‘Chespirito: Sin Querer Queriendo’ is a tribute to the Mexican comedian who shaped a generation. HBO’s new biographical series “Chespirito: Not Really on Purpose” (“Sin Querer Queriendo”) has been received with delight by the many fans in the U.S. and Latin America who grew up watching the late Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños. The eight-episode miniseries, which debuted Thursday, dramatizes the professional and personal journey of Gómez Bolaños, who transformed comedy in Latin America and whose characters defined a generation for millions of children. Known as “Chespirito,” he took his inspiration from Laurel and Hardy as well as another transcendent Mexican comedian who eventually made it to Hollywood, Cantinflas. Chespirito died in 2014 at age 85. Pablo Cruz, who plays Chespirito in the series, told The Associated Press in an interview translated from Spanish that the show is a tribute that tells “a story that we know will connect with a very broad audience and give them an opportunity to further appreciate what they already admire and love.” Chespirito’s two most famous characters were “El Chavo del Ocho” (“The Boy from Number Eight”) and “El Chapulin Colorado” (“The Crimson Grasshopper”). “El Chavo del Ocho” was an 8-year-old boy orphan living alone in a Mexican neighborhood with his barrel, freckles, striped shirt and grayed cap. “El Chapulin Colorado” was a naive superhero dressed in a red bodysuit and hood with antennae that helped him detect danger miles away (despite the name, his yellow shorts and boots gave him more the look of a red bumblebee).
