This is a list of characters from George Lopez.
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George Edward Lopez (played by George Lopez) is the main protagonist of the series. He is the son of Manny and Benny Lopez and son-in-law of Vic and Emilina Palmero and nephew of Octavio and Lynette. George married Angie Palmero and had two children, Carmen and Max and. George is of Mexican descent and proudly boasts about it several times throughout the series. In the pilot episode, "Prototype," George gets promoted to manager of Powers Brothers Aviation (usually seen as Powers Bros.), an airplane parts factory. He is also dyslexic, which often comes into play on the show. His son, Max, also has dyslexia, but a more severe case than his father. George also loves to play golf and he usually does it whenever he gets out of situations and to outsmart his family, like listening to Carmen's poetry or talk about Max's dyslexic problems.
George had a difficult childhood which is referenced throughout the series. His mother, Benny, is blamed for much of the abuse and jokes are often made about how she treated him. George initally believed Manny, his father, was dead (which was what Benny told him so he would stop asking where his father was), but learned he was actually alive from Manny's sister and George's aunt, Cecelia. When Manny sends George a check t help him out of financial trouble, George goes to see him in Phoenix, and ends up punching him in Benny's honor. In Season 3, Manny has George arrested for hitting him, but drops the charges that same day after asking for another chance. George invites Manny over for dinner. Benny is incensed at this, but decides to accept it for George's sake. At Thanksgiving dinner later that year, Manny is revealed to need a kidney transplant, so George offers to donate his kidney. Manny dies before this can happen. George gets a package with a gold watch and a letter from Manny asking him not to come to his funeral to avoid ruining his reputation. Angry and hurt, George destroys the watch, not knowing that it is worth a fortune.
At the start of the series, he and Angie were as any other married couple very much in love. But as the series progresses, their marriage became more and more competitive, disputing on issues such as who's a better parent or who does more work in the house. George often backs down from his wife, which prompts Benny to tease him on the inevitable fact she's actually the "man" in their marriage. This is often demonstrated when a particularly challenging situation arises and rather than admit that he is in over his head, George will quote in a very high-pitched voice, "I got this!" At serious points in the series, he has tried to set Angie straight but she's always managed to either outsmart him or avoid the problem completely by pointing out some other problem. In one episode, it is learned that Angie once fell in love with him because of a mural Angie that George claims to have made. But Angie finds out that George didn't really paint it. Despite all this, Angie still loves him. It's also been heavily implied that Angie's typical housewife status and in ability to get a decent well-paying job is because George is the one who kept her from going to college and obtaining a degree. It's also been revealed that George got Angie pregnant before they got married, implying that that their first-born Carmen was conceived of marriage.
Throughout the series, George demonstrates several times how inconsiderate and unappreciative he is of Angie, such as in "George's Extreme Makeover: Holmes Edition", where George promises to renovate the garage into an office space for Angie, but resorts to paying a couple of his old friends to do it with "a couple of cases of beer". Or in "George Nieces a New Video Room", where Veronica's ex-boyfriend leaves her a giant stuffed animal in the backyard and George says that he will use it as Angie's anniversary gift and then says ("Now that doesn't mean you won't get that set of diamond earrings you asked for - but you're not..."). Angie was most upset, though, in the season 3 episode "Mementos", where George proves he has failed to listen to her and throws an irreplaceable box of her grandmother's mementos away while spring cleaning, and this spawns an entire list of occasions in which his failure to listen to Angie at an earlier time (usually not seen by the viewers) comes back to haunt him in one of the episodes. In the end, though, he always comes through.
George's character also goes through a big change over the course of the series. In the beginning, he was depicted as caring man, loving father and husband. But as the series progresses, he becomes increasingly more sarcastic, less caring as a person and father, and becomes more-and-more competitive with Angie and Benny.
George's relationship with his mom revolves around insulting each other, briefly complimenting each other, and insulting each other some more. Benny constantly teases George about not being the man of the house, his big head, his failures as a child. George retaliates by teasing her about her short stature, her age, and her inability to maintain a single man for more than a day. George often refers to his mother as "a crazy old bat". In "God Needles George", he shares the beginning of a speech he saved for Benny's death; the beginning of his speech was "The reason I'm drinking champagne is because...". Though aside from all this, they both truly care for each other. A prime example is when George believed his mom died in a house fire and was genuinely distraught. He was even willing to run into the burning building to save her if it weren't for a firefighter holding him back.
