Seth MacFarlane's "Bordertown" Promises Not to Offend
Somewhere in a fictional Texas town bordering Mexico, there lives a level-headed and positive Mexican immigrant and father of four by the name of Ernesto Gonzales; and an "Archie Bunker-like" Border Patrol agent named Bud Buckland.
Writer Mark Hentemann and voice actor/animator/screenwriter Seth MacFarlane are developing a series, which will be entitled "Bordertown," that will "satirize America's changing cultural landscape." MacFarlane, the creator of controversial television series such as "American Dad!" and "Family Guy," received raised brows from Latinos who anticipated that the humor of the new show would match the crude manner of his others...but fears have been laid to rest. Lalo Alcaraz, the high-profile Mexican cartoonist and satirist, has been slated to write for the series.
Alcaraz became involved in the project after he was contacted by Mark Hentemann, who was in search for diverse writers to contribute to "Bordertown." Apparently, Hentemann read in Gustavo Arellano's "Ask A Mexican" that Alcaraz was "a somewhat funny fellow," and dialed him up.
Alcaraz authored the comic "La Cucaracha," the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip. He is also the creator of a satirical character by the name of Daniel D. Portado, who asks that Mexican immigrants practice "reverse immigration." The development of the character was in response to Proposition 187. An active member in the Chicano movement, his presence during the creation and development of "Bordertown"has quelled concerns that "Bordertown" will make the same low-brow and offensive jokes of "American Dad!" and "Family Guy's" past.
Peter Griffin ("Family Guy"): "I'm abstinent, Lois. It's all in these pamphlets Meg brought home from school. Sex turns straight people gay and turns gays into Mexicans. Everyone goes down a notch." '
The FOX network ordered 13 episodes of the new animated series, and it will be a part of the FOX 2014-2015 lineup. The animated series is expected to take satirical swipes at everyone, and will have wise cracks about immigration. The assorted writers of various backgrounds are expected to keep the show from sliding into the realm of stereotypical ignorance.
"The writers' room is actually pretty diverse, and we are focused on doing political and social satire with some meaning," Alcaraz said, and later added that a third of the writers of the show are Mexican-American.
When asked what he would do when he came across something stereotypical in the script, he simply joked, "I don't know, pray for me."