stand-up comedian, actress, writer and producer
American stand-up comedian; creator and star of Cristela
PROFILE
Cristela Alonzo
Guest
FROM Cristela Alonzo
The Business
Cristela Alonzo on Life after 'Cristela' Last fall, comedian Cristela Alonzo joined us to talk about how she beat the odds to become the first Latina to create and star in her own sitcom. Her show Cristela was part of ABC's much touted push for diversity this past season, along with comedies Blackish and Fresh Off the Boat. ABC scheduled Cristela in a tough Friday night time slot, and though the show's ratings weren't huge, it still attracted loyal viewers. Alonzo connected with many of them through social media. Fans were supportive, but also frustrated to find the show was frequently preempted on local affiliates for other television events. In May, she got the unwelcome news that her show had been canceled. The news was especially tough because Alonzo says the cast and crew were expecting to be picked up for a second season. She chronicled the mix of emotions she felt following her cancelation in a heartfelt blog post . As she writes in her blog, while Cristela was on the air, Alonzo was concerned that the network wasn't doing enough to promote it. Other new ABC shows got commercials and billboards. She got bus benches. So Alonzo took on the job of promoting the show herself. She says that's why she agreed to appear as a fill-in host on ABC's talk show, The View. The View gave Alonzo a platform to display her comedy chops and talk about her show, but she says she never considered joining The View full time. "I loved doing Cristela," Alonzo told us. "My heart and soul was in that show. My heart and soul isn't in The View."
The Business
‘Cristela’ Cristela Alonzo’s new sitcom is part of ABC’s much-touted push for more diverse programming on its primetime schedule. Her series, Cristela, about a Latino family, joins the new show Black-ish and the upcoming Asian-immigrant comedy Fresh Off the Boat. In Alonzo’s series, she plays an aspiring lawyer living with her sometimes supportive family. The show is loosely based on the life of its creator, who also grew up in Texas and had larger aspirations than her family thought appropriate. But the show almost didn’t happen. ABC bought the script for Cristela, but the network never ordered the show to pilot. In a last-ditch effort to save it, Alonzo and her producer decided to shoot the pilot on their own, using the penalty fee from ABC. That pilot, shot with a borrowed set and crew, airs on ABC on Friday, October 10.
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