As a boy, George enjoyed playing guitar and baseball; in his teens he started a heavy-metal band with Ernie, and other friends called "Dos Bad Asses." Throughout grade school he and Ernie had the reputation of being outcasts or "unpopular". He is also an avid sports fan of teams such as the Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. George often buys expensive jerseys, and enjoys playing golf.
Angela "Angie" Palmero Lopez (Constance Marie) is the female protagonist of the series. She is the daughter of Vic and Emilina Palmero, sister of Gloria Palmero and Ray Palmero and, wife of George, daughter-in-law of Benny and Manny, aunt of Veronica and mother of Carmen and Max and niece of Octavio. Angie is of Cuban descent. In Season 2 she takes a job selling health and beauty products to help pay for Carmen's private school tuition. She lost her job early in Season 4 and became a wedding planner.
Unlike George's tough childhood, Angie, thanks to her being the daughter of a wealthy doctor, had a spoiled upbringing, which sometimes causes problems between herself and George. She was a cheerleader in high school and was very popular.(George and Angie went to the same high school). Benny often calls her "princess" in a sarcastic manner due to her being spoiled, and the two don't get along well. Angie is considerably softer and more forgiving as a parent, unlike her husband who is quick to come down hard on their kids. Angie is very overprotective of Max and supportive of Carmen. Angie is a very attractive woman as well, sometimes causing George insecurities such as having thoughts that she's cheating on him. She is also portrayed as a goody-two-shoes, is very naive, and often takes people at face-value. Several times, George has to prove to her that people are lying or being insincere. Her compassion for others not only annoys George, but often backfires.
Angie usually outsmarts George at everything and has no problem disrespecting him in front of his children, and even yelling at him in front of his mom and Ernie. For this, Benny is disgusted at what her son George has been reduced to, which further causes her to dislike Angie. Angie is also not above bullying George around with his power around the house. Ironically, she disapproves of the constant fighting between George and Benny and consistently tries to mend fences between them. In the episode "George Discovers How Mescal-ed Up His Life Would Have Been Without the Benny-Fits", Angie sides with Benny when George prevented her from winning a contest at work. She's also been described as a bad cook by mainly Benny and sometimes George. This may be because she was pampered like a princess during her childhood. A bit of a running gag in the series is whenever George says something that upsets Angie, he tries to make up an excuse for his actions while trying to kiss her wrist. Angie responds by pulling away and giving him a disgusted look. Another running gag is that whenever George is angry at her for something, such as a kept secret, she usually resorts to selling him her body in order to avoid consequence. Another running gag in the series is her hitting George at least once an episode after he says something she doesn't want to hear or something that she believes is too inappropriate in front of the kids. Also, despite being a housewife, Angie is rarely shown doing any house work in the series especially during the later seasons, heavily implying that she hardly ever does any work at all.
Another notable fact about her marriage with George is their infatuation with each other. George seems to be very infatuated with Angie when she doesn't speak while Angie rarely ever shows a slightest bit of infatuation with him. Throughout the series, this has been heavily implied but never implicitly said. For example, whenever they have the house to themselves, George usually recommends they go upstairs and have sex. Angie on the other hand would much rather not and instead do some other activity. She once even ordered George to put up a shelf in Max's room rather than sleep with him. George pathetically tried to counter it by asking her "You sure it's not because you want to see me with my tool belt?" But it was clear to the audience that he was pathetically trying to convince himself that he's attractive to his wife.
For her part, Angie will side with George against her father Vic, and will always help her husband no matter what problem he has. But Angie is also a know-it-all who always thinks that George is wrong; however there's been multiple times when she has to apologize to him.
Carmen Consuela Lopez (Masiela Lusha) is the second female protagonist of the series. She is George and Angie's daughter and their firstborn child, Max's older sister, Benny, Manny, Emelena and Vic's granddaughter, Ray, Claudia, Linda and Gloria's niece, Octavio Lopez, Lynette, and Oscar Lopez's great niece and Veronica's cousin. Her middle name comes from Angie's grandmother Consuela, "consolation" (a reference to the Virgin Mary).
She first attends a public high school. When her first love lies about having sex with her, she is called a slut and is harassed by her fellow classmates, causing her to fight back. As a result, she soon transfers to Allendale Prep in season 2, an expensive private prep school. After a year there, she is expelled for numerous counts of running away, public displays of affection, being out-of-uniform, and being tardy. After Allendale Prep, she is briefly home-schooled by an out-of-work Angie before attending St. Teresa's Catholic School. She graduates from St. Teresa's and and is accepted to a university in Vermont.
