Father-daughter creative duo George Lopez and Mayan Lopez, who co-created and starred in NBC‘s since-canceled Lopez Vs. Lopez, reacted to the semi-autobiographical sitcom’s ending, mourning the loss and promising that it marks the “first show” of many more to come.
Mayan Lopez initially commented on the news via a TikTok, in which she appeared in front of Deadline’s article about the cancellation, mouthing to a ditty that sing-songed: “That was rude, that was pretty, f—ing rude.”
She added in the caption, “So grateful to have created a show from a freaking tik tok that was network for three years… thank you NBC and my cast and crew but right now it’s time for tequila and tears… one dream done and now it’s the next one.” (The show sparked from a video Mayan Lopez posted while at a treatment center, discussing her reconnection with her father after years of estrangement.)
George Lopez reposted the video to Instagram, adding in the caption, “We will definitely put something out officially… for now. I would really love to thank all of you who have showed us so much love and support for the past three seasons. This wasn’t just a show, it was and is our lives. We created a family. We created jobs for RAZA, there is so much more that goes on behind the scenes and I am forever grateful and thankful for every single member of our #LopezVSLopez familia♥️,” and signing off as “Tio George.”
Following the news, Mayan Lopez took to social media to share behind-the-scenes clips from set and rehearsal, as well as respond to fans reacting to the show’s termination. “If part of the legacy of the show was helping you all be seen and helping you understand your families then I did my job,” she wrote on her Instagram Story in response to a viewer who saw herself in the onscreen father-daughter relationship.
Mayan Lopez added in an Instagram Story video, “It was three years, I mean the guest stars that we had, the incredible moments for the community and our Latinidad, and it was a beautiful experience and we really were like family, and we always will be.”
The actress additionally said she is “getting to work and also mourning” and “treating [the cancellation] like a death … I’m grieving.” She also noted that the show aims to “hopefully be picked up somewhere,” though she will provide watchers a sense of “closure” with the unfinished storyline regardless.
In prompting her Instagram followers to ask her questions, she shared that co-star Matt Shively, who plays her onscreen love interest, wrote, “Can we just shoot season 4 on an iPhone in your apartment.”
Sharing what’s next for her, Mayan Lopez pointed to her upcoming guest judge appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10, her forthcoming turn in The Evilry, a podcast, stand-up shows and floated the idea of selling merchandise and penning books, including a memoir.
“This show was my baby and it took so much out of me personally and professionally being, starring and producing and writing on it. I’ve done a lot, and I think the next thing I do won’t be a version of myself, so it won’t take so much out of me. But I’m going to do it all. I’m not worried, it’s just going to be when, you know. The industry’s in a weird place right now, but I’m going to do what I can,” she said on her Story.
She continued, “This is just my first show, this is not my last show. I will write movies, I will write TV shows … My dad and I are already talking about working with each other again.”
Concluding, she added that she will “continue to be a champion for Latino representation, especially with everything going on right now in our country. We are not going to be erased and I hold the pen to make sure we never do.”
For three seasons, Lopez vs. Lopez followed a working class family through its trials and triumphs, amid dysfunction and reconnection. Co-created alongside Debby Wolfe, it centers on an old-school Latino (George Lopez) who moves in with his Gen Z daughter (Mayan Lopez) as they rebuild their relationship one argument at a time. The series was a return-to-form of sorts for George Lopez, after his hit namesake series ended in 2007, though with a greater degree of vulnerability, tackling real-life issues through the lens of Latinidad, including mental health, machismo and interracial relationships.
