Last November, Netflix let John Leguizamo school us on the absence of Latino history with his special, Latin History for Morons. Now, they’re giving audiences’ another popular Latino comic getting historical, although this time it’ll be in sitcom format. Mexican-American comic Gabriel Iglesias will lead the Netflix comedy show, Mr. Iglesias about a “good-natured public high school teacher” taking a group of “gifted but misguided kids” under his wing. Created by Kevin Hench of Cristela fame, the series is inspired by Iglesias’ own comments that if he hadn’t become a stand-up comedian he’d have been a history teacher “because I love history.” The 10-episode first season will also star Oscar Nuñez and Jacob Vargas, as well as Sherri Shepard.
It’s bittersweet reporting on this when Netflix just recently canceled One Day at a Time (and per the show’s contract is prohibiting the series from going to another streaming platform.) This certainly sounds like a sweet comedy with a fun premise, particularly with Iglesias at the helm, but will it provide the social commentary that One Day and even Latin History for Morons did? Some will say that’s unnecessary, that not everything has to be political, but considering Netflix’s treatment of their previous popular Latinx series, it’s hard not to see this as just a safer bet.
That being said, Iglesias hasn’t has his own television show before short of his own individual comedy specials, and it should be fun watching his work alongside kids. The traditional multi-cam sitcom is dying on cable television and Netflix seems to be highly interested in bringing it back. The synopsis right now is vague, but hopefully the first trailer will give us a clearer indication of what this will have to offer a Latinx audience.
Mr. Iglesias will be available to stream June 21 on Netflix.