History Series / QuePasaUSA

* TokenWhite: Carmen's friend Sharon.

''¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?'' was a bilingual sitcom produced by Miami, Florida PBS station WPBT from 1977 to 1980. The show centered on the humorous travails of a Cuban-American family, the Peñas (parents Pepe and Juana; their teenaged children, Joe and Carmen; and Juana's parents, grandparents Adela and Antonio) as they struggle to adapt to American culture and customs while holding on to their Cuban roots. 39 episodes were produced.

* ElSpanishO: While Joe and Carmen speak Spanish, sometimes they resort to turning English words into Spanish, like Carmen reporting that the dentist found she had "caber´as" instead of "caries" (cavities), or Joe reporting his teacher had "flonkeado" (flunked) his class.

* HormoneAddledTeenager: Violeta is the most boy-crazy of the teens in the cast, making sure to wear her cutest outfits and at one point, going off to see if Joe's friends have brothers her age.
* LanguageBarrier: Grandparents Antonio and Adela speak Spanish, knowing only a couple of words of English, and often complain of always being left out of conversations. Joe was brought over from Cuba when he was three and Carmen was born in the US; they speak both languages but sometimes stumble in Spanish. Pepe and Juana's English skills are adequate but sometimes they still struggle. Sharon (Carmen's American friend) speaks English and butchers the Spanish language.

* LanguageBarrier: Grandparents Antonio and Adela speak Spanish, knowing only a couple of words of English. Joe was brought over from Cuba when he was very young and Carmen was born in the US; they speak both languages but sometimes stumble in Spanish. Pepe and Juana's English skills are adequate but sometimes they still struggle.

* MoodWhiplash: In the "The Cuban Funeral" episode, two of Adela's friends come to give their condolences after seeing an obituary for a woman whose name is the same as Adela's. After one goes home, the other needs a break and asks Adela for some coffee. While Adela is off in the kitchen complaining of how Caridad is a pain in the ass, Antonio comes in, finds Caridad has passed away, and tells the rest of the family. Adela immediately bursts out with "[[BigOMG ¡AY DIOS MIO!]] ¡Mi amiga del alma![[labelnote:translation]]My buddy![[/labelnote]]"

* SignificantNameOverlap: Carmen brings over a boyfriend to meet the family. Pepe is weirded out when the young man turns out to also be named Pepe; Adela smirks that now he knows how it felt when she and Antonio met "Pepe #1".

* LanguageBarrier: Grandparents Antonio and Adela speak Spanish, knowing only a couple of words of English. Joe left Cuba when he was an infant and Carmen was born in the US; they speak both languages but sometimes stumble in Spanish. Pepe and Juana's English skills are adequate but sometimes they still struggle.

* AncestralName: Father Pepe and son Joe have the same name: José Manuel Pen˜a. Joe's nickname is an English version of his given name (befitting a Cuban-American teen who has grown up in the States and has no memories of Cuba). As for the fiercely proud Pepe, he goes by a common nickname for the Spanish name José.

''¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?'' was a bilingual sitcom produced by Miami, Florida PBS station WPBT from 1977 to 1980. The show centered on the humorous travails of a Cuban-American family, the Peñas, as they struggle to adapt to American culture and customs while holding on to their Cuban roots. 39 episodes were produced.

* ParentalFashionVeto: Pepe and Juana frequently get in Carmen's case about what she wants to wear.

* BilingualDialogue: The scripts were split almost 50/50 between Spanish and English, insuring that no matter which was your primary tongue, you would still get at least half of the jokes.

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: And grandparents. At one point, they try playing matchmaker for Carmen and invite boys over while she is still in her bathrobe and bonnet. She shouts in Spanish that she has never been so embarrassed... except that she is so upset that she ends up screaming at the top of her lungs that she has never been so ''pregnant''[[note]]A false cognate: "embarazada" means pregnant, not "embarrassed". The word she probably was looking for was "avergonzada" (ashamed)[[/note]].

* CandyStriper: Carmen and Sharon get jobs as candy stripers. However, Antonio manages to get the impression that they are ''strippers''. When the girls come out in their modest striped smocks, Antonio, who was expecting a more {{Stripperrific}} outfit, grumbles, "OK, they start out all covered up."

* LanguageBarrier: Grandparents Antonio and Adela speak Spanish, knowing only a couple of words of English. Joe left Cuba when he was an infant and Carmen was born in the US; they speak both languages but sometimes stumble in Spanish. Pepe and Juana's English skills are adequate but they fumble in English.

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: And grandparents. At one point, they try playing matchmaker for Carmen and invite boys over while she is still in her bathrobe and curlers. She shouts in Spanish that she has never been so embarrassed... except that she is so upset that she ends up screaming at the top of her lungs that she has never been so ''pregnant''[[note]]A false cognate: "embarazada" means pregnant, not "embarrassed". The word she probably was looking for was "avergonzada" (ashamed)[[/note]].

* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: And grandparents. At one point, they try playing matchmaker for Carmen and invite boys over while she is still in her bathrobe and curlers. She shouts in Spanish that she has never been so embarrassed... except that she is so upset that she ends up screaming at the top of her lungs that she has never been so ''pregnant''[[note]]A false cognate: "embarazada" means pregnant, not "embarrassed". The word she probably was looking for was "avergonzada" (ashamed)[[/note]].

* EmbarrassingParents: And grandparents. At one point, they try playing matchmaker for Carmen and invite boys over while she is still in her bathrobe and curlers. She shouts in Spanish that she has never been so embarrassed... except that she is so upset that she ends up screaming at the top of her lungs that she has never been so ''pregnant''[[note]]A false cognate: "embarazada" means pregnant, not "embarrassed". The word she probably was looking for was "avergonzada" (ashamed)[[/note]].

* FauxFluency: Averted – the principal actors were all actual Cuban refugees/transplants, many of whom had acted in their native country prior to fleeing Castro’s regime.
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This 3-camera, videotaped production (with a live studio audience) was a unique project for a local PBS station. Despite its humble origins and relatively low budget (by Hollywood standards), it was well-written and slickly produced, and is still rerun by many PBS member stations.