“When I started my first show in 2002, Eva Longoria and America Ferrera were just starting, and there was no Eva Mendes or Gina Rodriguez, and directors like Robert Rodriguez were also just starting,” he said. “I see it getting better. Is it ever going to be a level playing field? No, but in 20 years, you do want to see it getting better than it is now, but it’s also hard for everybody. When you don’t come from a theater or comedic background, you have to scrape and find stuff, so it’s so difficult to make it that many people just stopped (trying) it.”
Lopez encountered some of those obstacles early on when trying to pitch his first television show, “George Lopez,” which eventually got picked up by the ABC network and ran for 120 episodes over six seasons. In a 2006 People magazine interview, he praised actress and longtime friend Sandra Bullock for helping make his show a reality when his pitches weren’t getting anywhere in Hollywood. Bullock would later join the series as an executive producer.
“George Lopez” is a sitcom where he stars as a fictionalized version of himself raising a family in Los Angeles and touches on themes of class and race. Some featured aspects from his real life included his best friend Ernie (same name in the show) and even some places he worked and was fired from.
“I used to work at this place called Powers Book Publishing, run by this guy named Melvin Powers, who used to think he was a big shot. I even used his name (in the show), and one day, they come in with a client, and he said, ‘Hey, how’s it going George?’ and I said, ‘Pretty good Melvin.’ I didn’t call him Mr. Powers, and the way he looked at me, I thought, ‘Oh man, he’s going to fire me,’ and he did that day,” Lopez said. “I found success in not trying to be an astronaut, but in trying just to keep the show grounded, and there’s really nobody that says ‘I don’t get what they’re saying,’ and that is as big an accomplishment.”