Cristela Alonzo to Star in CBS Comedy Produced by Jennifer Lopez
If you’ve seen the ABC sitcom Cristela, you’ll likely know the name Cristela Alonzo, the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own primetime comedy in the U
Photo: Atria Books/ Simon & Schuster
If you’ve seen the ABC sitcom Cristela, you’ll likely know the name Cristela Alonzo, the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own primetime comedy in the U.S. For the first time since the series was canceled after a one-season run in 2015, the Mexican American stand-up comedian is finally returning to the small screen with a new show from CBS—She Gets It From Me! Produced by none other than Jennifer Lopez and Ryan Seacrest, the semi-autobiographical series is based on Does This Baby Make Me Look Straight?: Confessions of a Gay Dad, a 2012 memoir written by Emmy winner, actor, and writer Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal, Marry Me). Alonzo has been cast as the birth mom of a teenage daughter adopted by two gay dads in the show, which will examine “a contemporary blended family, a poignant and hilarious exploration of the shotgun marriage of not only the birth mom and the adoptive parents, but also the complications and joys of blending both of their big, noisy, multiethnic and multigenerational families,” according to Deadline.
“Been a few years since I’ve done this. Waited for the right moment, time, project and this is it,” Alonzo said in an Instagram post announcing the news. “This is what I’ve been working on. It’s the first show I’m developing since #Cristela. The story is fun, the characters are real….it’s a story about family, made up by our own rules. Thank you to @danbucatinsky and JLO/Seacrest Productions for this opportunity. Also…I love that a fellow Latina @socialrosy broke the story along with Nellie at Deadline. Nellie was there the first time around. Si se puede.”
“Excited to be working with the wonderful @cristela9 … on this passion project!” added Bucatinsky via Instagram.
In addition to starring in Cristela, Alonzo has also appeared in HBO’s His Dark Materials alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nickelodeon’s The Casagrandes and Legends of the Hidden Temple, and her own Netflix comedy specials Lower Classy and Middle Classy. She also released a memoir in 2019, Music to My Years: A Mixtape-Memoir of Growing Up and Standing Up, about her early life navigating homelessness and later entering the entertainment industry as a Latina.
“English is my second language. My mother was an immigrant from Mexico with a second grade education. The fact that I was able to write a book is something so incredible,” she previously told Parade. “The fact that anyone would think my life was special enough to write about makes me proud in regard to my mother’s journey. This book is a continuation of what she wanted for her kids: A chance at the life she never had.”
No release date for She Gets It From Me has been announced yet but will be available to view on CBS.
