Last year it was announced that comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias was joining the team at Netflix to develop a new sitcom. The multi-camera show, entitled Mr. Iglesias, would follow a “good-natured public high school teacher” helping a group of underachieving students reach success. Now the first trailer has dropped giving us something that’s a hearty mix of One Day at a Time (RIP) and Stand and Deliver.
Filmed like most of Netflix’s sitcoms, (think along the lines of Fuller House), we’re introduced to the lively Mr. Iglesias, a history teacher who, despite his grand slo-mo entrance, isn’t necessarily changing the world. His students are as intelligent as they are snarky, able to deduce the horrors of American history, and it’s evident Mr. Iglesias is unconventional. But soon, it’s revealed that his students are facing expulsion and a lack of interest by the school’s assistant principle, who quips “We’re not turning our backs on them; It’s turning our faces to the good students.”
The trailer contains references the experiences of a first-generation Latinos, including a by now nearly requisite Selena joke. The rest is made up of comic gags, the reveal of a school talent show – because it wouldn’t be high school without one – and brief glimpses of Jacob Vargas, co-starring alongside Oscar Nuñez.
Mr. Iglesias certainly looks funny and hopefully it will help fill the big void left by One Day at a Time. If the series can bring up issues affecting Latinx teens today in an accessible sitcom format for all audiences, it could continue to advance the work the excellent ODAAT was doing. If anything, Iglesias looks like he’s having blast, continuing the trend of discussing history through a Latino voice a la John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons.
Mr. Iglesias streams on Netflix starting June 21st.