In the ever-lengthening history of George Lopez sitcoms, the first time was a charm, the second and third not so much. The comedian’s much-loved “George Lopez” ran from 2002 to 2007 on ABC, followed by the deservedly short-lived “Saint George” on FX and the quite good, relatively modern “Lopez,” which lasted two seasons on TV Land. And now he’s back, for a potentially charmed fourth time, with “Lopez vs. Lopez,” premiering Friday on NBC, which returns him to network television and the multicamera, wacky family format of his first success.
Pilots are hard. They’re full of introductions and information, whereas the very point of the broadcast sitcom is returning you to a place where you already know everybody’s name. Such shows break in like shoes. The opening episode of “Lopez vs. Lopez” feels a little strained, especially given how hard the laugh track is working to convince you that the show is hilarious, a hit from get-go. But as one would expect, the second episode (of two available for review) is more relaxed, even as the high jinks are more hectic. It’s a decent, pro job — the sort of sitcom in which people say mildly offensive things without becoming actually offensive.
That “Lopez vs. Lopez” has a feature-ready real-world backstory does not make it any less a creature of the form. The series was co-created by Lopez and his formerly estranged daughter, Mayan Lopez, who co-stars as … his formerly estranged daughter. TikTok, where the Lopezes have posted together, had something to do with their reunion, and Mayan’s character — also called Mayan, as George is called George — also TikToks, if that’s the verb. (Third co-creator and showrunner Debby Wolfe, Salvadoran on her mother’s side, who discovered Mayan’s feed and thought she saw a show there, comes from the rebooted “One Day at a Time” and “The Conners”; Bruce Helford, who co-created “George Lopez,” is an executive producer and writer.)
