Series Description:

American Family was a 60 minute family drama series on PBS about a Latino-American barber trying to make a better life for his kids in Los Angeles after the sudden death of their mother. He had already put his daughter Nina through law school and his son Conrado was in medical school. But everything was not great in the Gonzalez household. Nina decided to use her law degree to provide free legal aide for illegal immigrants and daddy didn't approve. He also didn't care much for Conrado's decision to drop out of medical school to enlist in the Army and head for Kuwait. And that was just the beginning of their challenges!

American Family Cast:

American Family Trivia

Airing on PBS allowed American Family to take some risks that commercial television programs rarely attempt. It's episodes involving the Iraq War reminded audiences that while patriotism and defeating evil tyrants are admirable things, we should always consider that people are killed in wars and others have their lives ruined by severe mental and physical injuries. Innocent citizens in those countries are displaced from their homes or otherwise harmed. All of these things must be considered before making war, not simply patriotism.

American Family was the first broadcast TV drama with a mostly Latino cast.

The pilot episode and twelve others had been produced for CBS and then the network decided to not buy it. Luckily, PBS bought the series. While PBS regularly runs original prime time series from the United Kingdom, this was the first prime time U.S. produced original series to air in its entirety on the network in decades.

Jess Gonzalez may have been of Latino heritage but he was a true American patriot in every sense of the word. He believed in hard work, no hand-outs and the pursuit of the American dream. He also was a Korean War veteran!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

American Family - The First Season

1. Pilot (1/23/2002)
2. The Sewing Machine (1/24/2002)
3. La Estrella (The Star) (1/30/2002)
4. La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) - Part 1 (2/6/2002)
5. La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) - Part 2 (2/13/2002)
6. Circle of Fire (2/27/2002)
7. Crash Boom Love - Part 1 (3/27/2002)
8. Crash Boom Love - Part 2 (3/27/2002)
9. Mexican Revolution (5/1/2002)
10. The Korean War - The Forgotten War (5/8/2002)
11. La Cama (The Bed) (5/15/2002)
12. Citizen Cisco (5/22/2002)
13. Silence of God (5/29/2002)
14. The Father (7/17/2002)
15. The Glass Ceiling (7/24/2002)
16. The Fighting Fridas (7/31/2002)
17. The Barber Shop (2/20/2002)
18. The Masked Eagle - Part 1 (2/27/2002)
19. The Masked Eagle - Part 2 (3/6/2002)
20. The Journey - Part 1 (8/28/2002)
21. The Journey - Part 2 (9/4/2002)
22. La Casa (The House) (9/11/2002)

American Family - The Second Season

23. The Wedding (4/4/2004)
24. The War Begins (4/11/2004)
25. The Farewell (4/18/2004)
26. A Deal With God (4/25/2004)
27. The Doors to the Past (5/2/2004)
28. The Brother (5/9/2004)
29. Shadows (5/16/2004)
30. The Searchers (5/23/2004)
31. The Burning Fire (5/30/2004)
32. Victory (6/20/2004)
33. The Child (6/27/2004)
34. The Night Sun (7/4/2004)
35. The Flowers and the Songs (7/11/2004)