Future of NBC’s ‘Lopez vs Lopez’ still pending

There has been no official word of whether there will be a third season of the NBC comedy “Lopez vs Lopez.” Because the final episodes of season two will not air until April 30, the announcement of the show’s future will most likely come in early May.

Mayan Lopez, the daughter of George Lopez, created the series from her TikTok content, which she used as a creative outlet during the pandemic. In the series, she plays a fictional version of herself, a modern Gen Z daughter working to rebuild her dysfunctional relationship with her old-school Latino father.

The second season picked up after the family intervention for George. He reached the six-weeks mark for sobriety and that meant having to deal with some feelings he had not faced in years. Changes in her father translate to Mayan having to face she must be open to the new relationship. It has been a season of growth for father and daughter.

Part of the decision to give the second season a heavy story thread to go with the humor came out of the work George Lopez had done in the past especially with his self-titled situation comedy that ran for 120 episodes. That gave him the background to handle a TV comedy.

George Lopez says, “It was also me looking inward toward me. My stand-up became kind of personal and I thought if there was one thing I would look at to get rid of it was my alcoholism and my dependence on alcohol.

“It’s not an easy subject to tackle but it is a subject that comes up in people’s workplace, in families at weddings and birthday parties.”

Knowing the subject matter cut across so many generations and demographics was a motivation to use the comedy platform to make some serious points. The plan was to make this darker problem very relatable and to see the devastating impact it can have on a family.

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The feedback he has gotten from viewers is that the subject is addressed but not in a preachy fashion. That makes it a lot more fun for them to watch and less likely to turn away.

Making the change was a family decision as father and daughter have worked on the project. Casting her father to play her father has worked on many levels for Mayan Lopez as the bedrock of the comedy is an examination of the relationship between father and daughter.

“We looked at each other and we realized that our relationship represents a lot of relationships,” Mayan Lopez says. “We can find so many themes that really resonate with a lot of people of reconciling and trying to build something together.

“It’s realizing that your parents are people and not only how to repair but also build something if you chose to go toward the future.”

George Lopez has found himself in an interesting situation as both TV and real-life dad. There are his natural instincts as a father to do all he can to make sure his daughter finds as much success as possible. He also has been very hesitant over the years of telling fellow actors what to do.

The key for Lopez is to pay very close attention to everything he does and says when it comes to the series.

“If someone wasn’t attentive to it, you could really go over the line and upset an actor,” George Lopez says. “You don’t want to be the actor who is trying to be the director. Also, Mayan is my daughter.

“I am happy that she is always on time. I’m happy that she is always prepared. To learn the multi-camera format is not really easy.”

Goerge Lopez is more comfortable in the second season offering suggestions to his daughter. It’s not so much telling her about abilities that she has because Lopez has seen that his daughter knows how to be funny. He is more apt to suggest better ways to play a scene.

His dealing with his daughters has been easier to handle because when George Lopez appeared in his first comedy series, he had only worked in stand-up comedy. He remembers how daunting the process can be. It was coaching and suggestions from fellow actors and directors that helped him learn the TV world.

The second season of “Lopez vs Lopez” launched April 2 and has been airing back-to-back episodes starting at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on KGET. If you have fallen behind, each episode is available the following day on the streaming service of Peacock.

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