Carmen is passionate and rebellious, but with a sensitive heart. She feels suppressed by her family, especially George with whom she constantly challenges. Lusha described Carmen as "possessing a vulnerability and naivety all glued together by passion of the rawest form." The turmoil between Carmen and George is a recurring theme in Seasons 1-4, part of which was due to his interfering in her relationship with Jason McNamara. George is very overprotective of her due to her vulnerability, and throughout the series harbors an unfairly set low opinion of her, despite Angie's instances that their daughter has great potential. George seems to loves Carmen unconditionally despite their impassioned arguments and has pity for her and sees the sensitivity beneath her rebellious facade.
Carmen and Max are frequently at each others throats, and George will often enable, and even encourage Max's obnoxious behavior towards his sister. By the second season, Carmen and Max really care for each other and various scenes show Max embraced by Carmen in sibling affection. By the end, George expresses deep concern and love for his daughter, defending her at times to his boss when he accuses Carmen as being too rebellious. In "Girl Fight," George decides to send Carmen to private school. In Season 2, Max is caught peeking at one of Carmen's "hot" friends while she is undressing in Carmen's room. However, instead of punishing Max, George decides to punish Carmen instead because she sprays perfume in her brother's eyes as retaliation. Later, George realizes that he is being unfair and buys Carmen a cell phone as an apology. In Season 4, Carmen expresses a desire to attend university, but George responds that she has no potential. When it dawns on him that he is repeating his mother's mistakes by not encouraging Carmen's dreams, he vows that he will support Carmen from that moment on.
Carmen's on-again off-again boyfriend throughout Seasons 3-4 is star athlete & honor roll student Jason MacNamara. They agree to keep their relationship secret which causes Carmen's parents to mistakenly assume Jason is gay. Near the end of Season 3, Carmen learns that Jason cheated on her and they break up. However, when Jason has second thoughts, he finds Carmen dressed seductively as she tells him to forget about getting back together. After this, she secretly dates Zack Powers, the son of George's boss. Zack is known as a bad boy who has impregnated a girl, and it is later revealed that he only planned to sleep with Carmen. When George and Angie find out, they confront Carmen and an impassioned fight ensues. As a result, Carmen runs away to San Francisco with Zack. Carmen soon realizes that they were right about Zack and she breaks up with him at a club. In Season 4, Carmen reluctantly accepts Jason back after he sincerely apologizes during a debate. In early Season 5, their relationship ends a second time when Carmen suggests they get pregnant "for real."
Her relationship with Jason is very complex one. At first, they appear to have a normal relationship with George playing the stereotypically overprotective and pushy parent keeping an eye on them to make sure he doesn't try anything funny. But after a while into their relationship, it is discovered that Carmen is the one who is calling the shots in their relationship. When she asks her parents for birth control pills, they immediately assume that Jason was the one pressuring their "little Angel" into having sex. But after George has a brutal talk with Jason, they soon realize that Carmen is the one who is pressuring him. This causes a dramatic shift in their view of Jason. Instead of viewing him as their daughter's boyfriend that they should keep an eye on, they become more paranoid with Carmen, although it could be that George seems to hold some aggression towards Jason mainly because he doesn't want to come to terms with the fact that his daughter just might be the type of girl she was labeled in public school. She later then goes to college in Vermont.
Despite the turmoil surrounding Carmen throughout the seasons, she is viewed as a sensitive and kind-hearted daughter who only wants to establish her own identify outside society's limitations.
Maximilion Victor Roberto Magic Johnson Lopez (Luis Armand Garcia) is George and Angie's second-born child and only son; Carmen's younger brother; Benny, Manny, Emilena and Vic's grandson; Ray, Claudia, and Gloria and Linda's nephew; Octavio Palmero, Lynette and Oscar Lopez's great nephew; and Veronica's cousin. He is an avid skateboarder.
Max looks up to his father and is very close to him, part of which is due to their shared disability. Max also shares George's sense of humor and will make decisions based on his father's actions. They both share a disdain for Carmen. Whenever he torments his sister, George will usually enable and/or encourage his behavior. Much like George is overprotective of Carmen, Angie is overprotective of Max, and sees him as her little boy just like any stereotypically overprotective mother.
