Is American TV Ready to Tune in Hispanic Culture?
PHOENIX (Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic) September 24, 2007 A lot of eyes are waiting to see how the new CBS series Cane fares. If the show is a hit, it will be the first successful hour long drama focusing almost entirely on Hispanic characters on an English-language broadcast network. “It calls a lot of attention to itself,” series creator Cynthia Cidre says. “This is an all-Hispanic, all-Spanish-speaking cast in a big show. It’s not a small show.” She’s not boasting. Cane is a sprawling drama focusing on the Duque family, a Cuban-American clan that runs a successful rum and sugar business in Florida. The show features bursts of salsa music, bits of Spanish dialogue and a plot that is heavy on the Dallas suds and light on the telenovela melodramatics. The series isn’t just large in scope. The cast is big, with 11 regularly featured characters. A trio of heavyweights headline the show: Emmy-winners Jimmy Smits and Hector Elizondo, plus Rita Moreno, an Oscar winner for West Side Story
