11 Latinx-Led TV Shows We Love
Growing up as a Latina in Central Texas not only meant that I experienced hot summers; it also meant I was surrounded by a culture of strong Hispanic influence, both historical and modern.
It’s because of that real-world environment that I’ve always found the lack of Hispanic representation in film and television odd.
If the Hispanic “minority” is quickly becoming a majority, why hasn’t that been translated onto the screen? A recent USC study found that only 3% of lead/co-lead roles went to Latinx people, though we make up 20% of the US population.
Seems a little disproportionate, doesn’t it?
There’s obvious nuance when it comes to Latin or primarily Hispanic countries. Cuban traditions can be very different from Mexican traditions, and neither are the same as Peruvian. There’s a slew of talent out there, of all backgrounds, and I look forward to seeing more of them on both the big and TV screens.
In the meantime, though, and to keep the spirit of celebrating Hispanic Heritage month going all year long, here are some of my favorite Latinx-led shows, both in English and Spanish.
1. Jane The Virgin
Jane the Virgin is a show I never intended to watch. I distinctly remember seeing previews for the series pre-premiere and thinking the plot was hokey and frankly, dumb. Oh, how I was wrong!
Sure, the official synopsis for the series seems a bit off-center. Girl (virgin no less!) gets pregnant without ever having sex, girl is obsessed with a telenovela star who actually ends up being her estranged father, girl falls in love with her “sperm-donor,” sperm donor’s actual wife hates girl.
It’s the quintessential plot of every Spanish novella you watched with your tías when they baby-sat, down to the evil twins, amnesia plot, and multiple murders. To be fair, it was an American adaptation of a Mexican drama. The CW just sprinkled in a Britney Spears cameo.
Jane the Virgin played off the standard novella tropes perfectly, honoring the genre and poking fun at it at the same time. The De la Vega/Villanueva family was adorable and fought like a real family did, grating on each other’s nerves about everything from society’s opinion on sex and religion to Brooke Shields’ eyebrows.
The series also has one of my favorite love triangles from recent television — Jane and Michael or Jane and Rafael. In a surprising twist, neither of the choices seemed wrong for Jane, and I really think the story could have ended happily either way.
It also has one of my favorite characters in recent TV history, Petra Solano. Petra was probably given the juiciest story arc over Jane the Virgin‘s five seasons. Starting as Rafael’s wife, pissed that his sister accidentally impregnated a random woman, Petra evolved into a badass business mother, falling in love with a woman (coincidentally also named Jane).
She went from just plain bitch to boss bitch over the course of five years, and her relationship with our protagonist Jane turned out to be one of the most heartwarming plot points at the end of the series.
2. Gentefied
A fairly recent drop on Netflix, coming out with Season 2 in November 2021, is Gentefied. As the title suggests, the story follows a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles, struggling to continue the family legacy as their neighborhood becomes less and less hospitable to small mom-and-pop shops.
The series, produced partially by America Ferrera, was based on a web series of the same name that debuted to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.
In Gentefied Season 1, the Morales cousins are faced with the economic trials of gentrification in a primarily Latinx neighborhood of LA. Their grandfather’s taco shop, dating back to when they were all kids, is struggling to make ends meet now that trendier boutiques and new concept restaurants are moving in.
The cousins, each with varying levels of commitment to their grandfather’s legacy, put aside their differences (because let’s face it, what cousins don’t have some strong opinions) to fight back and try to keep the shop.
This manifests in different ways, of course. Chris, the cousin who dreamt of a life bigger than his LA neighborhood, tries to spice up the menu, giving “hipsters” a reason to want and try out the interesting fusion tacos. Erik, who has stuck by his grandfather’s side the entire time, is less enthusiastic about change.
And then there’s Ana, the only female cousin, who takes to the streets and uses her passion for art to try and spark change within her community, while also taking a more bureaucratic approach to getting things done.
All in all, Gentefied provides a comedic take on an issue that I fear is all too relevant for Latinx populations in cities these days, fighting to preserve their heritage while navigating an environment that is passively trying to force them out.
3. Casa De Las Flores
Like Jane the Virgin, The House of Flowers (aka Casa de Las Flores), is an overdramatized comedy, paying homage to the telenovelas so prevalent in Hispanic Latinx culture.
Like any novella, House of Flowers has a ton of wild plot points, ranging from murders to cults, and starting with the classic, secret child. In this case, the secret child in question is Micaela, a pre-teen whose mother has just been found dead in The House of Flowers, a cabaret-style drag bar.
Her father, Ernesto de la Mora, is a well-known, wealthy man, whose actual wife Virginia owns another House of Flowers, though this one is actually a flower shop.
