La famille Serrano

After enjoying four seasons I can tell that this is one of the best series ever, though the writers has been slacking of as of recent. The best feature is the use of the language the way it's supposed to be, uncensored. Television rules are different in European countries. If you are a Spanish speaking person you'd have a blast watching this series. The elder actors and actresses are veteran Spanish talents. Closed caption is not available until the third season. Season six finished up, however the first half of season five just became available on DVD in Spain.

By the way, the DVD version of this series is only playable on PAL video. During the first seasons on DVD you could see behind the scenes, bloopers, etc. Seasons three and four only contains the main episodes.

"Los Serrano" has been broadcast for the last two years to a great success among people of all ages. The secret of its success lies partly on the wisdom of writers, who have successfully aimed viewers from all ages as their targets. Thus, the Serrano family portrays the daily lives of a Brady Bunch-like family with a widower and a divorcée marrying and creating a new family with each one's children.

Antonio Resines, one of our finest comic actors, plays the father, while Belén Rueda is as effective as ever as the mother. The eldest of their children (Fran Perea from one side, and Verónica Sánchez from the other) have at some points been the center of the series with their unsolved sexual chemistry, but perhaps writers should focus on other characters too.

As it usually happens with Spanish TV series, the supporting cast excels the main one in many instances. A special mention should be made to Jesus Bonilla's uncle Santiago, and Antonio Molero's family friend, Fiti. Among the youngest actors, Alejo Sauras and Alexandra Jiménez are a lovely pair of goofy sidekicks to Fran Perea and Verónica Sánchez.

Maybe it's not the best comedy ever made, but it's extremely watchable and the whole family can have fun with it. I hope we will be seeing a lot of "Los Serrano" in the years to come.

I usually don't like telenovelas and soap operas. Still, I accidentally bumped into this one and, to my surprise, I was extremely pleased with it, as it had two major qualities: excellent humor (the kind that you don't get from soaps, telenovelas and this kind of series) and very well played. Previously there have been some attempts to make a telenovela that features real humor, like "Betty la fea" for example, who partially succeeded, and managed to mix telenovela-style acting (which "we", those who don't like that kind of shows, say it's overacting) with really funny situations, characters and gags; still, it wasn't really THAT funny. But I recommend the "Los Serrano" series even to the viewers who don't usually watch telenovelas and generally soaps; they'll love it and may see it as the equivalent of a good family sitcom. The humor is also unexpectedly sexual for a telenovela, but it manages not to be crude or heavy, mostly in the line of questions that kids innocently ask their parents about sex.

While it may be true that Los Serrano may not have the best writing of a sitcom ever, it contains some enigmatic element that makes it strangely addictive. The situations may be far-fetched and romances may be overplayed, but after one or two episodes, the viewer finds himself wanting to come back weekly, even for reruns of overplayed episodes.

At this point I'm torn as to whether Los Serrano should hurry up to get off the air before it gets much worse (this fourth season has been a downer in many ways) or to continue to feed my addiction. In any case, buy/rent the DVDs and watch the old ones even if it does go off the air.

I watch Los Serrano more or less regularly and I think it is a very good series. It might be true that it's becoming like most series, with lots of love triangles and such, but there is always something interesting every week. That's why I keep watching it. It is very funny how Diego, Fiti and Santiago get themselves worked up over nothing and it always ends up in difficult situations. I like the way the kids get into all kind of trouble. In conclusion, as long as you can understand Spanish pretty well, Los Serrano is a good series you are sure to enjoy. At least I do, and I don't know very many people who don't. If you like Los Serrano, other series I recommend are: - Aqui no hay quien viva. - Aida. - 7 vidas. And a personal favorite, which doesn't have very much to do with Los Serrano: - Hospital Central.