What does it take to finally get your divorced parents to spend Christmas Eve together as a family? If you’re Mayan (Mayan Lopez) in “Lopez vs. Lopez Christmas” (airing Friday, December 16 at 8/7c on NBC) just some deception inspired by “The Gift of the Magi.”
In order to bring her combative parents together for Nochebuena in the Lopez vs. Lopez holiday episode, Mayan assures her dad George (George Lopez) and mom Rosie (Selenis Leyva) that they’re each giving up what they love most for the evening: George won’t drink the beer that Rosie believes he overly imbibes; Christmas fanatic Rosie won’t wear the crown that annoys George.
But seeing how the celebration has gone on without him for the last 10 years may drive Pop to the bottle. “Holidays bring joy, but they also bring up all kinds of emotions,” Mayan tells us. And guests! The George Lopez Show alums Constance Marie, Valente Rodriguez, Belita Moreno, and Luis Armand Garcia play visiting relatives.
Nicole Weingart/NBC
Mayan admits the real Lopez Nochebuena is even more over-the-top. Her mother, Ann Serrano, puts up eight trees (one decorated with pet photos and one topped by a Queen Elizabeth II star). George has been invited every year since the divorce and was finally going to come last December, until he caught COVID. Says Mayan, “I am going to make it happen this year. If TV Mayan can do it, so can I!”
Lopez vs. Lopez received a full season order from NBC on December 2, just in time for the holidays. With nine more episodes added, the Season 1 total comes up to 22. Lopez vs. Lopez is the #1 NBC comedy launch on Peacock, where viewers can watch the family sitcom the day after it airs.
Debby Wolfe created the series and also serves as showrunner and executive producer. Bruce Helford, George Lopez, Michael Rotenberg, and Katie Newman also executive produced. The series is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Mohawk Productions, Travieso Productions, Mi Vida Loba, and 3 Arts.
Lopez vs. Lopez, Fridays, 8/7c, NBC