Like his father, Max suffers from dyslexia, which is worse than George's dyslexia. Max's learning disabilities were so bad that he nearly failed the 5th grade, but managed to avoid this. In Season 3 he went through several tutors until Jason started tutoring him, which helped him greatly. He also suffered from insomnia at one point due to the stress of having to work harder than anyone due to his dyslexia, so Vic suggested he take up boxing to help him deal with it. But George knew Angie wouldn't let him so they did it behind her back. After getting a black eye (which turned out to be taking off his boxing glove wrong), Angie found out. George and Angie agreed that he would not box anymore, and resolved to help him deal with his stress. It's been implied that one of the reasons Max didn't do too well at school is George and Angie's constant bickering which makes it hard for him to concentrate in his studies, though his parents don't seem to care or even attempt to change even after Max practically broke down informing them of this.
Although he doesn't have Carmen's low self-esteem, he succumbs to peer pressure, and does outlandish things such as dyeing his hair purple, telling Benny to "take her tired ass home"(and being slapped in the face), and giving his garage to a band. Max once ended up in the hospital for alcohol poisoning after drinking grain alcohol mixed with fruit punch at a party. He easily gives in to peer pressure mainly because he got bullied a great deal in grade school(much like George used to) which prompted him to believe that he must follow the crowd in order to avoid being hazed.
His relationship with his parents his portrayed much more easy-going than the one with Carmen. Though they sometimes go through hardships trying to cope with his dyslexia, they never really have too many problems together. George always gives Max advice on how to deal with hardships he himself dealt with when he was Max's age while Angie gives him pity and unsuccessful advice mainly because she never dealt with the kind of problems Max deals with. Max naturally goes with George's advice because he can actually compare himself to George much more than Angie. Max and George had a close relationship together as father and son at the beginning of the series but as the series progressed and Max became a teenager, their relationship together became more distant. Max took on a more sarcastic attitude mainly from George's part and begins to make decisions based on his own insight rather than George's.
Benita "Benny" Diaz Lopez (Belita Moreno) is George and Linda's White trash mother, Angie's mother-in law, Luisa's estranged daughter, and Max and Carmen's grandmother. She is the main antagonist of the series. Throughout the show Benny is seen as insensitive, cold, wisecracking, sarcastic and outspoken, insulting George, Angie, Carmen, Max, Vic, and Ernie at every chance, but at the same time it is clear that she deeply cares for and loves everyone she treats poorly. She works on the inspection line at Powers Bros. Aviation. She is a chain smoker and an alcoholic. She claims she has been smoking for 25 years. George describes her as a bitter, short, drunk, and often refers to her as a "bat." She has also been known to have a criminal record. She had George when she was 17 and was with Manny Lopez until he walked out on them. After Manny left, Benny gave birth to Linda, whom she could not take care of and raise without Manny so she gave her up for adoption, since she couldn't keep the both of them. She starts dating Randy McGee in the 3rd season. She mistreated George a lot when he was a child, exploiting him to physical abuse, lack of encouragement, and constant lying, the latter which George will often refer back his childhood, starting most of their arguments. It was later revealed that the reason for Benny's poor effort as a parent was mainly due to the same horrible way her mother treated her in the past, saying she wasn't exactly the best teacher on how to make somebody feel special. Although Benny is truly a good person, she can sometimes be considered to be the antagonist of the show due to her rivalry with George and the way she treats him, but that is not usually the case. In one episode in season 2 she asked Manny's wife for the $17,000 dollars that George needed to pay back the money Angie used from La Marie Cosmetics after Max and his friend Ricky set it on fire using a bottle rocket. Another time was when the factory closed down it is shown she has deep feelings for others because she is seen crying and questioning herself if she was one of the people that killed two people that died in a plane crash. Benny doesn't think much of her grandchildren Max and Carmen since they had made many awful mistakes and get the wrong point of view to things. She constantly refers to Max as stupid while she sees Carmen as a future hooker. However Benny did beat Zach Powers with a wrench to back George up on protecting Carmen (later telling Mel that his son was in a terrible accident). This is all because she sees Angie as a bad parent and George as too big of a wimp to discipline them whenever they act out. She often states that they will give their children hollow threats or disapproving looks. And on one occasion, Benny accurately guessed that Angie disciplines Max by giving him a crayon and a sheet of paper and having him draw a picture of how he feels.