Nobody is more surprised by Ernesto’s infidelity than his adult children, Paulina, Elena, and Diego. These three are the real stars of the show, each handling the news of their family’s problems in different ways.
Paulina, a very type-A personality, starts digging deeper into her family’s secrets, digging up dirt that might have been better off buried. Elena, ever the party girl, goes a little wild with her new half-sisters’ half-brother. And Diego, the baby of the family ends up with a baby AND a new husband.
House of Flowers will get you have you laughing from the first episode and will keep your jaw dropping through all three seasons and The House of Flowers: The Movie spinoff film.
4. One Day at a Time
Okay, so I usually tend to stay away from classic reboots that just switch up the main characters’ race because I feel like there are so many opportunities for original stories that we keep missing out on due to recycling old IP. One Day at a Time is my exception to that rule.
Maybe it’s because I knew nothing of the original series, maybe it’s because the original series’s creator Mr. Normal Lear himself was still involved with this reboot, or maybe it’s because Rita Moreno is an absolute national treasure, but the 2017 iteration of One Day at a Time is one of the most underrated shows of the last decade.
Similar to the ’70s original, the series follows a family (the Alvarezes) led by a single mother, that lives in an apartment building with their quirky super, Schnieder. In this case, the family at the center just happens to be Cuban-American.
A truly 21-century revival, One Day at a Time debuted on Netflix, was canceled by the streamer, and then found a second life on PopTV. The show tackled real-life issues, from politics and immigration to sexuality and mental health.
It also did a great job at looking at traditional Latinx gender roles in a critical light, from male machismo to the history of quinceanera traditions.
The shining star of the series (those Justina Machado, Isabella Gomez, and Marcel Ruiz were all spectacular) was Rita Moreno herself. Lydia Riera was one of the funniest characters on television, and I will forever be bitter that One Day at a Time didn’t infiltrate pop culture the way it deserved to.
5. Acapulco
Acapulco hit Apple TV+ in October 2021. Part Jane the Virgin, part The White Lotus, the comedy is told in dual time periods, the primary of which is the 1980s.
Eugenio Derbez stars as “older” Maximo, an apparently rich Mexican man living in Malibu, regaling his nephew with the story of how he moved from rags to riches. As hinted in the show’s title, his journey started in Acapulco at a luxury resort.
Though the series only has a couple of episodes out so far, it’s already a charming take on the classic Cinderella story, complete with a forbidden love interest, two deceptively charismatic villains, and other various supporting characters I hope we come to learn more about.
Does it also give off a “white savior” vibe? A little bit yeah. Maximo seems to think, or has been brought up to think, that working in this Americanized resort will be the answer to all of his problems. For what it’s worth, Acapulco seems self-aware in that regard, with Maximo’s sister Sara calling that out herself.
It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes. As with any Apple TV+ series, I’m sure there will be some delightful twists along the way.
6. Selena + Chef
Selena Gomez is one of today’s biggest superstars. From growing up on Disney Channel, to a successful music career, to a recently launched beauty/cosmetics line, to her latest hit on Hulu, the girl has done it all!
With so much on her plate (pun intended!), I’m sure I’m not the only one who was surprised when she announced a cooking show on top of everything else.
While the pandemic lockdown probably played a significant part in the decision to move forward with the show, I’m glad that Selena + Chef was a big enough hit that HBO Max and Selena decided to continue producing more episodes, with Selena + Chef Season 3 dropping October 2021.
A novice cook, Selena approaches the kitchen like I think many other millennials do — with no idea where to start. Sure, Selena has access to some of the world’s top chefs that we don’t, but when you put on an episode of Selena + Chef, we’re both learning how to hold a knife at the same time.
I particularly enjoy how many diverse chefs and cuisines the series has collaborated with. From Spaniard Jose Andres to French Ludo Lefebvre, Selena conquers everything from southern fried chicken to Indian Tandoori Masala Turkey. You can even find the recipes online!
Some of the episodes that feature Latin cuisine are the most poignant, where Selena shares some memories of cooking with her grandparents when she was a kid, and how her own heritage has influenced the food she eats and cooks.
It’s fun to see one of the world’s greatest stars tackling a new challenge that I think most of us can relate to. It’s even more fun to see how her family and friends support (and poke fun at) her while she’s on this journey. Trust me when I say you’ll start the show for Selena, but you’ll stick with it for her Papa’s commentary.
7. On My Block
It’s gotten increasingly rarer for Netflix shows to last past one or two seasons these days with the onslaught of content they’re producing. That’s why On My Block, which recently premiered its fourth (and final) season, should consider its long run an accomplishment.
