‘Cristela’ star Cristela Alonzo candid about season 2 hopes, more in new blog

The story of the ABC sitcom “Cristela” has been a quirky one from the start. It came almost out of nowhere during pilot season, and ended up becoming a favorite of ABC executives. This led to it getting a pickup, and becoming one of the most buzzed-about comedies leading into the start of the fall season. It used the medium of a traditional family comedy to often tell complicated stories about race, gender, and other hot-button issues without ever making them feel testy. It also gave you a better representation of Latino culture than in many other places.

Just a quick shout-out here to ABC for one thing this season: Really trying to give so many different people a voice. We cannot think of a network who at the same time aired comedies featuring a Latino family, an Asian family, and a black family. It is diversity, but it never felt forced or politically-correct.

Unfortunately, we do still have to blame ABC at the same time for “Cristela’s” primary problem: Scheduling. It aired Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. Eastern, a time that has not been good for network comedies at least since the end of the TGIF days. The show had a mediocre-at-best lead-in courtesy of “Last Comic Standing” in the ratings, and its own numbers were never particularly huge.

What we wanted to do today, a day removed from the end of the comedy’s first season, is point you to a blog from series creator, star, and writer Cristela Alonzo where she takes a realistic approach about how her show will most likely be canceled, but she still wants to make it clear just how much it meant and still means to her. She discusses everything from her pride having a show featuring so many Latinos and women to even addressing some criticisms.

It is an honest, raw take on the work that goes into making a TV series, and it’s heartfelt. It makes you want that second season to happen even if you, like us, were not a regular viewer.

Even if the show ends, hopefully Alonzo finds yet another venue for her comedy, in addition to her standup, in the future.

If you want to get some other TV news sent over to you, sign up now for our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)