Ernesto "Ernie" Cardenas (Valente Rodriguez) has been George's best friend since kindergarten, and a former co-worker. He works on the assembly line at Power Bros. Aviation. He is an incompetent, big-eared, clumsy but loyal and lovable character. He is often very shy around women and cannot seem to ever get a date due to his awkwardness and overall inability to connect with women, let alone talk to them. He has a huge crush on Angie, and can often be seen hitting on her, much to George's distaste. He claims to be jealous of George's life. His mother is morbidly obese, and lots of jokes are made about her, especially by George and Benny (and sometimes Angie). He used to live with his parents until George inspired him to get his own apartment. He's also a foster father to Max's best friend, Ricky. At one point, he was engaged to Ricky's mom Tammy because she was pregnant with another man's baby and he wanted a family. Later, they broke up because Tammy still wanted to sleep around when her and Ernie got married. His catchphrase is "Golly!". One joke was made by George when Ernie asked if George listen to his voicemail. "I don't listen to any of your messages. You call me every time you see a hot girl and then you take up five minutes of my voicemail going 'George! George! George!' Ernie's inept social skills and inability to talk to women is obviously a result of the over sheltered childhood and that his parents own problems rubbed off on him. Ernie is somewhat envious of George, because that they grew up together but George's life led to a beautiful wife two children and him being manager, While Ernie gained no such things and has been on the manufacturing floor for almost 30 years.
Dr. Victor "Vic" Garcia Lantigua Palmero (Emiliano Díez) is Angie's wealthy father, Emilina's ex-husband, George's father-in-law, and Carmen, Max, and Veronica's grandfather. He is a Cuban immigrant who became rich as a cardiac surgeon when he arrived in America. George is often annoyed by his stories about Cuba and his expressions. Originally, Vic strongly disapproved of Angie marrying George (In "A Kiss is just a Kiss," it was revealed that as he walked Angie down the aisle on her wedding day he told her to leave George). He eventually accepts George as a good match for his daughter. His wife, Angie's mother Emilina, cheated on him and they divorced early in season 3. (Vic says "Last week I went to her dermatology clinic to surprise her. And I walked in on her.... checking a man for moles in a place where sun damage is NOT a possibility!"). He has a brother, Octavio Palmero. Vic and George went out to the Atlantic Ocean to pull Octavio out of the ocean and bring him to American soil as a surprise anniversary gift from George to Angie. Vic and Octavio later get drunk and brag about kicking Fidel Castro's butt. While they are talking, George bursts through the door dressed as Castro, and shouts in a thick Cuban accent,"It's Go-time!" scaring the day lights out of Vic and Octavio. Vic was later engaged to a 27-year-old woman, Lindsay Cafferty (played by Stacy Keibler), but later discovered she was cheating on him and decided to go back to Emilina, who had indicated that she wanted them to get back together. Unfortunately, she died before they could reunite. Vic despises Fidel Castro; in Carmen's Dating, when George tells him that Castro died, he is irrepressibly thrilled. He speaks with a thick Cuban accent at which George pokes fun many times. George states that Vic's heavy Cuban accent makes every sign sound angry. Vic was shown to have a romantic interest in Benny, even kissing her a few times in a way more intense than that of "just in-laws." He also says "oye chico" or "Cuba" or "Castro" and George tells him in one episode that he will have to pay him 1 dollar to say those words in his house. Vic does not care. He starts to say all those words and dropping 1 dollar bills all over the place, before he says "what-cha" (George's catchphrase) to George in his own house. One of his catch phrases is "Hay-Dios Mio" meaning "Oh My God" in Spanish and He has 2 Daughters and 1 Son.
Veronica Palmero (Aimee Garcia) is George and Angie's spoiled niece, Carmen and Max's cousin, Ray and Claudia's daughter, and Vic's granddaughter. She moves into the Lopez house after her mother (Angie's sister-in-law) dies. Her mother leaves all of her items and money to her. However, it was put into a trust with George being named as the trustee. She winds up staying with her Lopez relatives after her aforementioned inheritance is frozen upon her mother's will being challenged. Appearing sexy and seductive, she's very fashion-forward and aspires to be a designer. She makes several attempts to get her trust money using her charm. In one episode, she smokes marijuana. She is very good at poker, beating George, Benny, Vic, and Ernie and winning all their money for Angie so she can buy 200 dollar shoes. She appears in Season 6 only, as a replacement for Masiela Lusha (Carmen), who left the show at the end of Season 5. She has a viable storyline that ties in with the rest of the Lopez family: Her father, Ray, was a con man and was only concerned about money. When he comes back in one episode, saying that he's changed, he successfully tricks Veronica into spending half of her inheritance on a handbag business in Miami. Later, however, George catches him and says "I knew you would run off, so I canceled the check. And just in case, I signed it Carlos Santana." Veronica is crushed, but with support from George, she goes to college but comes back when she finds out her bank account is frozen.
