Popi series from 1976

[seventies_sitcoms]

Can anybody remember a series from 1976 called Popi. I saw an ad for it in an old TV Guide, and it looked like a comedy about a Latin American family.

[bubba2000]

i have never seen this show but i read about it. it was based on a moving and was about a latino father raising his three sons in New York. It didn't well in the raiting at all and was pulled after only a month on the air. I beleive it returned later that year to burn off some already made episodes. If you like i can find the book i read about in and provide alot more detail (network, time, actors, characters). Let me know. I don;t have time to post here often, but i will get this info if your are interested.

[vashti1999]

Originally Posted by seventies_sitcoms

Can anybody remember a series from 1976 called Popi. I saw an ad for it in an old TV Guide, and it looked like a comedy about a Latin American family.

I know of the show but don't remember seeing it. It was inspired by the 1969 movie Popi starring Alan Arkin. Rita Moreno was in the film as well. I'd recommend at least checking out the movie on dvd. It's one of my all time favorite films. Like the above poster said, the series came and went quickly.

[treky]

I just remember seeing a little bit of 1 episode once; I wasn't impressed. I remember it was on CBS and stared an actor named Hector Elanzio.

Like the last poster said; get the movie sometime; it's a good film! It starred Alan Arkin as a widower raising his two sons in New Yorks spanish harlem. When he hears how good Miami treats political prisoners, he conncots a plan to put his sons in a boat and set them adrift somehow making sure they'll get picked up in Miami. Since it's a comedy, needles to say, things don't go as planned.

[vashti1999]

Originally Posted by treky

When he hears how good Miami treats political prisoners, he conncots a plan to put his sons in a boat and set them adrift somehow making sure they'll get picked up in Miami.

I don't want to sound like a wuss but every time I watch that scene where he sends them off in the boat:

[howilu]

The actor who played Popi was Hector Elizando, who later went on to various roles in Garry Marshall's movies such as Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries. His girlfriend Lupe was played by an actress named Edith Diaz.

I do remember the theme song. It had a Latin beat and it contained the line "It's gonna be terrific."

[bencasey]

Hey, that's another show I've not found any of. Anyone have an episode?

[warplan]

I was an extra as a kid on a couple of episodes of Popi. I would like to know if anyone has any episodes. There was one in paticular where me and two other kids, a brother and a sister, played three puerto rican kids, and Hector Elizando came in through a door and had to make us laugh. I recall him making a funny face and we laughed. It would be cool to see that episode. I only saw it once on t.v. 30 years ago. Also, my uncle was a big time extra and was on the same episode. His name is Tony Mirelez. You may have seen him in "The Terminator" at the very end. He's the mexican gas station attendant dude. If any one can help, please write.

[ajm1972]

Only thing I have come across are network promos of the show....

Aj

[Bob's TV Treasures]

Sadly, as I recall, POPI only lasted for four weeks on
CBS, although it got good reviews. It was basically a
cute one-laugh per episode show. A gentle show, not
unlike THE BRIAN KEITH SHOW/THE LITTLE PEOPLE.
I've yet to unearth an episode, but I'm sure it's in
someone's umatic collection somewhere.

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by Bob's TV Treasures

Sadly, as I recall, POPI only lasted for four weeks on
CBS, although it got good reviews. It was basically a
cute one-laugh per episode show. A gentle show, not
unlike THE BRIAN KEITH SHOW/THE LITTLE PEOPLE.
I've yet to unearth an episode, but I'm sure it's in
someone's umatic collection somewhere.

Or on Beta 1 perhaps.

[Du Mont]

I remember 'Popi' as a sweet little family sitcom about a single Puerto Rican parent in the Big Apple, the kind they don't make anymore.

It was a mid-season replacement for 'Joe & Sons' at 8:30 pm on CBS Tuesday nights out of 'Good Times', and it had the terrible luck of being slotted against the first half-season of the instantly huge 'Laverne & Shirley' on ABC (NBC had the middling 'Movin' On' on from 8-9 pm). 'Popi' debuted a week ahead of 'Laverne & Shirley', got an OK opening number (14.8HH/21%), but was absolutely schlamozzled by the 'Laverne & Shirley' preem a week later, which took everyone but Mr. Fred Silverman by surprise when it debuted as a number one show with an astounding 35.1HH/49%.