Set in south-central Los Angeles, On My Block is a high-school-based story, following a “core four” cast of characters as they navigate growing up in their inner-city neighborhood.
It’s exciting to see such a wealth of young Latinx talent on the screen and to see Netflix invest in stories featuring a diverse cast. It’s also reassuring that even when the story of On My Block Season 4 came to a natural end, the universe will live on.
A spinoff series, Freeridge (the name of the neighborhood), was announced just a week before the On My Block Season 4 premiered. While it will focus on a new cast of characters (fingers crossed for some On My Block cameos!), I hope the spirit of the show remains the same!
8. Diary of a Future President
Diary of a Future President is a more YA-leaning title. The series follows a young Cuban-American girl whose dreams go beyond her middle school, all the way to the white house.
Told via a series of flash-forwards, we do see that Elena’s dream is realized in the future, with Gina Rodriguez (who also produces the show) playing the older version of Tess Romero’s young Elena.
While most Latinx representation is featured in older-skewing shows and films, it’s nice to see something specifically made for young people. There weren’t as many kid/teen shows on TV with Latinx/Hispanic lead characters, so I’m happy that progress has been made on that front.
Like Gina Rodriguez herself pointed out when she won her Golden Globe for Jane the Virgin, “[there is a] culture that wants to see themselves as heroes,” and what bigger role than the President of the United States?
9. The Baker and the Beauty
I’ll never get over ABC’s decision to cancel The Baker and the Beauty after just one season. The chemistry between the entire cast was some of the best I’ve seen on TV in recent years, and I think the story had the potential to last for seasons.
It was based on one of my favorite guilty-pleasure tropes – Celebrity meets a normal person and they fall in love. When the normal person is a very hunky, very charming, family-loving baker and that celebrity is a hard-exterior/soft-interior beauty guru, the show hooks you in from the very first episode.
The baker in question (Victor) is the eldest son of a Cuban family, that has a family-run business in Miami, baking sweets and treats with a little Cuban flair. Subverting the common “it’s your dream, dad” phenomenon, The Baker and the Beauty allows the Garcia family to remain as a wholly supportive crew.
I feel robbed that we didn’t get another season of this utterly delightful show, and even though it did have a brief popularity resurgence when it came to Netflix. If you get sucked in like I did, though, feel free to catch up on the Israeli version of the show that it was based on. They at least got three seasons.
10. Ugly Betty
I would be remiss to leave off one of the OG Latinx-focused shows from this list, none other than Ugly Betty. Sure, it’s not necessarily a show that featured a Latina role model every young girl wanted to be, but it was one of the only shows in the early ’00s that had decent Hispanic representation.
Based on a Columbian novella, Ugly Betty featured America Ferrera as the titular character. In her early 20s, Betty is known most for her quirky looks and her unfortunate adult braces. She gets thrust out of her comfort zone when she’s hired as the assistant to the Editor in Chief at a high fashion magazine, Mode.
Another Cinderella story of sorts, this time set in the workplace, one of the grounding features of Ugly Betty was the Suarez family. Betty’s father, sister, and nephew all played a significant role in the show and their relationship is one that I think any Latinx person can relate to.
The high fashion setting was another fun reason to watch the show, in particular the effervescent Vanessa Williams, who played the show’s main villain. It was even the gateway for exciting guest stars to pop by. Models from Naomi Campbell and Victoria Beckham stopped by, and even the queen of pop Adele played herself in an episode.
11. Pose
While FX’s Pose has already been lauded for its groundbreaking Trans representation, it should also be noted that it has two Afro-Latinx actors as the series’ stars. Both Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Indya Moore are proud Latinx actors, and were both integral parts of the trio of Pose seasons.
Set in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Pose highlighted African-American and Latinx ball culture in New York. With a primarily LGBT cast of characters, the series also explored the AIDS pandemic, and especially how it impacted people of color during that time.
One of the most poignant dramas of the last decade, Pose came to an end in June 2021, so there’s no better time than the present to binge the series if you haven’t already.
All the critical acclaim and all of the awards and nominations were well deserved, and I just hope that the drama inspires future shows to continue to lead the way in diversity and representation so that everyone gets the chance to see someone like themselves on the silver screen.
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Did your favorite show get left off the list? Let us know what other Hispanic/Latinx titles are out there that we should give a try!
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Marissa Crenwelge
Marissa is an avid pop-culture enthusiast and "daylights" as a digital marketing manager for sports and entertainment brands. When she's not writing or watching new TV and movies, Marissa enjoys spending time with her Australian Shepard, Luna, and spending too much money online shopping. Find her on Twitter at @marissacrenwlge