I Married Dora

"I Remember Dora" was one of those great shows that nobody watched. Elizabeth Pena was funny and beautiful. I also remember the last episode having an extremely jarring ending. It had one of the characters leaving the family to take a job in another country. He goes through the door to the plane, leaving the family in tears. He comes back a moment later. "what's wrong?", he is asked. "It was canceled," he replies. "What, the flight?" "No, our series!" At which point the camera pulls back, revealing the sets, lights and crew, and everyone turned and waved good-bye to the camera. I was 13 and remember this being EXTREMELY disturbing, but a brave wink to the few fans the show had.

"I Married Dora" was notable in many ways. The delightful Elizabeth Peña interacting with "Mester Peter" not only as the housekeeper but also dreaming of truly being Mr. Peters wife. And functioning as a true wife in many ways.

But daughter Kate was unforgettable with a mastery of sarcasm. From such a cute little girl with a amazing resemblance to future super star actress Juliette Lewis.

Most unforgettable episode was where Dora takes the kids to a Latino club. When Mr. Peter finds out where the kids are he has a wild fantasy of the evils of such a club. An absolutely hilarious episode making great use stereotypes!

This week's NEW YORK MAGAZINE had a comment in the column by the television reviewer that reviewed (in a disparaging way) about this comedy that lasted only one season. The writer mentioned the conclusion of the series where they announced the series was canceled, But the reviewer also felt the show was deservedly forgotten.

Actually it was not a bad little comedy. But it suffered from a bad weekly spot. It was on Fridays, I believe. The plot line is based on the problems of avoiding Dora's deportation by any means necessary (which is like Lucille Ball's determination to get into show business by any means necessary on I LOVE LUCY). Dora's boss, a W.A.S.P., marries her, but her weekly attempts to please him and keep in the country always show that she is a little more with it due to street smarts.

There were other plot points that were never fully covered due to it's short run. The boss/husband was previously married (with children). His wife was on a plane that apparently was commandeered by terrorists four years before, and never heard from again - so there was a potential situation like Tennyson's ENOCH ARDEN of the missing person turning up again.

There was also a nice addition to the cast - Henry Jones, that dependable character actor. It was his first regular role on a comedy series since his two year stint on Cloris Leachman's PHYLLIS. Here he was a W.A.S.P. aristocrat, who constantly got to see that his fine contacts meant nothing. In one episode, Dora learns Jones knows Nancy Reagan (they are old friends). She convinces him to make a phone call asking the President (through Nancy) to kill some immigration problem. No problem to Henry, he insists. We watch him make a few calls, and he eventually does get Nancy. We hear a pleasant conversation (of course, only from Jones side) going on. After two minutes, a promise to see Nancy and Ronnie when they are back home, Henry hangs up. Dora is looking daggers at her, as he realizes he never got to ask Nancy for the favor!

Not a bad show really, which, with a better time slot, might have made it. But not one of the worst films - not by a long stretch.

Okay, I was only 7 when this show came out. But I remember watching it every Friday night. Juliette Lewis really stuck out to me and years later when I saw her in some movie I knew I had seen her before somewhere, but could not think of the name of the show she was in. Being that I was only 7, I didn't know what the plot of the show was, I just enjoyed watching it and listening to the Hispanic woman's accent. One of "Dora"'s trademarks in the show was that she had this junk drawer in the kitchen. The husband would get so frustrated when he would try to find something in the drawer and start yelling at her. She'd go over to the drawer, pull it out, shake her hip up against the drawer and wah-la... there was the item he'd been looking for. Of course, I thought this was just hilarious.

i slightly remember this series and i'm trying to remember the name of the actress who played his young daughter, would you kindly put who else was in the cast, it's a great help..but when all i know is him...that's just plain being unfair Susann

i think that the actress might have been Christina ricci, but when i went to her page it wasn't listed...i do remember one of the young up and comers, if i'm not mistaken..but it sure would be good if you could put the rest of the cast, i know that the show didn't even last a year, but i kind of enjoyed it all, and would like to know who the rest of the cast is/was

Susan