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.

This was an otherwise forgettable exercise in inter-ethnic comedy. Just like in "The Nanny", the WASP is the well-off, supposedly in command male, which made mainstream America comfortable as the maid/nanny shows that her colorful Salvadorian/Jewish relatives are actually nicer than some of his grasping relatives or associates; before he gets around to noticing that the 'ethnic' hired help is hot stuff. (It helps, in this case, that they already have a paper marriage.)

Two things are worth mentioning about it, however; first, it was the introduction of Elizabeth Pena, she with the facially large nose, slightly closed eyes, and superbly sexy voice -- sort of a throaty drawl with a very slight Cuban undertone. Catch her in "Lone Star" or "Tortilla Soup" if you want to see her at her best. The second, as I recall, was the way the show acknowledged its poor ratings. At one point Dora made a virtual pistol shot at a TV Nintendo game, and stated that she wished she could zap "Beauty and the Beast" in the same manner. And at the end the someone in the cast announced that the series had been canned - and came out for a bow in front of the studio audience. A nice touch, when most canceled sitcoms just disappear into the ether without a by-your-leave.

I still have a Betamax recording of "I Married Dora" from the night that Baby Jessica was rescued from that well. Right in the middle of the show they broke away to the rescue and I never did see the rest of that particular episode. Now while I can't recall chapter and verse of the series, I do remember that I did like the show enough to tune in every week. I liked it. Just a nice, quiet little show. If it were to show up on TV Land somehow, which I highly doubt, I'd gladly watch it again. And maybe this time I'll make it through that episode without Baby Jessica getting in on the act! I'll have to look through my collection, but I just might have the final episode as well. Not really the most ground breaking way for a show to end its run, but unique in its own way.

At a time when the Iran-Contra affair and atrocities coming from the Salvadoran civil war were constant news came this comedy about a beloved maid who happened to be an illegal alien. Elizabeth Peña capitalized on the popularity of her previous character from "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "Dora" emerged as a wise, emotional, funny and HOT addition to the airwaves. The filming and overall pace was derivative of many commercials at the time (silent fade-to-black narration of the scene). Yet the humor was actually very funny for its time; laughing at topical events, white vs Latin culture, cut-throat 80's business and family dynamics in general. This is definitely an underrated and extremely short-lived series which deserves a lot more attention. Sadly, it could never be made in the current climate, so it's a time-capsule in itself.

"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!