Wenceslao

***Wenceslao*** is an American television sitcom created by Venancio Dominguez which aired on Fox from September 15, 2000 to May 13, 2005, lasting 114 episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Venancio Productions, Paramount Network Television, and Fox Television Studios, with 20th Television handling domestic distribution.

Set in the fictional city of Queergreen, the show follows Wenceslao Bermudez (Drake Lopez), an adolescent boy who is a considered a "Geek" and an outcast at school and must overcome many social challenges. Supporting characters include younger brother Wilfredo (Daniel Xavi Garcia), best friend Derek Bartsch (Michael Christopher), "second-best" friend Katie Richards (Jenna Marie Stark), frenemy Eloise Anderson (Lorene Parker), and parents Joaquina (Mariana Ricardo), and Eduardo (Eugenio Santoverde).

Dominguez started developing *Wenceslao* in June 1998 under the working title *Florida Dorks*, and pitched a seven-page treatment to UPN, which was when Paramount joined the series' development. After UPN rejected the show, Dominguez pitched it to Fox, which was when Fox Television Studios began working on the show. It would eventually be renamed *Queergreen* and finally *Wenceslao*. Filming took place at various locations in and around Los Angeles County, California.

*Wenceslao* received critical acclaim throughout its run. It won 34 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2001 and 2005. The series was ranked no. 13 on *TV Guide*'s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (2008), no. 27 on TV.net's Top 50 Most Legendary TV Shows (2011), and no. 2 on VideoWave's Top 10 Sitcoms of the 2000s (2015). The pilot episode was ranked no. 5 on Teletwist's Top 25 Greatest Series Premieres of All Time in 2012; "End Scene" was ranked no. 1 on its Top 25 Greatest Series Finales of All Time that year. The show also served as a launchpad for its young actors' careers, as well as Dominguez's transition from film to television.

## Premise

The series showcases the daily life of Wenceslao Bermudez, an 11- to 16-year-old Latino American boy living in the fictional Florida West Coast city of Queergreen as he attends middle school and high school. Students within the local school district have unanimously decided on a system of "social classes" where "cool" students decide on whether somebody is an "Alpha" ("cool"), a "Beta" ("average"), or a "Geek" ("geeky"). Due to his rather unusual first name and obsession with popular culture, Wenceslao is classified as a Geek by the Alphas and "sentenced to a lifetime of humiliation".

He frequently hangs out with lifelong best friend Derek Bartsch, "second-best" friend Katelyn "Katie" Richards from elementary school, and newfound frenemy Eloise Anderson. The group often use their intelligence to outsmart those who pick on them, and shamelessly participate in artistic school clubs in an attempt to "normalize geekiness" and persuade fellow Geeks to be themselves, a common message throughout the series' run. He lives with his younger brother Wilfredo, mother Joaquina, and father Eduardo.

Frequently recurring characters include prankster Jacob Richter (Mark Reeves), wannabe scammer Antonio Sabbatino (Rickie Falento), aspiring cartoonist Morgan Fuentes (Joel Alan White), bully-turned-friend Keith Owens (Jeffrey Norman), and amateur musician Daniel "Danny" Ming (Logan Chen).

## High-definition version

High-definition remasters of all 114 episodes—dubbed *Wenceslao HD* by fans—were produced by Fox Digital in 2013 for subsequent television reruns, Blu-ray releases, and streaming releases. For the remastered episodes, Fox used the original 35 mm film source to restore previously cropped images on the left and right sides of the film to use the entire 16:9 widescreen frame. They were made available to local broadcast stations on February 24, 2014, starting with the pilot episode.

In Australia, the high-definition episodes have been broadcast on Fox2 since March 2014 and FX from June 2015 to October 2018. In Canada, the HD episodes premiered on FX on April 1, 2014, and they premiered on Fox on April 8 in the United Kingdom. Hulu added every episode of *Wenceslao* in high-definition on January 2, 2015.