Friday, March 28, 2003 | 4:34 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION: March 30, 2003
For most of his life George Lopez dreamed of making it big as a comedian.
The problem was, reality kept getting in the way.
Lopez, 41, grew up in the Mission Hills neighborhood of San Fernando, Calif., raised by his grandparents after his mother had remarried and all but abandoned him at age 10. His father, likewise, disappeared from the family when Lopez was 2 months old. Hardly the stuff of comedic inspiration.
Nevertheless, the comedian has taken many of these events, stories and people and made them into a sitcom -- "George Lopez," which airs at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays on ABC (Channel 13) -- and as occasional fodder for his stand-up act.
Lopez performs at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Hilton Theatre at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Calling from his home in Toluca, Calif., the comedian talked to the Las Vegas Sun recently about why he still enjoys performing stand-up and why few Latino shows have succeeded on TV.
Sun: With many celebrities voicing opposition to the war with Iraq, what are your thoughts?
George Lopez: I'm not a fan of war. My wife tells me in my past lives I was a coward soldier or that I didn't like fighting. I'm not a fan of war but I'm a huge fan of freedom and of America, and I'll support whatever America decides to do.
Sun: Even with the success of your show, you still perform stand-up.
GL: I've never gotten away from stand-up. Even when the show came along, I stayed connected to stand-up comedy. It's one of the things I truly enjoy doing, even now that I've gotten to this level. It's better than it's ever been. It's like having a hobby and having the resources for the best supplies.
I used to perform at The Improv at Harrah's -- 12 shows in six days. It was such a grind. Now I've got a nice balance between my show and stand-up and they feed each other. It's a good combination to have.
Sun: Has the success of a your familyoriented sitcom forced you to change your onstage act?
GL: I'm probably as edgy as when I got the show. TV George is much different than Comedian George. My stand-up is not a place for kids. I know parents want to bring their kids, but it's not the same. TV George has a Standards and Practices guy there and I have to fight to say crap more than once. Stand-up George can say and do whatever he wants. It's the freedom of performing live -- there's no censor.
Sun: You struggled on the road for years before you got your big break when Sandra Bullock saw you perform and worked to get you the sitcom. Did it ever seem as if success would always allude you?
GL: In '95-'99 I'd become what I feared the most: a road comedian. I would go to the Southwest twice a year ... I was locked into this grind, it was awful. I didn't have an agent, a publicist or a manager. Then I meet Sandra and everything changed.
Sun: The actress maintains an executive producer title with your show. How is it to work with the movie star?
GL: I've never had anyone tell me they wanted to be in business with me, especially someone at her level. In the beginning she was just absolutely fantastic, getting me seen and getting the word out about me. She's stayed totally connected with me and still is. She's around when I need her.
Sun: How much does the show mirror your life?
GL: From the beginning, I was going to make it real to my life. I wasn't going to write anything that wasn't true. I use my own name and I created characters out of people from my life: wife, mother, friend named Ernie, and I used to work in an airplane parts manufacturing plant. I also didn't know my father, so I decided to use that arc of trying to find my father. I haven't found him in real life, but in the show I will.
Sun: The networks have made several stabs at Latino shows, but almost always fail -- most notably Norman Lear's "A.K.A. Pablo" in 1984, which lasted barely a month. Why haven't more Latino shows been successful?
GL: Norman Lear is brilliant but Norman Lear is not Latino. The times really have changed. We have a sense of humor and laugh at ourselves. And unless you're one of us you don't understand that. Producers tell us where the line is and it's not.
When the show started someone on the show said there was nothing in the kitchen that distinguished it from a Latino house. And I said, "What about the Latinos living in the house?" And the kitchen stayed the way it was.
If the show succeeds, it's by my own hand, and if it fails it's by my own hand. (The producers) haven't asked me to change or adjust. They've just allowed me to be me. My job is to change the way we're viewed because there are so few opportunities.
Sun: With the lack of Latino success on American television, do you feel added pressure for your show to succeed?
GL: I think there's pressure in all of it. I don't feel any more pressure than Ray Romano felt with "Everybody Loves Raymond," or Roseanne. It's just pressure in doing good. I don't think there's added pressure because I'm Mexican. But I know the payoffs are deeper.
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