For years, we’ve been waiting anxiously for any news regarding Fox’s upcoming border comedy Bordertown to come our way. Since the series was first announced in 2013, some of us shifted uncomfortably in our seats at the prospect of genius-provocateur Seth MacFarlane sinking his teeth into border politics, but since then it’s become clear just how much executive producer MacFarlane and creator Mark Hentemann care about getting it right. First they brought on Chicano cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz in a powerful gesture of good faith, then OC Weekly humor columnist Gustavo Arellano was hired as a consultant, plus they staffed the writers’ room with an unheard of five Latino writers.
That being said, Hentemann’s exploration of neighborly relations between a lazy, white American border agent and the industrious and successful Mexican immigrant family next door will no doubt be ruffling feathers all around. So far, the show’s talent has compared Bordertown to America’s groundbreaking network TV sendup of potty-mouthed racism All in the Family, while suggesting it will be equally appreciated by all sides of the political spectrum. We’ll have to wait until January to see for ourselves, but we recently got our hands on an exclusive clip to hold us over through the upcoming holidays.
In “Meet Ernesto Gonzalez,” we get to take a closer look at Bordertown’s co-lead and good-natured foil to his envious, red-state American neighbor Bud Buckwald. In addition to some new footage that showcases Buckwald and Gonzalez’s very special frenemy dynamic, voice actor Nicholas Gonzalez talks about about his character’s personality and how he came to define Ernesto’s jolly, south-of-the-border accent. Hit play on the video up top to check it out.
Bordertown premieres Sunday, January 3, 2016 at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.