Page 31 - Aruba Today
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people & arts A31
Thursday 31 December 2015
A cartoon series brings laughs to raging immigration debate
FRAZIER MOORE update of Archie Bunker, the show’s characters not met for me, man! The stars “He went even further than
AP Television Writer the apoplectic working as stereotypes, but as ar- aligned!” WE did,” adds Alcaraz with
NEW YORK (AP) — Let’s get man from the pioneering chetypes. Alcaraz co-wrote the a laugh. “He said, ‘The
one thing straight: Donald 1970s sitcom “All in the “My own dad was a gar- “Borderwall” episode with MEXICANS are gonna pay
Trump is not a consultant to Family.” Like Archie, Bud dener and I gardened Hentemann more than a for MY border wall!’”
“Bordertown.” is “a white guy who feels with him on Saturdays,” year ago. Their hero, Bud, Reflecting his recent stint
To be sure, this new Fox ani- he’s losing his place in the
mated comedy does tar- world. He’s contrasted with This photo provided by FOX shows Bud Buckwald, left, with his Border Patrol colleagues on the
get issues like immigration, an immigrant who’s build- series premiere of “Bordertown,” airing Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on FOX.
the drug war and the em- ing a life for himself in the
battled American Dream. United States.” (Fox via AP)
But it’s been in develop- Growing up in Cleveland,
ment since 2007, long be- Hentemann was inculcat- says Alcaraz. “My mother proposes the wall be paid running “Family Guy” (and
fore the furor sparked by ed with a version of the cleaned houses for mid- for with confiscated drug the role of “Family Guy”
Trump upon his entry last immigration story by his fa- dle-class white people in money. But it works too mastermind Seth MacFar-
June into the presidential ther. San Diego. I’m from that well, destroying the local lane as an executive pro-
race. “Every time he had a glass background.” economy and leaving Bud ducer), Hentemann’s new
The series’ premiere (Sun- of wine, he would tell my Alcaraz went on to earn a jobless. show takes plenty of shots
day, 9:30 p.m. EST) deals siblings and me how his master’s degree in archi- “At the time I remember at pop culture, including
with a toughest-in-the- dad came over from Ger- tecture at the University worrying that all the fu- Bud’s 5-year-old daughter
nation anti-immigration many in the ‘20s with noth- of California at Berkeley, ror over border walls had (a chubby beauty-pag-
bill passed by Mexifornia, ing, seeking a better life, where he found his comic kind of faded,” says Hen- eant veteran who picks up
the U.S. desert community working three jobs,” Hen- voice reflecting his experi- temann. “Was this going to where Honey Boo Boo left
where “Bordertown” is set. temann recalls. “It was his ence growing up. feel old hat when we aired off) as well as the threat
The second episode, airing way to communicate the Now he describes the ar- it? Then a few months later of interplanetary aliens, vi-
Jan. 10, is about the con- values he wanted us to rival of “Bordertown” — Donald Trump announced sions of the Virgin Mary,
struction of a border wall embrace, and not take for framing the immigrant ex- his candidacy and brought Philip Seymour Hoffman’s
meant to protect Mexifor- granted what we have. perience in terms he was it roaring back into the na- drug overdose and the
nia from undesirables from “Every family has their born to lampoon — as “Kis- tional conversation.” WNBA.q
down Mexico way. immigration story some-
“It’s about time we did where back through the
something about immigra- decades,” he says. “That’s
tion! The Southwest be- what compelled me to
longs to retired art teach- write about this. This show
ers and meth-lab entrepre- seemed to be an opportu-
neurs,” roars Bud Buckwald, nity to do a smart cultural
a dunderheaded Border satire.”
Patrol guard who fears his Even as the broader
American Dream is slip- themes felt second nature
ping away in an America to him, Hentemann did not
where ethnic minorities are wish to perpetuate stereo-
projected to become the types, so he brought in a
majority within a few years. team that included Latino
After all, next door to Bud writers.
and his family reside the Among them: Lalo Alcaraz,
Gonzalezes, whose genial creator of the Latino comic
patriarch, Ernesto, has a strip, “La Cucaracha,” who
thriving landscape busi- brings to the show informed
ness after less than a de- details (like Latino men’s
cade settled in the U.S. huge belt buckles and the
According to creator Mark practice of Christmas lights
Hentemann, “Bordertown” strewn year-round outside
began as a modern-day Latino homes). He regards
Reruns and sports: last week’s most-watched gifts to viewers
FRAZIER MOORE edies (a trio of repeats and the final half-hour at- 2.30 million, and ABC Fam- Pre-Kick,” NBC, 14.22 mil-
AP Television Writer of “The Big Bang Theory” tracting a Scrooge-like ily had 2.21 million viewers. lion; “The OT,” Fox, 13.09
NEW YORK (AP) — Football made it into the Top 20), 955,000. NBC’s “Nightly News” million; NFL Football: De-
and reruns prevailed on along with such popular NBC, in second place for topped the evening news- troit at New Orleans, ESPN,
television Christmas week, holiday fare as an Andy the week, averaged 5.3 casts with an average of 10.90 million; “NCIS,” CBS,
according to the Nielsen Griffith special and a color- million viewers, while ABC 9.3 million viewers. ABC’s 10.80 million; “Football
ratings company. ized hour of classic “I Love had 3.6 million, Fox had 3.1 “World News Tonight” was Night in America,” NBC,
NBC’s Sunday night clash Lucy.” For the week, CBS million, Univision had 1.7 second with 8.7 million and 10.67 million; “60 Minutes
between the New York Gi- led in prime time with an million, Telemundo had 1.4 the “CBS Evening News” Presents,” CBS, 10.54 mil-
ants and the Minnesota average 5.7 million view- million, ION Television had had 7.5 million viewers. lion; “The Big Bang Theory”
Vikings claimed the lead ers. 1.3 million, and the CW For the week of Dec. 21-27, (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), CBS,
with almost 18 million view- Not so successful: ABC’s had 1.1 million. the top 10 shows, their net- 8.52 million; “The Big Bang
ers. four-episode block of ESPN was by far the week’s works and viewerships: NFL Theory” (Monday, 8 p.m.),
But CBS was not to be “Muppets” reruns on Sun- leading cable network, av- Football: New York Giants CBS, 8.42 million; “NCIS:
outdone with its slate of day, the first of which drew eraging 3.37 million view- at Minnesota, NBC, 17.87 New Orleans,” CBS, 8.20
encore dramas and com- a puny 1.9 million viewers, ers in prime time. USA had million; “Sunday Night NFL million.q