Amy (Sandra Bullock) is a recurring character who is nicknamed Accident Amy, because she is accident-prone. Whenever Amy shows up, Ernie says "Hey look, it's Accident Amy! Breakin' bones and breakin' hearts." After one bad accident, Amy loses her vision; she also appears wearing glasses and thrusting her hands out trying to identify people who speak to her. It was found out that she and Randy McGee were dating before he started dating Benny. Before Randy and Benny got married, Amy showed up at Randy's bachelor party and told Randy to leave Benny at the altar. Amy's first appearance occurs at the plant when she returns from breaking her arm. She has a daughter, Kimmy, who is also accident-prone. Amy states that her family has a slight depth perception problem.
Jack and Mel Powers (Jack Blessing and Mark Tymchyshyn) are the co-presidents of Powers Brothers Aviation, the airplane manufacturing factory that employs George, Benny, and Ernie. Mel is the father of Zack Powers, a delinquent teenager who has a cold relationship with George because he used to date Carmen. Mel is said to be a womanizer; he often hires female managers and at one point he dates Veronica. A third brother, Lou, is also co-owner of the company but estranged from his siblings. Lou drinks often and is described as being more "caring" for the workers by promoting better quality health care. Occasionally, Jack and Mel will make racial comments towards George such as calling him 'amigo' and 'Senor Pumpkin Head.' In the series finale, Jack and Mel eventually end up being bought out for the factory and announce they are co-presidents at a similar airplane factory in Cancun, leaving the factory to George. Jack and Mel are usually looked down upon by most other aviation companies mostly because their father started the business and since they inherited it the company has gone down the tubes somewhat and they constantly prove they are simply not the men their father was.
Jason MacNamara (Bryan Fisher) is Carmen's boyfriend during seasons 3 and 4: popular, athletic, handsome, charming and smart. When he first started dating Carmen, she was new at school and he claimed could not be seen with her due to his reputation. His younger brother, Eric, is in a wheelchair. His father (played by Stacy Keach) pressured him into taking steroids to enhance his athletic abilities. He and Carmen broke up at one point because he was cheating on her with a girl who was "more experienced," but he managed to win her back by using his charm and way with words at a Debate Club meeting which they both participated in. He ran away from Carmen to pursue a baseball career after she tried to pressure him into having a baby so they could get married. He almost constantly clashes with George because George constantly accuses Jason to be lustful for Carmen despite the obvious fact that she lusts for him. Though George may be aware of this, he still prefers to accuse Jason possibly because he can't accept the fact that it's his daughter that's lustful for Jason. George eventually and successfully negotiated Jason's pro baseball contract with the Washington Nationals farm team, the Savannah Sand Gnats. Jason was abandoned by his parents and George and Angie took him in. His last appearance was in season 5 when he left California to pursue his baseball career. According to George, Jason may have a new girlfriend who is thought to be Asian or African American. It is also implied he lives with his parents in Switzerland.
Randy (Nick Offerman) used to date Benny. They broke up once because Randy wanted to take it to the next level but Benny didn't. They got back together in the same episode, during which Randy proposes and Benny finally relents and says yes. Randy leaves Benny at the altar to be with Amy, his former love interest, but returns and begs her to take him back. Benny accepts, but later claims to leave Randy because he bored her.
Marisol (played by Tonantzin Esparza) begins as an ex-gang member participating in one of Angie's gang rehab projects, which happens to be teaching dog grooming. Marisol laments that she doesn't want to be a dog groomer and envision herself with a classier job, such as working in an office, to which Angie responds by encouraging George to hire her at Powers Brothers for a trial period. She is known for having an attitude problem and for being very rude to people. When George was talking to Angie he says,"You remember the guy we fired that came back and tried to shoot up the place? He had a better attitude!" Her most famous line is, "I know, huh?" and "Ay, What are you looking at?" She has told Ernie directly on the first encounter that he has big ears, told George that he has a big head, and she answered the office telephone "Hello, Powers Brothers Aviation. How can I help your ass?" when Max's school called. She also took personal calls at work. Benny likes the way Marisol treats people ("She's like you, mom, but with estrogen."). She got George in trouble with the Powers Brothers for not responding to important calls. She took Carmen to a club past midnight and got her grounded, although she had good intentions and was only helping Carmen stand up to mean kids who were teasing her just like in her old school. After taking Carmen out to a club, she is kicked out and ends up with Benny. At first, she and Benny do not seem to get along, but then they realize that they have so much in common. She was last seen cleaning up in Benny's house.
