredo -the role demanded a cheeky, wisecracking teenager, and although Rafo was already in his twenties, he felt he could play it. Juan Bautista needed a daughter -who would be Godofredo's girlfriend, and mutual family friends referred Gina Beveraggi, who had no previous stage experience, to Muñiz. He ended up naming the character Ginny, after Gina's real name. Mutual references also contacted Manela Bustamante, a very successful Cuban-born comedian, famous for her role of Cachucha in Cuban radio and television. to play Doña Toni, a fast-talking, nosy neighbor. Muñiz asked a neighbor, William Gracia -also with no acting experience- to play Don Pepín, another nosy neighbor. Liberato Garced Rodriguez was originally cast as Juan, Jr., better known as Junito. Garced was later replaced by Edgardo Rubio,, who would later on achieve fame in WAPA-TV's Barrio Cuatro Calles, and later played comedic roles in Spanish-language television in Florida. Rubio also made his television acting debut as a cast member of Los García.Muñiz's staff then recruited Gladys Rodríguez, a former child- and later internationally known dramatic actress, for the role of Teresa García Albano, Pablo's wife. She had come out of semi-retirement by the time the series' pilot was filmed, after playing various major dramatic roles around Latin America. Muñiz felt too old for the role and didn't feel his acting skills could match Rodriguez's, but they both felt an instant connection, right from the beginning. Their acting chemistry was such that many years later, when Jacobo Morales cast his Academy Award nominated film Lo que le pasó a Santiago, he selected Muñiz for the main role and Rodriguez as his romantic interest.
In rather unusual fashion, Muñiz wrote the series' scripts less rigidly than in his previous productions, giving the characters more flexibility to ad lib. Ad libbing would sometimes have its consequences, since the show was taped but otherwise acted live and not edited: in one episode Rodríguez called Doña Toni by Manela's name and all actors -including Bustamante- had to refrain from cracking up a laugh.
The Garcia's lived in Parque Florido, a Spanish translation of "Floral Park", the San Juan neighborhood where Muñiz lived. The character's names, for the most part, were literally taken from Muñiz's neighbors as well.
The fortuitous nature of the show's assembly extended to its theme "song", a hodgepodge of four musical selections, the two most notable of which were mashed-up versions of the Champ Boys' funked-up version of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, and an instrumental version of Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby -or, more precisely, its bass line, which is common to both songs.
The characters
Juan Bautista García lived with his family in a fictional neighborhood called "Parque Florido", with his wife Teresa, and his children, straight-as-an-arrow teenage daughter Ginny and impish tween Junito. Juan had already reached middle age, and was prematurely portrayed as a "grumpy old man". As such, he was constantly looking for occasions where he could relax and not be bothered by life's everyday stresses. However, he would inevitably be bothered by his interaction with many of the cast members. His pet peeves were three neighbors: Godofredo, his daughter's slacker boyfriend; Don Pepín, the bossy, meddling neighbor sharing a fence with the Garcías, and Doña Toni, an ever-present neighbor who would make rounds around the neighborhood to observe people. Juan, however, would make a fuss about everything, particularly how much was owed to the neighborhood's newspaper boy.Maintaining Juan's sanity and order at the household was Teresa's full-time job. She pressed Juan to do household chores, correct mistakes, or solve misunderstandings. Many of these were caused by Juan's absent-mindedness, Don Pepín's uncalled for interventions, or Juan's reliance on Godofredo. Junito would also play practical jokes on the family, which almost always backfired.
Plots revolved around everyday tasks such as: who ended up raking leaves in the backyard, the outcome of changing the family car's oil, or a neighbor borrowing a ladder. Juan would sometimes cause mischief on purpose: in an episode the family visited a Middle Eastern restaurant and Juan let himself be dragged backstage by a belly dancer, while Teresa loudly protested.
Not too many details were given about Juan's job, although it was implied that he was an insurance clerk. Actor Carlos Bethel appeared occasionally in the program as Juan's boss. Teresa was a full-time housewife.
A common practice in the program was for Juan, Don Pepín to break the fourth wall and talk directly to the camera. Don Pepín did this most often. He would constantly explained why he, the always well-intentioned neighbor, would need to correct some household situation at the Garcías'. His nosy attitude was a source of comedic conflict with his domineering wife, Rebecca. Doña Toni, on the other hand, would sometimes start talking extremely fast. For comic effect, she sometimes ranted to her husband Victor without even letting him say a word, and then chastising him when he attempted to speak. In one memorable episode Victor told her loudly to shut up, to her surprise.
Los García becomes a smash hit
Los García is considered by many Puerto Rican television critics to be among the best comedy shows in Puerto Rican history. The show began in 1975, quickly becoming a public favorite. The show ran until the early 1980s. It topped local television ratings for at least three of the six seasons in which it ran.Phrases from the program became cultural references. Besides Doña Toni's "¡Cállate, Victor!", Tommy Muñiz made the phrase ¡Sea mi vida gris!, which he mentioned every time his character got mad for some reason, a trademark of his during this show. Most famous of all was an exchange between Teresa and Junito. Whenever Teresa got frustrated to the point of hysteria with Juan, she'd scream his name three times. Junito, mocking her for sounding like a drag racing car engine revving up when she went frantic, would inevitably respond: ¡Chíllala, Mami, chíllala!, which would loosely translate to: "Peel out, Mom, peel out!". Teresa's trademark scream even became part of the title of one of the biography books about Muñiz, "¡Juan, Juan, Juan...! Crónicas de la televisión en los tiempos de Don Tommy", written by Beba García.