Best of 2023: 15 of the Best Shows Featuring Latinx Talent

Latinx representation in entertainment and media is a constant uphill battle, especially in television where our shows are overlooked or canceled altogether. But despite the struggle to be seen, the Latinx community arguably dominated the small screen in 2023 and made important strides in telling fresh, new stories to our audience. We saw the premiere of shows like Not Dead Yet and Freeridge that uplifted up-and-coming and familiar talent. We also celebrated the return of our favorite ongoing shows like This Fool and With Love, showcasing the value and need for our stories to be told on television. As we reach the end of another year, we rounded to round-up a 15 of the best Latinx shows that aired this year and made an impact on the community and wider TV culture.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies is a prequel to the iconic 1978 musical film Grease, taking place four years before the events of the original in 1954. The show stars up-and-coming actress Marisa Davila, who is of Mexican descent, as the lead and “new girl” Jane Facciano. Together with three other misfit students at Rydell High, including Olivia Valdovinos (played by Puerto Rican actress Cheyenne Isabel Wells), they band together to forever shift the status quo and found the first female high school gang, the “Pink Ladies.” Even though it was cancelled after one season, it was a great example of showcasing the diversity of young Latinas and seeing Latinas in an era that doesn’t often showcase BIPOC characters.

With Love

With Love marked showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett’s return to TV following the run of the beloved series One Day at a Time. Starring a majority Latinx cast including Constance Marie (George Lopez, Selena) and Benito Martinez (The Shield, Sons of Anrachy), and Emeraude Toubia, as well as Black and Asian leads, the show follows the Diaz siblings Lily (Toubia) and Jorge (Mark Indelicato) and their experiences with relationships and their family as they navigate major holidays throughout the year. In season two we got to see Lily celebrate her double quinceañera and in season one we saw a Dia de Los Muertos episode. Though it was canceled after season two, its impact and the storytelling is undeniable.

Lopez vs Lopez

Since its original premiere in 2022, Lopez vs Lopez has quickly become a community favorite! Starring Mexican American comedian George Lopez and his real-life daughter Mayan Lopez, the series follows George as he reunites with his daughter and ex-wife after years of estrangement. Coming from different generations, the pair butt heads a lot throughout the series, causing a lot of drama, but ultimately, there is clearly a lot of love and laughter between everyone in the family. Throughout its run, the series has also guest-starred veterans of the beloved George Lopez show including Constance Marie, Valente Rodriguez, Belita Moreno, and Luis Armand Garcia. The series was renewed for a second season earlier this year.

Freeridge

Starring up-and-coming Latina talent like Keyla Monterroso Mejia (Abbott Elementary) and Bryana Salaz (Team Kaylie), Freeridge is a spin-off of On My Block that follows a new group of friends in Freeridge who were seen in the series finale of the original series. In the show, the fabulous four find a mysterious box in a garage sale put on by the parents of Ruby Martinez, which accidentally sets off a curse that the teens must undo. Along with Ruby’s parents, we also saw the return of Peggy Blow, who played Ruby’s abuela. This time, she took on the role of her twin sister Mariluna who serves as the antagonist of the series as she’s after the box and will stop at nothing to get it back. The series was canceled after one season despite an 80 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Not Dead Yet

Not Dead Yet stars Gina Rodriguez (Jane the Virgin) in the lead role as Nell Stevens, a self-described “disaster of a woman” who is newly separated from her fiancé after years of putting her dreams on hold for the sake of his business. After ten years off the job market, she finds the only job available to her—writing obituaries. Just when she thinks her life can’t get any stranger, she also develops the ability to see the ghosts of the deceased she’s writing an obit for who start to offer her advice on life and love. Shortly after the release of its first season, it was renewed for a second season, which we can expect to premiere in February 2024.

And Just Like That

And Just Like That is a sequel/revival of the mega-successful and beloved ’90s show Sex and the City centered on the friendship and love lives of four women in NYC in their 20s and 30s. In this next phase of the main characters’ lives as 50-something women, we see them confront the complex realities of life and a changing political and social world. Among new characters, the show also stars Sara Ramirez, who is of Mexican descent, as non-binary comedian and podcast host Che Diaz. They have an affair with Miranda Hobbs (played by Cynthia Nixon) and bring some much-needed Latinx and queer representation to a show that was criticized for its lack of diversity in its original iteration. The show has been renewed for a third season, which will premiere sometime in 2025.

Never Have I Ever

The critically acclaimed series Never Have I Ever came to a close after a four-year run since premiering in 2020. Created by actress Mindy Kaling (The Office), the series follows Devi Vishwakumar, a young Indian American girl who suddenly loses her father and tries to improve her social life in high school despite the lingering grief and trauma. Throughout the four seasons, she tackles teen issues like sexuality, first love, romantic relationships, college, family, and more, making mistakes and learning along the way. The show also follows the lives of her friends including Fabiola Torres, played by Afro-Latina actress Lee Rodriguez (Grown-ish), a robotics prodigy who comes out as a lesbian in the first season. Her storyline offers a spotlights on the complexities of the teenage queer experience in school and at home.

