‘Primo’: The Latino Sitcom we have been desperately missing
The early decade sitcom success continues with Shea Serrano’s new show
Amazon’s new sitcom “Primo” is based on showrunner Shea Serrano’s coming-of-age story and is as entertaining as he is on Twitter.
Rafa, played by Ignacio Diaz-Silverio, is a high school teenager growing up in San Antonio, Texas, has a love interest and constantly goes on adventures with his five chaotic uncles who refer to him as Primo.
Despite being based on Serrano’s coming-of-age story, “Primo” takes place in today’s age. Created in collaboraftion with “Parks and Recreation” and “The Good Place” creator Michael Shur, the eight-episode Freevee show has a lighthearted “Ted Lasso” approach but with Latino characters.
With Latinos making up around 20% of the U.S. population but consisting of only 6% of feature film casts, “Primo” is a breath of fresh air for the Latino community. An all-Latino main cast is rare in television and film, and Serrano’s show helps bring the biggest minority in the country alongside “Ted Lasso” and “Abbott Elementary.”
It is an added bonus that the show has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The characters have extreme yet believable personalities in which they could realistically live in our world. The uncles can do everything the average person will not, from punching a hole into their own deck for a bet, switching out their sister’s food for her entire life and creating a board game that includes every other board game ever made, the brothers go to extreme lengths to fulfill their eccentric adventures.
Even Rafa’s mom Drea, played by Christina Vidal, has an extreme temper when aggravated by her family whom she deeply loves.
Serranos declined SAC Media’s request for an interview due to the writers’ strike in Hollywood. The only exception the Writers Guild of America has for writers is social media promotion, of which Serrano has fully taken advantage, using his 434,000 Twitter following to garner interest for the show.
Serrano cares deeply about the community of people supporting his work and ensured it was free for everyone to watch. As a result, when Amazon picked up the show, it was put on Freevee instead of Prime Video. The show can be watched here.
If you are a fan of the San Antonio Spurs, then this is the show for you as Rafa has a Manu Ginobili jersey in his room. If you aren’t, then watch it for yourself and find out.