Gina Sorenstam (Elmarie Wendel), is a factory worker who has nine fingers after a work accident. She is friends with Benny and blatantly "hits on" men, especially a disgusted George, who usually pretends to vomit after Gina trys to seduce him. If there is any possibility of a sexual favor to be done, she will step up to the task with a flagrant disregard for verbal public decency.
It can be argued that she is bisexual. In the episode "Wrecking Ball", Benny says that she will give up men, but will miss the sex. Gina replies, "You don't need a man to have sex," before giving a smug look to Benny. She seems to be a not-so-close friend of Benny, as she can be seen drinking with her in several episodes. Gina also briefly took Benny in after Benny's house burned down.
Zack (played by Trevor Wright) is Mel's son and Jack's nephew. He has a lot of problems. For example, he was kicked out of school, vandalized the factory (in the episode "Wrecking Ball") and got a girl pregnant. At the end of season 3, he ran away with Carmen, though it turned out that he was only dating Carmen for sex. He is known to date many other girls for that reason, he even had sex with his principal's daughter. However she would not give in after remembering what George once told her, so he went back home after breaking up with Carmen and leaving her in San Francisco. When he got back to his home town, Mel brought him into the factory to confront a furious George. After confessing to leaving Carmen, he runs outside and Benny hits him with a wrench.
Taylor (played by Valeria Andrews) is Carmen's friend. Taylor and Carmen hung out with each other in San Francisco. Taylor is the backup dancer for Chingy. She helped Carmen pay rent in the episode "Landlord Almighty". Taylor eats Carmen's food, uses her phone, and wears her clothes without permission. George stated Carmen and Taylor's friendship as "Carmen having her own Carmen." Taylor's exit comes when a one-night stand refuses to leave and George tricks her into packing her things and going back to San Francisco to make him think she is leaving, to which it's obvious to everyone but Taylor that he is actually forcing her to leave. Max had a somewhat crush on Taylor.
Ricky (J.B. Gaynor) is Max's closest friend. Both George and Angie see him as a delinquent; he once stuck a grilled cheese sandwich in George's VCR, he burns down George's garage after letting Max light off a bottle rocket and drives George's car into the backyard after he and Max skip school and wrecks it. But George and Angie learn that he is enduring a childhood similar to and even somewhat worse than George's: a missing father and a drunken mother. Ernie agrees to foster Ricky, who is capable of managing multiple household tasks out of necessity—his mother is usually too drunk to do anything. In a later episode, Ernie becomes engaged to Ricky's mother, after she informs Ernie she is pregnant with his child. It is later revealed that the child belongs to someone else, and Ernie's fiancee makes a swift and permanent exit.
Tammy (Gigi Rice) is Ricky's alcoholic mother. Ernie dates her and takes care of Ricky for her because of her personal issues. In a later episode Ernie announces that he broke up with Tammy over irreconcilable differences "Ernie wanted to communicate more and she wanted to have sex with other guys while Ernie was at work".
Piper (Autumn Reeser) is Carmen's former friend turned arch nemesis. She is popular, one of the stars of Carmen and Toby's school. Piper and her other cool friends go on a website to post insulting comments; in the episode "Token of Unappreciation", they target Toby. Carmen did not agree, and Piper made Carmen choose to be friends with her or with Toby. Piper invites Carmen and Toby to her party; and Carmen tells Toby they're only inviting Toby to make fun of her. Carmen and Toby don't go to the party and Carmen and Toby remain best friends. In the episode "Girl Fight" Piper writes "Carmen Hopez" on the sliding door and also wrote "Carmen Cant Say No-pez" on her locker at school because Carmen's ex-boyfriend Adam spread a rumor that he had sex with Carmen. Carmen gets suspended from school when she gets in a fight with Piper. George and Angie fix the problem and the principal revokes Carmen's suspension, suspending Piper. After they tell Carmen she can go back to school now, she refuses, telling them that she's the school whore now after revealing a phone call from boys who were asking if they could leave a message for the school whore. Carmen goes to private school after people keep picking on her, including a guy pulling her shirt up in the hall and asking her if she wants to have sex with him. George and Angie raise money to send Carmen to private school.
