Last week, comedy nerds and Nike Cortezes wearers received devastating news: Hulu had canceled the comedy “This Fool” after two seasons.
The series, created by Chris Estrada, Jake Weisman, Pat Bishop and Matt Ingebretson, stars Estrada and Frankie Quiñones as warring cousins in South Los Angeles following Luis (Quiñones)'s release from prison. Through fantastical moments of magical realism set in perfect encapsulations of neighborhood life, viewers got the story of two fools trying to discover their place in the world. And in doing so, Estrada and company did something special that represented Latino life in Los Angeles in a way that resonated far beyond those boundaries.
“I think being able to film in Los Angeles and having Los Angeles feel like a character in the show was really cool,” Estrada said. “Hearing people who don't live in Los Angeles or have never been there say that the show resonated with them made me feel, 'Great, you don't have to live in Los Angeles to appreciate the show.'”
Although Hulu has yet to issue a statement (and has not responded to De Los' request for comment) on the show's cancellation, “This Fool” received widespread critical acclaim but struggled to build an audience through COVID. and the strikes of writers and actors. . The fans are demonstrating online to #SaveThisFoolHowever, Estrada takes the news with a positive spirit.
The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Well, first of all, I'm very sorry.
Oh, it's fine! It's unfortunate, but I had a suspicion it could happen. The way my friends and I who co-created this show (Jake Weisman, Pat Bishop and Matt Ingebretson) always doubled down on our vision. We treat each season as the last, simply because we know the industry. You never know what to expect. When we wrote the first season, we said, “Let's write it like it's the last one!” And then when we wrote the second season, we said, “Let's write it like it's the last one!” [laughs]
You seem to be really zIt's about this.
I guess I'm trying to be zen about it because I try not to take it too personally. I know it's just the state of the TV and film industry after the strike. I think a lot of these companies lost a lot of money. I think they're just cutting shows that aren't their most important shows. But believe me, I was definitely discouraged.
It would be difficult not to be.
To be honest with you, I felt like it was coming, so I went through a bit of a grieving process until I got the news. But when I received the news I was quite discouraged. But I was grateful. I had to do two seasons of a television show. That's crazy.
I think the scary thing was: where do I go from here? I'm a comedian, but I also love to write and make things. So I think, I guess I'll keep doing stand-up because he gave me this opportunity and I never stopped doing it. I have to keep creating and move forward. I know I'm not the first person this has happened to.
It really is a next level. awful time in Hollywood.
Yes, it really is. I think it affected us not being able to promote. He wanted to comply with the strike rules. I am a proud member of SAG and WGA. I understood that the fight is bigger than a show or any person. I think two things are true: that the strike was incredibly important and I'm grateful that it happened and I'm grateful that our unions got a lot of what they wanted. And I also think that not being able to promote could have affected us.
It really shows you that there are a lot of things that need to line up perfectly. Many things have to go completely right.
Absolutely. Much of it has to be aligned in a way that is out of your reach. In a sense, it is almost out of your hands how a lot It has to line up perfectly. It's crazy, but I have to remind myself that I chose this. In addition to being a comedian, he was a fan of television and movies, so he had heard all the stories. I try to put it into perspective by remembering that I chose to be a part of this.
It's difficult because we choose something and we know there will be many challenges. There will be a lot of anguish. But you still have moments when you wonder, “Does it have to be this hard? Does there have to be so much anguish?
It's such a complicated beast. As disappointed as I am, I am also proud of the two seasons we did. I'm especially very proud of that second season. I think tonally it's what I always wanted the show to be. I think if we only did one season, I would be more disappointed than I am.
It's increasingly looking like getting a season 1 is like winning the lottery. Getting to season 2 is beyond.
So, generally speaking, I don't want to look like a bad winner. I feel grateful. Hulu took a chance on me and I was able to do two seasons of the show. I really hope the show continues to be watched and discovered by new people like people did with “Party Down” or “Arrested Development.” I'm hoping it becomes part of a cult classic fandom.
Is there anything in the program that you get to do that makes you really excited to have entered?
I was able to sneak my mom into the program. In season 2 there is an episode called “The Invisible People.” It is about the character Esperanza retiring from her job. The scene begins with a retirement party. Unfortunately, my mom didn't get to have one of hers because she contracted COVID the week of her retirement. So we put her as a featured background on that, which was really cool to do.
You have to give him his retirement party somehow!
It was like that was the least he could do after ruining his life.
Filling the show with all these different people in your life in one way or another, as characters or in the background, must have been very exciting.
Yeah, that was really cool. It's almost a blur, to be honest with you. I felt incredibly creatively fulfilled doing it. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. It's difficult because by nature writing and making television is difficult, but it's also rewarding when you can do it your way and, fortunately, they let us do it our way. I'm glad we did it our way instead of having a third season that we got because we compromised so much in the first two seasons.
It's really inspiring to a lot of people who are trying to do the same thing as you in Hollywood, who don't have parents in Hollywood and all that.
That really means a lot to me. I don't come from the Harvard School of Television Comedy. My mom was a janitor. Until a few years ago she worked in a warehouse and was a comedian. She always wanted to work in the industry. He seemed so impenetrable if you don't come from that world, but I was able to penetrate him being a comedian. I'm also grateful that I never stopped doing comedy. I still have a job. [laughs]
Alex Zaragoza is a television scriptwriter and journalist who covers culture and identity. His work has appeared in Vice, NPR, O Magazine and Rolling Stone. He has written in the series “Primo” and “López v. Lopez.” He writes weekly for De Los.
