The 30th Anniversary of the TV Show Culture Clash

It was thirty years ago today that a historic television show debuted. Culture Clash was a sketch comedy show starring the comedy troupe of the same, consisting of Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza. What made Culture Clash historic is that it was the first Latino sketch comedy show to air on American television. For a time my dear friend Vanessa Marquez, of Stand and Deliver and ER fame, numbered among the regulars on the show.

The origins of the comedy troupe Culture Clash go back to another troupe called Comedy Fiesta founded on Cinco De Mayo, May 5, 1984 by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, Herbert Sigüenza, and José Antonio Burciaga. Comedy Fiesta also included Marga Gómez, and Monica Palacios. The group worked with El Teatro Campesino, a Chicano theatre company founded by playwright Luis Valdez in 1965. Comedy Fiesta eventually broke up, and José Antonio Burciaga, Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza formed Culture Clash. Mr. Burciaga left Culture Clash in 1988 and died from cancer in 1996. The troupe produced their first full length play, The Mission, in 1988. In 1991 they produced their show A Bowl of Being.

It was in 1991 that Cheech Martin saw A Bowl of Being at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. He signed Culture Clash to star in their own sitcom, which would be financed by 20th Television (then the syndication and distribution unit of 20th Century Fox Television). The Fox Television Network ordered a pilot, which was based on characters Culture Clash had created on stage, but was written by other people. Fox ultimately decided against placing it on their fall schedule, but ordered six more scripts (again, written by others) that were workshopped at a local theatre. Fox eventually cancelled the project entirely, although it may have been just as well. At the time Ric Salinas said that Fox was "definitely smart to kill it." The scripts were apparently filled with banal material and Latino stereotypes.

With the sitcom project dead in the water, Culture Clash wrote a script for a sketch comedy show, but Fox turned it down. The network and the comedy troupe entered into talks about a Cinco de Mayo comedy special, but nothing ever came of it. Fortunately, executives from Fox Television Stations Productions, which produces shows for Fox owned and operated stations, saw one of Culture Clash's performances in June 1992. They then approached Culture Clash about a deal.

Fortunately, Fox Television Stations Productoins agreed to a test run of Culture Clash for six episodes on KTTV, the Fox owned and operated station in Los Angeles, which began on July 31 1993. Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Sigüenza served as executive producers on the show. The show was taped in front of a live audience at the Mayan Theatre. The show's house band was led by Tito Larriva, formerly of pioneering punk band The Plugz and The Cruzados. The test run proved successful enough that Culture Clash was soon appearing on other television stations around the country. Ultimately, 30 episodes were produced.

Culture Clash featured both musical guests and guest comedians. Among the musical guests were Machete and Chicano Squad. Among the comics appearing on Culture Clash were Gilbert Esquivel, Raul Martinez, Carlos Oscar, and others. It also featured guest appearances by such notables as Maria Conchita Alonso, Rosanna DeSoto, Dolores Huerta, Edward James Olmos, and Jimmy Smits. Given the big names the show attracted and its a popularity at the time, it is surprising that the Fox television network never picked it up. They would have been wise to do so.

Vanessa Marquez circa
1993.

As mentioned earlier, Vanessa Marquez was a regular on the TV show Culture Clash early in its run. Vanessa thoroughly enjoyed her work on Culture Clash. Culture Clash appreciated Vanessa in turn, and are among those who have done tributes to her since her death. The TV series Culture Clash let Vanessa play a wide variety of  roles. She played Maria in the sketch "West Side Story...35 Years Later," in which she even got to demonstrate her singing skill. She played a sexy pizza delivery lady in one of the sketches featuring the recurring characters Beto and Chon (a pair of clueless Cholos). She played an extremely intelligent game show contestant on a parody of Jeopardy. She even played one of a deceased man's many mistresses at his funeral in one sketch. Vanessa was working on Culture Clash when she received word that she had been cast in a pilot for a new show called ER. Looking back, she said she would have better off remaining on Culture Clash.

Sadly, the TV series Culture Clash has not been widely available since it went off the air in 1996. It has never been released on DVD and it is not on any streaming services. There are a few clips that have been uploaded to YouTube (some by Vanessa herself), but that has been it. That is a real shame, as Culture Clash was not only a groundbreaking show as the first Latino sketch comedy show, but it was also an extremely funny show going by the clips that are online. What is more, it displayed much of the biting satire for which Culture Clash are known. It really should be released to DVD and made available through streaming.

At the time Culture Clash debuted, there was very little in the way of Latino representation on American television. What is more, this had been the case since Chico and Man ended in its run in 1978, with the exception of a few short-lived shows like a.k.a. Pablo. And as mentioned before, it was the first Latino sketch comedy show. Even though it is not currently available, Culture Clash is still remembered for the trails it blazed.