Best of 2024: 14 of the Best Shows Featuring Latinx Talent

Even in 2024, Latinx-led TV shows are few and far between. It can be hard to get them produced and even more difficult to get them made past one season, which means Latinx stories go largely underrepresented in media. This year we saw the cancellation of Not Dead Yet and This Fool but we also saw new shows like Griselda and renewed shows like Lopez vs. Lopez. But despite setbacks, the Latinx community has been able to thrive on the small screen in 2024 and made historic strides toward greater diversity and inclusion. As we reach the end of another year, we decided to round up 14 of the best Latinx shows that aired this year and made an impact on the community and wider TV culture.

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place

Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is the long-awaited sequel and spin-off show to the beloved Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place. Set several years after the original series finale, the series is told from the perspective of an adult Justin Russo (David Henrie) who is living a normal life – without his magic powers – with his wife and sons in Staten Island. When his sister Alex (Selena Gomez) asks for help to mentor a young wizard-in-training named Billie, he decides to reclaim his magical powers to help Billie. At the same time, he tries to balance his normal life with the responsibility of protecting the future of the Wizard World. Selena Gomez reprised her role as Alex from the original series and serves as executive producer.

Only Murders in the Building

Premiering in 2021, Only Murders in the Building has received critical acclaim throughout its run. In the series premiere, 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. Season four premiered earlier this year, which followed the gang dealing with the repercussions of the previous season as well as the actors portraying them in the movie inspired by their podcast. Eva Longoria played a version of herself as the actress who would be playing Mabel in the film.The series was renewed for a fifth season in November but no release date has been announced yet. Since 2022, Gomez has been nominated for six Golden Globe nominations including Best Actress.

Agatha All Along

Agatha All Along is a miniseries that serves as a continuation of the story that was told in WandaVision, this time from the perspective of the antagonist Agatha Harkness. Following the events of WandaVision, Agatha finds herself without powers after breaking out of Westview, New Jersey, where she was held by Wanda. As a result, she seeks the help of other skilled allies to help her regain her powers. One of her newfound friends is Rio Vidal, a witch in Harkness and Calderu’s coven who is played Aubrey Plaza who is of Puerto Rican descent. The character was revealed to be Agatha’s former lover and the embodiment of death. The duo made history when they had the first lesbian kiss in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Lioness 

Lioness is a spy thriller TV series that follows a woman named Joe (Zoe Saldaña), who serves as the leader of undercover CIA operations on the War on Terror. To push the government’s objectives, she enlists female operatives known as Lionesses including Sergeant First Class Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira), Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman), and Captain Josephina Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez). The series premiered in 2023 and released a second season in 2024. Saldaña serves as an executive producer and was nominated for Best Lead Actress by the Asia Contents Awards & Global OTT Awards in 2023.

Como Agua Para Chocolate

Como Agua Para Chocolate is a TV adaptation of the Laura Esquivel novel of the same name from 1993. The series follows Tita, who is in love with Pedro but is forbidden to be with him because she needs to take care of her mother. When Tita finds out that Pedro is set to wed her older sister, she turns to her traditional family recipes to help her cope with the sadness and frustration of their relationship. As opposed to the beloved 1992, the series delves deeper into each character’s life and problems, and showcases Mexican womanhood and femininity with new light with a largely Latinx cast. It has already been renewed for a second season on Max.

The Bear

The Bear follows a talented young chef named Carmen “Carmy” Anthony Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), who inherits his family’s failing Italian beef sandwich shop after his older brother Michael (Jon Bernthal) ends his life. To do so, he’s forced to leave his home in Chicago to run it, along with everything he’s learned in the years he’s spent working in Michelin-starred restaurants. When he takes on the helm, he’s suddenly all alone to deal with Michael’s unresolved debts, a rundown kitchen, and an unruly staff, all while dealing with his own pain and family trauma. The series also stars Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina Marrero, a line cook who embraces the opportunity to train professionally under Carmy. Since its premiere in 2022, The Bear has won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Colón-Zayas making her the first Latina to win an Emmy in that category.

Lopez vs Lopez

Lopez vs Lopez premiered in 2022 starring real-life father-daughter duo George and Mayan Lopez playing scripted versions of themselves. Salvadoran-Jewish writer Debby Wolfe is creator, writer, showrunner, and executive producer of the series and Selenis Leyva playing George’s ex-wife. The show follows George as he reunites with his daughter and ex-wife after years of estrangement, moving in with Mayan and her husband and young son. 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 Lincoln Lawyer

The Lincoln Lawyer follows Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a lawyer who works in the back of his Lincoln Navigator, a full-size SUV, in order to solve crimes and cases across Los Angeles, California. Other Latinx talent that has starred in the show has included Angélica María as Mickey’s mother Elena, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez as district attorney supervisor Adam Suarez, and Lana Parrilla as Lisa Trammell, a chef who is accused of murder in season two. So far, three seasons have been released, most recently this past October. Haller’s Mexican roots are showcased on the show as are his Spanish speaking skills which is a win for representation for a lead on a major TV series.

Griselda 

Griselda is a crime drama miniseries that saw the highly-anticipated return of Sofía Vergara to our small screens this year. In the show, she plays Griselda Blanco, a.k.a. the “Godmother of Cocaine,” the real-life Colombian drug lord presiding over the cocaine drug trade in 1980s in Miami, Florida. The miniseries follows Griselda’s rise to power and her part in the violent Miami Drug War. Alongside Vergara, the show starred Alberto Guerra as Darío Sepúlveda. Christian Tappan as Arturo Mesa, and Karol G as Carla. Vergara was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Primetime Emmy Awards making history as the first actress from Latin America to be nominated in that category. She also recently earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

Not Dead Yet

Not Dead Yet starred Gina Rodriguez 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 about, who start to offer her advice on life and love. In Season 2, which premiered this past February, Nell starts a new relationship with her coworker TJ (Jesse Garcia) and continues writing obituaries, while the newspaper itself is threatened. It was cancelled in May but it remains one of our favorite shows of 2024.

Will Trent

Will Trent follows the titular character, who was found abandoned as a child and grew up in the foster care system in his home state of Altanta. Grown up, he’s become a Special Agent for the the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. When he’s assigned a case involved the Atlanta Police Department, he quickly realizes that solving it could result in the arrest of several APD officers. The series stars Ramón Rodríguez as Trent and introduces Gina Rodriguez as Marion Alba for season 3. The first season premiered in 2023, the second this year, and a third season has already been confirmed to premiere in early January 2025.

The Rookie

The Rookie follows John Nolan (Nathan Fillon), a newly divorced man from Pennsylvania who moves to LA after helping police during a bank robbery. He decides to attend police academy and is hired as a police offer at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) after graduation. As the oldest rookie on the force, he is forced to navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job without letting his age be a physical or mental deterrent but is determined to succeed. The series also features Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez and Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez who both bring their Latinidad to their characters. Since premiering in 2018, it has released six seasons with a seventh slated to release in early January 2025.

The English Teacher 

The English Teacher tells the story of Evan Marquez (Brian Jordan Alvarez), an English teacher at Morrison-Hensley High School who finds himself torn between professional, political, and personal facets of his high school job when a parent reports him from kissing his ex-boyfriend in front of students. The show explores the experience of teaching Gen Zers simultaneously poking fun and uplifiting the younger generation. Marquez, who is half Latino, struggles with balancing his personal and professional life while trying to inspire and educate his students. The show has earned critical praise but no news yet on a second season.