The history of Latina/o participation and representation in American
television
Whose stories are told on television? Who are the heroes and heroines,
held up as intriguing, lovable, and compelling? Which characters are
fully realized, rather than being cardboard villains and sidekicks? And
who are our storytellers?
The first-ever account of Latino/a participation and representation in
US English-language television, Latino TV: A History offers a sweeping
study of key moments of Chicano/a and Latino/a representation and
authorship since the 1950s. Drawing on archival research, interviews
with dozens of media professionals who worked on or performed in these
series, textual analysis of episodes and promotional materials, and
analysis of news media coverage, Mary Beltrán examines Latina/o
representation in everything from children's television Westerns of the
1950s, Chicana/o and Puerto Rican activist-led public affairs series of
the 1970s, and sitcoms that spanned half a century, to Latina and
Latino-led series in the 2000s and 2010s on broadcast, cable, and
streaming outlets, including George Lopez, Ugly Betty, One Day at a
Time, and Vida.
Through the exploration of the histories of Latina/o television
narratives and the authors of those narratives, Mary Beltrán sheds
important light on how Latina/os have been included--and, more often,
not--in the television industry and in the stories of the country writ
large.
