George Lopez (show) Information

George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez. The show originally aired on ABC from March 27, 2002, to May 8, 2007.

Synopsis

The comedy revolves around a fictionalized portrayal of George Lopez, working at the Power Bros. aviation factory and raising his family consisting of his wife Angie, his daughter Carmen, and his son, Max, after having endured through a dysfunctional and unhappy childhood at the hands of his alcoholic, remorseless mother Benny, who makes numerous appearances throughout the series and is portrayed as being careless and unloving. Other characters include Angie's indulgent father Vic Palmero, a wealthy doctor, and George's closest childhood friend Ernie Cardenas, noted for his fecklessness at dating and his socially awkward behavior. After Carmen's departure from the series, the role fulfilled by her character was replaced with Angie's overindulged niece Veronica, with a gigantic trust fund that has been entrusted under George's care.

Multiple storylines in the series are established through the unveiling of a secret guarded by Benny throughout George's whole childhood, most notably the discovery that his father Manny is still alive after George had been convinced by his mother that he had died. Throughout a majority of the program, George tries to locate the whereabouts of his father, who was introduced at last in one episode and was revealed to be a rather rude, yet successful businessman, having remarried with his second lover Lydia and fathered a few more children. However, Manny's personality was commonly depicted as being uncaring towards his son and former wife in the few appearances that he made, before his death in one episode of kidney disease. Nonetheless, he prohibits his son's family from attending his funeral in protection of his reputation, much to George's anger.

Production

For the first five seasons, the show had an all-Latino cast with the exception of Albanian American actress Masiela Lusha, who played George's daughter Carmen. George Lopez said that due to creative differences between him and Lusha, Lusha's character was written out of the show after Season 5. During the show's last season, Aimee Garcia was cast as George's niece, Veronica.

On May 15, 2007, the series ended after airing its 120th episode. The final episode aired on May 8. Nightly episode repeats continue to air on various networks both in the United States and abroad.

Characters

Cast

Actor/Actress	Character	Season
George Lopez	George Lopez	All Seasons
Constance Marie	Angelina "Angie" Lopez (née Palmero)	All Seasons
Belita Moreno	Benita "Benny" Lopez (née Diaz)	All Seasons
Masiela Lusha	Carmen Consuelo Lopez	Seasons 1-5 Regular ; last appears in first episode of Season 6
Luis Armand Garcia	Maxwell "Max" Victor Roberto Magic Johnson Lopez	All Seasons
Valente Rodriguez	Ernesto "Ernie" Cardenas	All Seasons
Emiliano Díez	Victor "Vic" Palmero	Seasons 2"3 Recurring; Seasons 4"6 Regular
Aimee Garcia	Veronica Palmero	Season 5 Recurring; Season 6 Regular

Episodes

Nielsen ratings

Season		Time slot (ET)	Episodes	Season premiere	Season finale	Ranking	Viewers (in millions)
1	2001"02	Wednesday 8:30 pm	4	March 27, 2002	April 17, 2002	70th	9.0
2	2002"03		24	October 2, 2002	May 14, 2003	50th	10.4
3	2003"04	Friday 8:00 pm	28	September 26, 2003	May 21, 2004	96th	7.4
4	2004"05	Tuesday 8:30 pm	24	September 28, 2004	May 17, 2005	79th	7.2
5	2005"06	Wednesday 8:00 pm	22	October 5, 2005	April 12, 2006	82nd	7.2
6	2006"07		18	January 24, 2007	May 8, 2007	95th	6.1

Syndication

The show entered syndication one month after the series finale on ABC, and is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution. The show aired in broadcast syndication on independent stations, and affiliates of Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV as well as The CW Plus stations in the United States from 2007-2011 and on Telelatino in Canada. The show moved to ION Television on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011.

On March 8, 2007, it was announced that George Lopez would join the Nick at Nite lineup. It first aired on Nick at Nite on September 10, 2007 " it was the most current non-original show to air on Nick at Nite (until it was announced that Everybody Hates Chris would join the lineup). To this date, it continues to be their highest rated series and one of cable's best for an off-network sitcom.

Never a major hit in primetime, the show became an unexpected success in syndication. Many markets also moved the show from overnight timeslots to more desirable ones.

Episodes from the first four seasons of George Lopez do not use those respective seasons' opening titles, the season five version is used instead (this is evident as Emiliano Diez is credited in the sequence, which is slightly longer than how they were originally broadcast on ABC, though there is also a short version also used in syndication that also differs from the original short opening credits that does not credit him for seasons 1-3, even though Diez did not make his first guest appearance until season two and did not become a cast regular until season four); the final two seasons use those seasons' appropriate versions of the opening credits.

On MTV Tr3s, the show premiered on the network's redebut July 12, 2010 and reruns are being shown there.

On ION Television, the show premiered on the network's Sunday marathon starting on October 2, 2011. But then, was later pulled off their schedule.

DVD release

On April 17, 2007, Warner Home Video released seasons 1 and 2 on DVD in Region 1.

DVD Name	Release Date	Ep #	Additional Information
The Complete First and Second Seasons	April 17, 2007	28	Bonus features include "Inside the Comedic Mind" featurette and Gag reel. The theme song "Low Rider" has been replaced due to licensing costs. George Lopez came in with the producers to record a new theme.

The first, second, and third seasons have also been published on iTunes. It is unknown whether the remaining seasons will be released. Also, according to Amazon.com, the third season is set to be released, however no release date has been announced.

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Recipient
2003	ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards	Top TV Series	Thomas Allen, Harold Ray Brown, Morris Dickerson, Gerald Goldstein, Lonnie Jordan, Lee Levitin, Charles Miller, and Howard E. Scott
2005	Emmy Award	Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series	Judi Giovanni and John Shaffner For episodes "Leave it to Lopez"/"The Simple Life"/"Trouble in Paradise"
2003	Imagen Awards	Best Primetime Comedy Series " Television	-
2004		Best Supporting Actress in a Television Comedy	Belita Moreno
		Best Primetime Series " Comedy	-
		Best Actress in a Television Comedy	Constance Marie
		Best Actor in a Television Comedy	George Lopez
2003	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) " Leading Young Actress	Masiela Lusha
		Best Family Television Series (Comedy or Drama)	-
2004		Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama) " Leading Young Actress	Masiela Lusha