ABC’s newest sitcom brings its creator, Cristela Alonzo, from the standup stage to television. Cristela, paired with lead-inLast Man Standing, premieres Friday Oct. 10 at 8:30 p.m. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“Mapping her border-town-to-Hollywood bio onto the on-screen persona of a sixth-year law student, stand-up comedian Cristela Alonzo breathes an optimism into the 'filmed in front of a live studio audience' show that never tips over into cloying.”
—Erik Adam, AV Club
“Alonzo is plenty likable, but her shoulders don’t look quite big enough to carry an entire show.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety
“it's both congenial and listless -- entirely reliant on old sitcom tropes, alongside the occasional joke about Mexican-Americans and the prejudices they continue to endure.”
—Verne Gay, Newsday
“The new set, of course, is not the most important factor separating Cristela from Last Man, or the most important reason to root for its success. That honor goes to Alonzo, and the distinctive story she's trying to tell: her own, and that of her Latino family.”
—Robert Bianco, USA Today
“Unfortunately, the rest of the characters — the blustering brother-in-law, the perpetually dissatisfied mother, the ditsy privileged blond — are too one-note for their own good — stereotypes in a show that purports to bust stereotypes.”
—Mary McNamara, TIME