Only Murders in the Building

Since its premiere in 2021 has received critical acclaim throughout its run and has earned Mexican American actress/singer Selena Gomez a Golden Globe nomination. Gomez’s character Mabel Mora teams up with Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin) and Oliver Putnam (Martin Short) to solve a murder in their apartment building as amateur detectives and true crime fans. Season two saw the trio being accused of a different murder and forced to prove their innocence. Season three sees them solving a different murder of an actor who was supposed to be the lead in a murder-mystery play. The show has been renewed for a fourth season on Hulu but no release date has been announced yet. Gomez earned yet another Golden Globe nomination this year for this role.

Primo

Starring a majority Latinx cast including Christina Vidal (The Guilty), Carlos Santos (Gentefied), and Henri Esteve (Revenge), Primo features up-and-coming actor Ignacio Diaz-Silverio as Rafa, a Mexican American 16-year-old high school junior. Throughout the first season, we see him struggling to balance college dreams, social expectations, first love, and family dynamics at home with his single mom and five uncles including a bank teller and a military member. Since its release, it’s received acclaim from critics and viewers for its unconventional representation of a multi-generational Latinx family so here’s hoping for a season two!

The Mandalorian

This year marked the anticipated release of the third season of The Mandalorian, the first live-action series produced in the Star Wars franchise that stars Pedro Pascal as the titular character. The Mandalorian is a bounty hunter who is assigned to protect the Force-sensitive child Grogu, a.k.a. “Baby Yoda.” Along the way, he must fight the Imperial forces who are determined to capture Grogu. In season three, The Mandalorian, going by his original name Din Djarin in the first episode after giving up the mantle, continues the story from the spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. A fourth season is already confirmed, though no release date has been announced yet.

The Last of Us

This year also saw the premiere of the highly anticipated showThe Last of Us, which is based on the video game of the same name that is still considered to be one of the best ever made. Taking place in the post-apocalyptic U.S. following a pandemic caused by a mass fungal infection, the series follows Joel, a middle-aged survivor who must smuggle teen girl Ellie out of quarantine and across the country. The two make an unconventional pair, as Joel is still struggling with the loss of his teenage daughter and Ellie, who is immune to the plague, born amid the pandemic without any knowledge of what the world was like before. As the series continues, the two grow close and form a pseudo-father-daughter relationship, fighting enemies along the way. Since its release in January, the series has accrued dozens of accolades, including an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for Pascal. A second season is in development and is set to premiere in 2025.

The Horrors of Dolores Roach

Based on the one-woman off-Broadway play Empanada Loca, The Horror of Dolores Roach stars Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) as the titular character, a woman who has just been released from her 16-year prison sentence. When she returns to her Washington Heights neighborhood, she reunites with her friend Luis and, after everyone refuses to hire a former convict, starts her own business as a masseuse in the basement of his empanada shop. Things begin to go awry when she accidentally strangles and kills a client, and Luis begins selling a “mystery meat” empanada, filled with the client himself. The series was canceled after one season but it’s worth a watch to see Machado in a fierce starring role even if you’ll never look at an empanada the same way.

This Fool

We were so happy to see more of This Fool earlier this year! After originally premiering in 2022, it was renewed for a second season and follows Julio Lopez (Chris Estrada), a 30-year-old still living in his childhood home with his mother and grandmother. Working at the gang rehabilitation center Hugs Not Thugs to help formerly incarcerated people readjust to life outside of prison, his life changes when his older cousin and former gang member Luis is released from his eight-year prison sentence. He enrolls in the Hugs Not Thugs program, causing hilarity along the way. It’s one of the few shows today that explores cholo culture, especially in an authentic way, so we’re hopeful for a third season.

How I Met Your Father

A spin-off of the 2000s hit show How I Met Your Mother, How I Met Your Father stars Hilary Duff in the lead role as Sophie, a photographer on the hunt for her soulmate. She’s often joined by her best friend and roommate Valentina, played by Mexican and Honduran actress Francia Raisa (Grown-ish), who also works as an assistant stylist. After receiving critical acclaim for its 2022 premiere, it released its second season this year, where we again follow the gang through the joys and pitfalls of love. Valentina for one struggles with her relationship with Charlie Winthrop, a British aristocrat. Over the course of its run, the series has been nominated for multiple Emmys, winning two but it was still canceled after season two.

Poker Face

Poker Face is a brand-new crime series created by Rian Johnson, known for his murder mystery films Knives Out, starring Ana de Armas, and its standalone sequal Glass Onion. This murder mystery series follows Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonee), a casino worker with the ability to detect lies who is on the run from her boss after a suspicious death. In each of the ten episodes, she solves a new murder and encounters colorful characters in her journey to get justice. We love seeing all of the Latinx talent including Peruvian American actor Benjamin Bratt (Coco), Mexican actor David Castañeda (The Umbrella Academy), Dominican American actress Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black, In the Heights), and Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzmán (Narcos, Wednesday). A second season is already in development.