Sylvie is Ernie's morbidly obese mother who needs assistance with bathing and dining. She is said to be deeply religious, though she was pregnant with Ernie before marrying his father. Ernie refuses to believe so, even though George says there are pictures of him being breastfed at the reception. George also accidentally saw Sylvie naked as a child. He claimed he "saw one boob through one window and the other boob through the other window." Ernie said: 'She likes to air-dry!' Although she is portrayed as being morbidly obese, she is seen partly on-screen in the episode "Who's Your Daddy?" as an obese older woman. In her first appearence, however, she was shown to be average size and played by Lillian Hurst. However, every appearence after that, the character is never shown and is voiced by a man. Comedian Gabriel Iglesias, whose work is uncredited, used his imitation of his mother's voice.
Mr. Needles is the Lopez family dog. Angie buys him off a homeless man in the season 2 premiere episode "Who's Your Daddy?" for 20 dollars. After taking him to the vet, she discovers he has kidney stones, various diseases, and he can't walk. (This is later proven false in the episode when George encourages him to walk by holding out a piece of salami for him to get.) Mr. Needles was named by Max because of the insulin shots he has to take that make him unique. Throughout the series, Mr. Needles only has 3 major episodes centric around him: "Who's Your Daddy?", "The Unnatural", and "God Needles George". After the third season, Mr. Needles isn't ever shown again, but he is mentioned various times.
Manuel "Manny" Lopez (played by William Marquez and portrayed as younger by Amaury Nolasco and Esai Morales) is George and Linda's estranged father, Angie's father-in-law, Benny's ex-husband, Lydia's husband, and Carmen and Max's paternal grandfather. He abandoned Benny and George when George was two and before Linda was born. Because he left Benny, she had to give Linda up for adoption. He was rumored to have died when George was six. When George learned from his Aunt Cecilia that he was alive, he tried to track him down. George found Manny in Phoenix, Arizona, punched him in the face for calling his mother a "cabrona," (Spanish for "Bitch") and was arrested for it a month later. Manny dropped the charges and had George released. George finds out he has a half-brother, also named George, and hears that Manny and his son are poor but he later finds out that Manny owns Lopez Construction and is wealthy. Because of Manny's absence, George sometimes fumbles in his attempts to be a good dad, and he has to figure out for himself what might be the best ways to handle parenting issues. In Would You Like a Drumstick or a Kidney?, George learns from his half-brother that his father needs a new kidney. Manny dies in Momentos, the next episode, before the surgery and now George has a problem. Manny wrote a letter to George before he died and requested that neither George nor Benny attend his funeral, not wanting to draw negative attention from his peers. Manny also left George his gold watch that his father gave to him (George's paternal grandfather). George is so upset that his father doesn't want him to attend his funeral, that he destroys the watch. Minutes later, George learns from his mom that the gold watch was worth a fortune. Manny also stole George's birth certificate when he left him and Benny and used it to legalize the second George, who was born in Mexico.
Joseph "Joe" Diaz (Ismael 'East' Carlo) is George's and Linda's deceased uncle, Angie's uncle-in-law, Carmen and Max's great-uncle, and Benny's big brother. Uncle Joe once appeared to have a oversized bump on his neck which is so huge George claims "It looks like you're growing a second head!" to which Joe replies, "Who told you?" Benny calls it a neck wallet. It's possible that he died because of this because it is mentioned to be serious. Joe seemed to have a lot of money because of how Benny described him not sacrificing $20 for her. When they meet again, Joe only gives Benny a $10 out of George's wallet. He and Benny were estranged for fifteen years over a foolish grudge, but George convinces his mom to see Joe and get "closure" before he dies. He is believed to be a Super Bowl fan, because he always has tickets. But before he dies, he gives Benny the tickets. Joe appears and dies in the episode Super Bowl.
Linda (Lisa Guerrero) is George's successful, long-lost sister, Benny and Manny's daughter, Angie's sister-in-law, Oscar Lopez's niece and Carmen and Max's Aunt. Benny could not keep her, so she gave her up for adoption because she could not raise her after Manny Lopez left and married Lydia. So Benny could not keep the both of them. George met her at a Valley School district meeting in the episode "Feel the Burn". In "Feel the Burn" and one other episode, Linda is played by Eva LaRue.
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