Shark Bytes

I think it's a Cuban thing, or even a latino thing to like this show. I am Cuban and I think it has a lot to do with me liking this show. Certain subtle references are only apparant to the Cuban viewer, such as the rocking chairs and the chaperones. It is the same thing as a show such as the Hugley's that centers around a black family. Your cultural quirks ae only funny to you.
Whatever it is, this show is fabulous and still ahead of it's time.

To those who have brought language issues into discussion-This show was meant for bilingual viewers as a comedic social commentary, not a Spanish lesson. If you are from Miami you will know that Spanish is spoken almost everywhere regardless of what is deemed the "official language". Don't fight it, embrace it, it will enrich your lives. Don't be afraid, I assure you it's OK to only speak one language. But being a hater is a perfect display of your ignorance. Que comepingas se ponen estos americanos a veces!

This was a really clever show that played on the generational and cultural contrasts of Cuba and the USA. It was never an attempt to teach Spanish to non-Spanish speakers (their loss anyway, come-mierdas), as many of the jokes could only be understood if you were fully bilingual.
It was, however, a hilarious situation comedy that illustrated the humanity, fears and hopes of an exiled community making a new home in an adoptive land.

Not liking this show is no reason to insult the Cuban people by making "innertube" comments. This just shows your ignorance and is completely uncalled for. As for when the show jumped, I would say it was when Bauer left.

A pathetic attempt to get English-speakers to learn Spanish when an attempt should have been made to get Spanish-speakers to learn English.

Whether they like it or not, English is America's official language in every way, manner, shape and form and if saying so makes me racist, so be it!

So now it's "racist" to hate this stinker? This show didn't jump- it was devoured while sailing over on an innertube...

Que pasa Usa was one of the funniest shows I have ever seen, I am watching it right now and it is hysterical. It is still very funnytoday even though it was set in the seventies. The issues they dealt with are timeless family values. I don't really care about the cheesy seventies set since to be honest, it was a reflection of the time. The important thing about a sitcom is to be funny and Que pasa Usa succeeded in that respect. Unless you are cuban american, it is hard to explain the charm of the show.

Que pasa USA? was one of the best TV shows ever aired. I am only 23, but growing up in Miami, it was always on PBS. Even though I am not Cuban born (my mother is), I was not even alive in the 70's, and my father is from Argentina, I could totally - 100 % identify with this show. It taught me why my Abuelita was so crazy, why Mom always wanted me to be chaperoned, and why our house looked the way it did (rocking chairs, Santos etc.) This show helped me to accept my heritage, and embrace it. granted the acting was not so great (Joe and Carmencita) but the rest of the cast made up for their lack of experience. We need more shows that depict what it was like for our families to come to the United States and adapt. The one thing that I love the most about the show is that they spoke Spanglish. That is sooo realistic and it makes the show that much more familiar and comforting.

Perhaps the best ep of the show had to do when an unseen friend of the teen daughter Carmensita told her she was putting a curse on her because she'd thought Carmensita had stolen her boyfriend. This led to Carmensita's flaky friend Violetta hiring a Santaria (Cuban voodoo) priestess to help end the curse while Carmensita's religious grandmother Abuela hired a priest to exorcise the demons- and the Santeria priestess and Catholic priest literally BUTT INTO each other while performing dueling exorcisms in t the PeÒa Apartment! It was the FUNNIEST MOMENT EVER on the show and, of course, it turned out that the Santaria priestess was one of the Catholic priest's parishioners and they amiably left together! It was so clever and true about how these things often are going on at the same time in the communities! However; they could never top that moment so everything afterwards was somewhat bland.

The show really portrayed a such an excellent example of growing up in a Cuban family, that often I would laugh because that was actually happening to me or someone I knew at that same moment. I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1970's so most of friends were either Anglo or Mexican, they really could not the grasp the logic behind chaperones and why my grandmother didn't think that sandwiches were considered a meal but a snack. It wasn't until they watched episodes of Que Pasa USA? that they understood the Cuban culture. So this show wasn't only funny but it did a great deal in educating society of Cuban culture, my friends were more sensitive to what was going on because they understood the culture.

This was an AWESOME show. The previous comments on how they feel it didn't "make it" because it catered to only one obscure ethnic group is B.S. and racist. I Love Lucy centered around Ricky Ricardo's Cubanness. African Americans are only 12% of the US pop., but how many black shows are on TV now? So many I can't count. It was on PBS idiots! There aren't a lot of PBS watchers out there, period. Not that many intellectuals. I was born in Cuba, raised in an East LA suburb in a Cuban neighborhood surrounded by Mexicans. This show helped me make sense of and survive the discrimination I experienced from the time I got there in 1965 until the show aired. Discrimination came from whites, blacks, other Hispanic groups, and yes, even my own people. The reason is because I came during an earlier wave of Cubans before there were any Hispanics in my neighborhood. So my family acculturated much quicker because there were no Hispanic stores, TV, government forms, translation, etc. When the other Cubans came later, I was already a teenager. They called me, "La Repentida - The repented one" because they thought I was a Hispanic "Uncle Tom." The truth is that I was just more acculturated than they were, that's all. Cubans take everything personally. That's another thing the show brought out. It helped me not only be proud of my heritage, but taught me how I can learn from Cuban experiences. Cubans are special, and they should be showcased just like other minorities are. They didn't just get the details right. They understood what it was like to be a minority in an area where there are many Hispanics. This is a different experience than in Michigan, for example, where I live. I work with Hispanic staff and clients. They all speak proper Spanish. When you grow up in the US as a Hispanic, you really do grow up thinking Spanglish is just normal and the way all Hispanics experience this country. But it's not. My co-workers actually have to teach me Spanish words that I never learned. I vote that there should be another Cuban show soon. Viva Cuba!!!

When Cousin Iggy from New Jersey came to live with the Penas after Rocky Echevarria's (Steven Bauer) departure from the show. I grew up in a Cuban-American household in Miami during this time period and have always loved this show. Just wanted to mention that about a year or so before the show went on the air, I was selected out of a group of students at my junior high to be a part of a test audience. We gave comments to the show's producers/creators about an episode that we watched. From that episode on, I loved the show.

By the amount of votes on this show, one can tell that this show is a classic if one even knows this show. Steven Bauer will always be Rocky Echevarria to me. Manolo will always be Joe. Why do so many people care about the acting? Though I'm black, I still will say that if you are not from Miami, you wouldn't understand this show. There were so many things about Que Pasa that made a native Miamian laugh. The whole family going to the hospital to see Joe's appendix being taken out. The "abuelos." Even Sharon was totally Miami (I probably am like the black version of her). This show captured a city in a specific time period, and for that reason, it will never play itself out.

This a great show. It portrayed what it was like to be a Cuban immigrant and growing up in the US. It showed what the young people went through in adjusting to US customs while the older generations held their traditional Cuban customs. It was a shame that it is (and will not due to the way it was funded) be available on DVD or video.

This show is still shown (3-2-4) on our local Miami PBS affiliate and I find it funny to watch. It reminds me so much of my friend's family, the grandparents speak Spanish. the parents are bilingual, the kids only speak English and some broken Spanish. Great hilarity ensues. Too bad people didn't join PBS back in the day and direct there funding to this great show. Join PBS!!!