George raises daughter Carmen and dyslexic son Max with his wife Angie, after surviving a miserable, dysfunctional childhood at the hands of his neglectful alcoholic mother Benny, who is portrayed as selfish and cold-hearted.

After Carmen's departure from the series, Angie's overindulged niece Veronica moved in, laden with a large trust fund that is entrusted to George's care.

Much to George's fury, a final letter from Manny prohibited him and his family from attending his funeral in protection of his reputation.

Comedian George Lopez had been performing standup throughout the early 1990s, expressing interest in having his own comedy television show like Seinfeld.

[10] Bullock approached Lopez backstage after the show and made her pitch to produce and star in a situational comedy centered around the comedian.

[11] The George Lopez Show was seen as an attempt from ABC to diversify their programming, while still appealing to the widest possible audience.

[11] ABC executives were hopeful that Lopez's humor and relatability would draw a large family audience, focusing on marketing the series as much as possible.

[11] Lopez drew much of the material for the show from his own life experiences, especially his upbringing in the San Fernando Valley.

For the first five seasons, the show had an all-Latino cast with the exception of Albanian American actress Masiela Lusha, who played George's daughter Carmen.

The theme plays in the opening credits and was present when the show aired on ABC as well as syndication, but was replaced in the DVD releases of all seasons except 1 episode due to licensing costs.

[13] According to Lopez, ABC prime-time entertainment president Steve McPherson called him over the weekend and explained that the network would lose money if the show was picked up again, and that it wasn't doing well financially.

"[14] Lopez attributed the cancellation in part to the fact that the show was not produced directly by ABC Studios, but instead by Warner Bros.

[14] Lopez also criticized ABC's decision to approve the show Cavemen, being perplexed at the circumstances: "So a Chicano can't be on TV, but a caveman can?"