¿Qué Pasa, USA? is America's first bilingualsituation comedy, and the first sitcom to be produced for PBS. It was produced and taped from 1977 to 1980 in front of a live studio audience at PBS member station WPBT in Miami, Florida and aired on PBS member stations nationwide. The program explored the trials and tribulations faced by the Peñas, a Cuban-American family living in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood, as they struggled to cope with a new country and a new language. The series is praised as being very true-to-life and accurately, if humorously, portraying the life and culture of Miami's Cuban-American population. Today, the show is cherished by many Miamians as a true, albeit humorous, representation of life and culture in Miami.
Synopsis
The series focused on the identity crisis of the members of the family as they were pulled in one direction by their elders—who wanted to maintain Cuban values and traditions—and pulled in other directions by the pressures of living in a predominantly Anglo-American society. This caused many misadventures for the entire Peña family as they get pulled in all directions in their attempt to preserve their heritage.
Use of language
The series was bilingual, reflecting the code-switching from Spanish use in the home and English at the supermarket predominant in Cuban-American households in the generation following the Cuban exodus of the 1960s. The use of language in the show also paralleled the real-life generational differences in many Cuban-American families of the era. The grandparents spoke almost exclusively Spanish and were reluctant—at times, even hostile—towards the idea of learning English; an episode featured a dream sequence where Joe, the son of the family, dreams about his grandparents exclusively speaking English. The grandparents' struggle with English often resulted in humorous misunderstandings and malapropisms. The parents' relative fluency in English was laced with strong Cuban accents, and would alternate between the two languages or code-switch depending on the situation. The children, having been exposed to American culture for years, spoke primarily in slightly accented colloquial English, but were able to converse relatively competently in Spanish as needed, though one of the running gags of the show revolved around their occasional butchering of Spanish grammar or vocabulary.
Cast
Main characters
Manolo Villaverde as PepePeña — the patriarchal figure of the Peña household
Ana Margarita Martínez-Casado as Juana Peña — the matriarchal figure of the household
Luis Oquendo as Antonio — Juana's father and the primary Cuban-born grandfather archetype to Joe and Carmen. As was typical of adult Cuban exiles living in Miami, Antonio is unable to speak English fluently, relying on his daughter and son-in-law to be translators from English to Spanish.
Velia Martínez as Adela — Juana's mother and the primary Cuban-born grandmother archetype to Joe and Carmen. Like her husband, Antonio, she is wholly fluent in Spanish, and relies on her daughter and son-in-law to translate. This creates a dynamic that is explored extensively in the fourth episode, appropriately titled "We Speak Spanish", when she remarks on her daughter's competency in English.
Steven Bauer as Joe Peña — the first-generation Cuban-American archetypal son of Pepe and Juana; remains until the 28th episode.
(credited as "Ana Margarita Menéndez" as Carmen Peña — the first-generation Cuban-American archetypal daughter of Pepe and Juana.
The series initially ran for four seasons from 1977-1980 and continues to run in syndication.
Film adaptation
As of 2016, a film adaptation is currently in development produced by Las VegasMoney Manager and film producerDax Anthony Cata, a lifelong fan of the original show and its star Steven Bauer who subsequently would go on to play Manny Ribera in the wildly popular 1980s Cuban remake of Scarface starring Al Pacino which was a major inspiration for the screenplay of the ¿Qué Pasa, USA? remake. The film is a modern-day action comedy remake of the hit 1977-1980 Spanglish sitcom set in Miami, Florida. The film tells the story of an incompetent director with delusions of grandeur trying to film a remake of his beloved PBS show "Qué Pasa, USA?". The production is further complicated with limited support from the studio, questionable talent, a hostile drug-fueled film set and an ex-wife hellbent on making his life a living hell all while trying to maintain his sanity and the burning desire to catch his big break and finally get out of Miami and move to Hollywood to further his film career. The film is being produced in South Florida and shot in various predominately Cuban-American neighborhoods in Miami-Dade county such as Little Havana, Brickell, Miami Beach and Kendall and will stay true to its Miami roots with its casual use of Spanglish and the Miami accent while also celebrating South Florida Latino culture and cuban cuisine.
