# American Family (2002 TV series)

American Family, sometimes called American Family: Journey of Dreams is a PBS series created by Gregory Nava that follows the lives of a Latino family in Los Angeles. This was the first broadcast television drama series featuring a predominantly Latino cast. It also was the first original primetime American episodic drama to air on PBS in nearly a decade—since the series I'll Fly Away moved to the network.

## Production

Nava initially created the series for CBS, which passed on the pilot. PBS picked up 12 remaining episodes for its first season. The second season aired in mid-2004 with a slight name change. When it had initially aired in January 2002, it was simply known as American Family. Nava envisioned the second season as an epic story in 13 parts that featured current events as well as how the family was involved in the Mexican Revolution.
Edward James Olmos plays Jess Gonzalez, a Korean War veteran and barber with a cranky disposition as well as five adult children. He and his wife Berta (Sônia Braga) seek a better life for their children. Conrado is a medical school student, who, at the end of the first season, enlists in the Army.

## Themes

The series addressed the ongoing war in Iraq head-on. In its first episodes Conrado is set to deploy to Kuwait. Melanie McFarland, television critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, stated that "Gregory Nava ventures into territory no other scripted television show has meaningfully addressed -- the Iraq War. Since audiences seek escapism in their shows instead of more reminders that U.S. soldiers are still dying over in Iraq, shying from the topic might be understandable. Network TV is ailing right now, and anything which might be perceived as too heavy to draw in viewers probably wouldn't fly."
In an interview with Bill Moyers during the airing of the series, Nava was asked if he was not angry that Latinos were invisible during prime-time television. "I think we’re reaching a point right now where Latinos are moving from the fringes into the mainstream of American life. And our time has come right now for us to make our contribution to this country," he said. "So it doesn’t make me angry; I just see it as a challenge. And I think that as a population and as a community we have to rise to that challenge."

## Cast

* Edward James Olmos as Jess Gonzalez
* Sônia Braga as Berta Gonzalez
* Esai Morales as Esteban Gonzalez
** Michael Peña as Teenage Esteban
* Kurt Caceres as Conrado Gonzalez
** Nicholas Gonzalez as Teenage Conrado
* Constance Marie as Nina Gonzalez
** Aimee Garcia as Teenage Nina
* Rachel Ticotin as Vangie Gonzalez Taylor
** Alisa Reyes as Teenage Vangie
* AJ Lamas as Cisco Gonzalez
* Raquel Welch as Aunt Dora
* David Villalpando as Cruz

## Episodes
### Season 1 (2002)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
| 1 | 1 | "Pilot" | Gregory Nava | Gregory Nava | January 23, 2002 (2002-01-23) | 09-01-179 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Sewing Machine" | Gregory Nava | Barbara Martinez Jitner | January 24, 2002 (2002-01-24) | 09-01-102 |
| 3 | 3 | "La Estrella (The Star)" | Unknown | Unknown | January 30, 2002 (2002-01-30) | TBA |
| 4 | 4 | "La Llorona: Part 1" | Gregory Nava | Gregory Nava | February 6, 2002 (2002-02-06) | 09-01-104 |
| 5 | 5 | "La Llorona: Part 2" | Gregory Nava | Gregory Nava | February 13, 2002 (2002-02-13) | 09-01-109 |
| 6 | 6 | "The Barber Shop" | Unknown | Unknown | February 20, 2002 (2002-02-20) | TBA |
| 7 | 7 | "Circle of Fire" | Leon Ichaso | Story by : Gregory Nava Teleplay by : Lorenzo O'Brien |
| 8 | 8 | "Crash Boom Love: Part 1" | Barbara Martinez Jitner | Barbara Martinez Jitner | March 27, 2002 (2002-03-27) | 09-01-105 |
| 9 | 9 | "Crash Boom Love: Part 2" | Barbara Martinez Jitner | Barbara Martinez Jitner | March 27, 2002 (2002-03-27) | 09-01-113 |
| 10 | 10 | "Mexican Revolution" | Barbara Martinez Jitner | Barbara Martinez Jitner | May 1, 2002 (2002-05-01) | 09-01-107 |
| 11 | 11 | "The Forgotten War" | Gregory Nava | Gregory Nava & Barbara Martinez Jitner | May 8, 2002 (2002-05-08) | 09-01-111 |
| 12 | 12 | "La Cama (The Bed)" | Gregory Nava | Gregory Nava | May 15, 2002 (2002-05-15) | 09-01-101 |
| 13 | 13 | "Citizen Cisco" | Unknown | Unknown | May 22, 2002 (2002-05-22) | TBA |
| 14 | 14 | "Silence of God" | Unknown | Unknown | May 29, 2002 (2002-05-29) | TBA |
| 15 | 15 | "The Father" | Unknown | Unknown | July 17, 2002 (2002-07-17) | TBA |
| 16 | 16 | "The Glass Ceiling" | Unknown | Unknown | July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24) | TBA |
| 17 | 17 | "The Fighting Friedas" | Unknown | Unknown | July 31, 2002 (2002-07-31) | TBA |
| 18 | 18 | "The Journey: Part 1" | Unknown | Unknown | August 28, 2002 (2002-08-28) | TBA |
| 19 | 19 | "The Journey: Part 2" | Unknown | Unknown | September 4, 2002 (2002-09-04) | TBA |
| 20 | 20 | "La Casa" | Unknown | Unknown | September 11, 2002 (2002-09-11) | TBA |
| 21 | 21 | "The Hat: Part 1" | Unknown | Unknown | September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18) | TBA |
| 22 | 22 | "The Hat: Part 2" | Unknown | Unknown | September 25, 2002 (2002-09-25) | TBA |

### Season 2 (2004)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
| 23 | 1 | "The Wedding" | Unknown | Unknown | April 4, 2004 (2004-04-04) | TBA |
| 24 | 2 | "The War Begins" | Unknown | Unknown | April 11, 2004 (2004-04-11) | TBA |
| 25 | 3 | "The Farewell" | Unknown | Unknown | April 18, 2004 (2004-04-18) | TBA |
| 26 | 4 | "A Deal with God" | Unknown | Unknown | April 25, 2004 (2004-04-25) | TBA |
| 27 | 5 | "The Doors to the Past" | Unknown | Unknown | May 2, 2004 (2004-05-02) | TBA |
| 28 | 6 | "The Brother" | Unknown | Unknown | May 9, 2004 (2004-05-09) | TBA |
| 29 | 7 | "Shadows" | Unknown | Unknown | May 16, 2004 (2004-05-16) | TBA |
| 30 | 8 | "The Searchers" | Unknown | Unknown | May 23, 2004 (2004-05-23) | TBA |
| 31 | 9 | "The Burning Fire" | Unknown | Unknown | May 30, 2004 (2004-05-30) | TBA |
| 32 | 10 | "Victory" | Unknown | Unknown | June 20, 2004 (2004-06-20) | TBA |
| 33 | 11 | "The Child" | Unknown | Unknown | June 27, 2004 (2004-06-27) | TBA |
| 34 | 12 | "The Night Sun" | Unknown | Unknown | July 4, 2004 (2004-07-04) | TBA |
| 35 | 13 | "The Flowers and the Songs" | Unknown | Unknown | July 11, 2004 (2004-07-11) | TBA |