A recent article calls attention to ABC’s 8pm-9pm Wednesday night line up. It quotes:

Let’s get one thing straight: Just because George Lopez and Freddie Prinze Jr. are Hispanic men with their own sitcoms on ABC, and their shows just happen to be scheduled consecutively on Wednesday nights, doesn’t mean there’s a new “Latin hour” on prime-time television.

Now, I have to say, I agree with part of this statement. You couldn’t come out and say “It’s Jewish Time”, or “African American Line-Up”…but many people are referring to The George Lopez Show and Freddie as the “Latino Hour”.

Here’s the only part I really don’t agree with of the quote mentioned above:

…and their shows just happen to be scheduled consecutively on Wednesday nights…

Their shows are not accidentally lined up next to each other. I’m sure the ABC had planned on marketing this either officially or unofficially as a “Latino Hour”. And, Prinze thinks so, too. In another article he states:

“I’m not so sure that the network should be creating a Latino hour,” he said. “Maybe our two shows should stand alone.”

Maybe he’s right. You don’t have to know that Freddie is a “Latino” show. You just have to know if you like it or not. If you laugh, keep watching. If not, then find something else.

[Lopez says:]“Just watch because you think the shows are funny. Don’t watch because we’re a couple of Latino guys.” To which Prinze added: “I have no patience for that. Because Latino is cool, all of a sudden, they’re like, we’ll say this and we’ll be cool. Shut your face, man. It’s TV.”

It’s no secret that corporations are finally aware of the power of the Latino/Hispanic audience. But there are still a lot of lessons to learn. Maybe today’s lesson to big business is this: If you want to focus on an audience, a target market, then do it. Research everything there is about it, and create your campaign based on those needs. But by throwing around the words Latino and Hispanic in situations that it could feel discriminating, you may be hurting yourself more than helping.

Via / Buffalo News

Prinze complains about “Latino Hour” in another interview.