To counter-program, in February 1976 CBS pulled 'Popi' and moved 'Good Times' to 8:30 pm, and it did reasonably well against 'Laverne & Shirley'

'Popi' finished the 2005-06 regular season with a 12.7HH average for the few episodes broadcast, and ranked 83rd of 97 series, and it returned later that summer for a burn-off of the remaining originals.

Like the wonderful 'Viva Valdez' summer series on ABC from the same era, 'Popi' would be a wonderful acquisition for one of the Spanish-language networks seeking to program some of the pioneering television series that focused on Hispanic cultures. Sadly, however, it may be one of those 'lost' seventies shows, post-Kinescope and pre-VHS, that no one kept copies of. I do hope someone surfaces with a copy of this valuable show.

[TMC]

Popi (1975)

In February 1975, the production of the Popi pilot was announced, with Hector Elizondo stepping into the title role. With Puerto Rican actress Liz Torres as Lupe, and newcomers Anthony Perez as Junior, and Dennis Vasquez as Luis, the pilot started off CBS’s Friday evening on May 2. Titled “The Ragamuffin Army”, the story had Popi still wanting to better the lives of his “hooky-playing, numbers-running boys” – but this time with a far less extreme plan – by having them join the boy scouts with Popi serving as scoutmaster!

The show returned as a series the following January as a mid-season replacement for the failed Joe and Sons. Edith Diaz replaced Torres as Abraham’s neighbor and love interest. There were 10 additional episodes produced, and I’ve been able to dig into old TV listings to fill out episode descriptions not previously findable online, which are now entered into IMDB. In “Man’s Best Amigo”, the boys decide to ‘adopt’ a Great Dane, which wreaks havoc on their tiny apartment, not to mention the food budget. But Popi gets an idea of how to make money with the dog. “It’s Crazy to Have a Car in New York” saw Popi receive a run-down car as payment for a debt, which causes more trouble than it is worth, especially since Popi does not have a driver’s license. In “The Orphans”, Junior and Luis scam the neighborhood for funeral expenses for the still living Popi. “Love Letters” had the boys decide it was time for Popi to marry Lupe, so they concoct an elaborate scheme to make him jealous. In “A Box of Havana Cigars”, Popi tries to get a promotion at work using illegal imported cigars, which gives his sons big ideas for a class president campaign. For “The Vacation”, Popi and the boys apartment-sit for a well-off family that goes on vacation, whose son (Robbie Rist) finds the boys hilarious. Meanwhile, their own apartment is broken into by the boy Popi hired to guard it. “The Mugger” had Popi save up money to buy a new bed for the boys, only to end up fighting a mugger who turns out to be someone he thought was his friend. “Summertime, and the Livin’ Ain’t Easy” carried no plot description. In “Oh, Promise Me”, a woman from Puerto Rico shows up out of Popi’s past now wealthy and wanting to marry him. And in the final episode “With This Ring”, Junior wants to pledge future marriage to his girlfriend in accordance with Puerto Rican custom…to the dismay of her wealthy father.

The show aired on Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30 pm following Good Times…but fellow newcomer Laverne & Shirley, becoming a near-instant hit in the wake of its Happy Days lead-in proved to be too much for Popi. After the third airing, the show was in trouble, prompting speculation that the show would be canceled if ratings did not improve. The week following the sixth series episode, the show was pre-empted for a special one-hour M*A*S*H, however, the following week, Popi did not return. Two weeks later, the show was officially canceled. CBS burned off the final four episodes in July and August.

Very little background information is available regarding this series. I even found conflicting information about the theme song used; period articles refer to the theme used as “It’s Gonna Be Terrific”, possibly sung by Hector Elizondo as Popi. Whether or not this is the same theme as the one Vincent Terrace’s reference book on TV openings refers to, “Popi’s Theme” composed by George Del Barrio, is not known. But I am pleased to present an audio recording of the theme not heard in nearly 50 years, courtesy TV historian Billy Ingram.

A post shared by on Jan 01, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT

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