AMERICAN FAMILY — PBS — Gregory Nava, Barbara Martinez-Jitner
Production Team: Razorfish, L.A., Georgia Tech and RespondTV.

AMERICAN FAMILY is a one-hour family drama that chronicles the lives of the Gonzales Family, a Latino family living in East Los Angeles. The show is narrated by Cisco Gonzales, the youngest sibling, who secretly films the family's antics and posts them on his website, "Gonzalezfamily.tv". Cisco's family includes his father, Jess Gonzalez (Edward James Olmos), a conservative Mexican-American, Korean War veteran, and his daughter Nina Gonzalez (Constance Marie), a liberal political activist attorney who moves back home to keep the family together after her mother (Sonia Braga) dies. Though officially a drama, the series is very funny, with much of the comedy arising out of the cross-cultural experiences of the characters.

AMERICAN FAMILY is a television show which is narrated through a character's website. Working with Razorfish as well as RespondTV and Dr. Janet Murray of the Georgia Institute, we found ways not only to narrate the television show but also to include the website as an integral part of the narrative of AMERICAN FAMILY. We developed the website "Gonzalezfamily.tv" to exist at all times, but once the show airs, viewers are prompted at the beginning of the show to log on to "Gonzalezfamily.tv". The viewers will interact as scenes are simulcast on the internet. Through Cisco's voice a viewer can receive back-story or additional jokes and gossip. The website motif is an organic way of having the viewers participate in a narrative drama. This enhancement is especially helpful with AMERICAN FAMILY as it is a show introducing Latino culture and language which will help him further enjoy the show. The enhancement would also assist PBS, for currently Latinos are not represented by the Neilsons. The enhancement would allow PBS a better idea of how many Latinos are viewing the show. Because the show airs in 2001, we will have first-time-ever dual-screen interaction with narrative drama. ITV set top box design was developed for future seasons. This is an excellent opportunity to see how enhancements can work with a narrative drama.