49½: ¿Es Joe Un Homo?
“Joe Goes to Heaven” (Date Unknown, 1979)
The United States’ first bilingual sitcom and PBS’s first attempt at a 30-minute comedy, ¿Que Pasa USA? proved to be a regional hit in Miami, where a local PBS affiliate created and produced the show, and then across the country as a whole. Overall, it plays out like a lost Norman Lear series centered around a Cuban-American family, and this episode revolves around the possibility that strapping young Joe may be gay. GEE regular Tony Rodriguez makes his first non-Golden Girls appearance to explain this show that is beloved by PBS-watching Latinos but may be wholly new to gringos whose PBS stations weren’t lucky enough to air it.
Read more:
Miami Herald article on the controversial ¿Que Pasa USA? stage show
Listen to Tony’s podcast, Spanish Aquí Presents, and watch him on Netflix’s Gentefied.
This episode’s outro track is “Vamos a la Playa” by Righeria.
And because there is a tragic dearth of decent pics of Joe Peña online, please enjoy this screengrab proving that Rocky Echeverria / Steven Bauer is one of the hottest men in sitcom history. What is Spanish for “woof”?
