TV Review - Broke (2020)

Ever since Jaime Camil blew away English-speaking audiences with his incredible performance in the telenovela spoof, Jane the Virgin (2014), it was obvious that he should get a prominent, if not a leading role in another English-speaking series or film. CBS did exactly that. Camil is so charming and funny and sexy that any material he's given he'll shine and even elevate. Unfortunately, the material here is probably too low for even him to lift up. The sitcom format here boxes him and limits him in a way that he wasn't in Jane the Virgin. He doesn't feel like he has the room to be the big personality that he is and that he can bring. Perhaps, it's just the writing from Alex Herschlag who is an Emmy winner for his work as a writer-producer on NBC's Will & Grace. Except, the jokes here aren't as edgy as Will & Grace or anywhere near as funny. It does seem that the whole thing is geared to be more family friendly and perhaps more aimed at children. This is indicated by the fact that a child actor narrates the episodes at times.

Antonio Raul Corbo (Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Frozen II) plays Sammy, a 9-year-old boy who shows signs of being an aspiring filmmaker. He lives with his single mom in Reseda, which is a neighborhood in Los Angeles. I'm not too familiar with the neighborhoods in L.A., but, from the series' point-of-view, it's a place that doesn't have a lot of wealthy people. Sammy seems well-adjusted though.

Pauley Perrette (NCIS and Murder One) stars as Jackie, the mother to Sammy who works as a bartender. She is certainly not wealthy and struggles to pay the bills, as well as maintain her home. She's barely able to afford things for her and her son. She contrasts from her wealthy sister who comes to stay with her. A lot of the humor comes from Jackie's dismay and being gobsmacked at how her sister and husband are really out-of-touch, having lived privilege lives for a long time.

Jaime Camil plays Javier, the brother-in-law to Jackie. He's married to her sister. He's essentially a Mexican trust fund baby who is no longer a baby but a grown man in his 40's. For a man to be living in the lap of luxury and in such a wealthy bubble, it's not totally surprising that he would be out-of-touch. This is a fine premise, but, aside from jabs from Jackie or expressions from him about his previous extravagant lifestyle, there's not much more that this series does.

This concept of a wealthy person or wealthy family all of a sudden losing their wealth and having to live immediately in poverty and the culture shock of it has been done before. The series Schitt's Creek (2015) had that exact premise and executed it far better. It wasn't the best thing ever, but it was a hundred times better than this show. Arrested Development (2003) didn't have the exact same premise, but the basic concept was comparable to this. That series was also a thousand times better. It's not because the format of Schitt's Creek and Arrested Development was different. This series is more of a traditional multi-camera sitcom, whereas Schitt's Creek and Arrested Development were bolder, single-camera shows. There have been great multi-camera comedies like Cheers (1982) or recently Undateable (2014). This one simply feels too lazy.

Natasha Leggero (Another Period) co-stars as Elizabeth, the wife to Javier and the sister to Jackie. She's the female version of this The Prince and the Pauper (1882) or Trading Places (1983) style turnabout. She's this pampered princess who has to deal with not having all the fancy things she used to have. The difference between her and Javier is that she's from Reseda and she gets to engage in the roots she abandoned. Aside from squabbles with her sister though, we'll see how the series develops this dynamic. So far, it's not really engaging Javier with his roots. This wealthy Mexican man having to face impoverished Mexicans would be an obvious angle that so far hasn't been played. We get a glimpse of Javier encountering other Mexicans who aren't rich in Episode 4, but the show never really has him engage in a significant way.

Izzy Diaz (Snowfall and Telenovela) plays Luis, the veritable butler that used to work for Javier and Elizabeth. He's also mainly an assistant to Javier that's somehow still getting paid through Javier's trust fund, even though Javier doesn't have access to it. Javier's father controls it and still pays Luis' salary. Luis is not much more than a dutiful servant to Javier. He also is there to give advice to Jackie. If one is familiar with the "Magical Negro" trope in films, then Luis could be argued as the "Magical Latino." Later episodes could take us to Luis' home to see what he does when he's not serving these insufferable people. Luis identifies as gay, so having him actually express that on network TV could be cool. Episode 5 has Luis go on a date with a guy but the episode is designed to have him not engage with his sexuality. CBS tried to do a series with gay characters in the lead called Partners (2012). It didn't last long, so I won't hold my breath with Luis here.

Rated TV-PG.
Running Time: 30 mins.

Thursdays at 9:30 PM on CBS.