Andy Garcia’s road to the Paramount+ oilfield drama “Landman” began in a very different television landscape: on “¿Qué Pasa, USA?,” the PBS series identified as the first bilingual sitcom in the United States.
Nearly 50 years before Garcia joined “Landman” as cartel big wig Danny “Gallino” Morrell, the actor made his onscreen acting debut on the trailblazing sitcom, which aired for four seasons between 1977 and 1980. The series centered on three generations of the Peñas, a Cuban-American family living in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.
Garcia’s part was brief, but it now stands as a notable starting point for a screen career that later included television work, film roles and, decades later, a high-profile place in “Landman.”
Garcia’s first onscreen role came in Season 2
Garcia appeared in just one episode of “¿Qué Pasa, USA?”: the Season 2 installment “Here Comes the Bride.” In the episode, he played Pepe, a handsome young Cubano who catches the attention of Carmen Peña.
The story followed Carmen as she fell for Pepe and the two planned to elope. But the romance hit a turning point when Carmen began reconsidering the decision after realizing Pepe expected her to become a stay-at-home wife and give up her plans to attend college.
That small guest role marked Garcia’s onscreen debut. The Havana native later went on to build a long screen career, landing parts in shows including “For Love and Honor,” “Murder, She Wrote” and NBC’s police procedural “Hill Street Blues.” In 1987, he appeared in what the source describes as his breakout movie role: George Stone in Brian De Palma’s “The Untouchables.”
The sitcom broke ground with a Cuban-American family story
“¿Qué Pasa, USA?” followed the Peña family across three generations, using English, Spanish and “Spanglish” to explore how different members of the household navigated language, heritage and American life.
Manolo Villaverde starred as Pepe Peña, the family’s father, while Ana Margarita Martínez-Casado played his wife, Juana. Their daughter, Carmen, was played by Ana Margo, and their son, Joe, was played by Steven Bauer. The family also included Juana’s parents: Antonio, played by Luis Oquendo, and Adela, played by Velia Martínez.
The show’s generational divide was built directly into its comedy and family dynamics. Grandparents Antonio and Adela struggled with English, which led to misunderstandings. Joe and Carmen, as first-generation siblings, were more comfortable with English and had trouble pronouncing some Spanish words. Pepe and Juana, meanwhile, were positioned between those experiences, trying to preserve their heritage while adapting to life in America.
Bauer, who played Joe, also went on to later screen roles noted in the source material: Tony Montana’s righthand man in “Scarface,” and Mexican cartel boss Don Eladio Vuente in “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”
A later revival did not include the original cast
The legacy of “¿Qué Pasa, USA?” continued decades after the PBS run. In 2017, a stage revival titled “Que Pasa, USA? Today … 40 Years Later” was mounted in Miami. The revival advanced the family story, with the parents now grandparents and the children raising children of their own.
According to the source material, however, the original cast members were not asked to return, a decision that came as a shock to them. Villaverde addressed the situation in an interview with the Miami Herald, saying, “It’s not a bitterness I feel but a hurt.”
For Garcia, the connection between “Landman” and “¿Qué Pasa, USA?” creates a striking bookend: a modern Paramount+ drama role as Danny “Gallino” Morrell on one side, and a one-episode debut on America’s first bilingual sitcom on the other.