Spoilers ahead for the November 2 episode of Lopez vs. Lopez Season 3, called “Lopez vs. In-Laws.”
Lopez vs. Lopez has spent the last three seasons bringing in big name guest stars opposite George Lopez, real-life daughter Mayan, and the rest of the cast of series regulars. The latest episode in the 2024 TV schedule featured two comedy greats: Stephen Tobolowsky and Vicki Lawrence as Sam and Ruthie Van Bryan, Quinten’s parents. With the families set to be tied closer than ever with Mayan and Quinten marrying (and the Van Bryans helping George and Rosie foot the bill), will Sam and Ruthie be back? The two guest stars spoke with CinemaBlend about Lopez vs. Lopez and possibly returning.
“Lopez vs. In-Laws” was actually Vicki Lawrence’s first episode of George Lopez’s sitcom, and she came on board without knowing what to expect from the Lopez vs. Lopez set. When I spoke with the longtime Carol Burnett Show actress about playing Ruthie, she weighed in on the idea of reprising the role:
Oh, I would for sure, because it was such a lovely place to work. Like I said, you never know what you’re walking into when you walk on a new set. Not every set is welcoming and fun and easy and silly. I feel that that’s just a reflection on George, because he’s such a lovely guy. That’s just the way the whole set runs. I was pleasantly surprised, really.
Ruthie as a character wasn’t entirely “fun and easy and silly,” if the awkwardness between her and Rosie was any indication, but that wasn’t the real-life experience for Vicki Lawrence on the set of Lopez vs. Lopez. She went on to elaborate on why she was so pleasantly surprised by her time on the sitcom:
I didn’t know. I had never met [George Lopez]. I didn’t know anybody else that was on the show, so you really never know what you’re walking into on a set. I walked into my trailer and there was this huge thing of flowers from George. Everybody was lovely, from the beginning. That’s always a nice surprise. It really is.
Of course, as a mutli-cam sitcom in front of a live studio audience, the pace of Lopez vs. Lopez has to be quick. Considering that her very first job in showbiz was as a player on The Carol Burnett Show, that element wasn’t shocking to her. Lawrence shared:
They filmed it live, which is always fun for me. That’s the way I grew up. That’s the way we did The Burnett Show. We did two shows on a Friday with a dinner break in the middle, and two different audiences, and that’s kind of the way they work.
Vicki Lawrence’s comfort in front of a live studio audience continued throughout her career, including the short-lived Fox sitcom called The Cool Kids, which also starred David Alan Grier, Martin Mull, and Leslie Jordan through its first and only season. The actress reflected on that show as she also praised Lopez vs. Lopez, saying:
It’s funny – when I did The Cool Kids, I was the first person cast on that show, and they said, ‘We’re having trouble casting one of the characters.’ And they said there are so many actors that don’t want to come in and audition because they don’t want to work in front of an audience. I said, ‘Really? That’s funny, because that’s the way I grew up.’ So to me, that’s lovely, but a lot of people are not used to working in front of a live audience. For me, it’s fun. I would go back and do that show anytime they asked.
In a fun twist, Stephen Tobolowsky actually had a guest appearance on The Cool Kids back in 2019, so Lopez vs. Lopez was a reunion for him and Vicki Lawrence. The November 2 episode (which will be available streaming with a Peacock subscription) was also Tobolowsky’s return to George Lopez’s latest sitcom, as he – who Lopez vs. Lopez actor Matt Shively described as a “legend” – first played Sam Van Bryan back in Season 1. So, would he be up for a third appearance on the show? When I asked that very question, he didn’t mince words:
I’m hoping so. I heard a rumor that that’s possible. With sitcom, you never know. It depends on how they write. But if they said, ‘Stephen, you want to do a wedding?’ I would say, ‘I got my tux ready. You just tell me when and where and I’ll be there.’ It’s one of those rare, rare, great, great shows that you’re privileged to be on, and anytime they ask me to be on it, I’ll be on it.
That’s truly a compliment to the show coming from Stephen Tobolowsky, who has been quite prolific on the small screen over the years. He recurred on a wide variety of shows across genres, including Deadwood, Heroes, Glee, Californication, and The Goldbergs, to name just a handful. He was also a series regular on One Day at a Time and among the cast members who reunited this fall for a throwback table read.
Basically, Stephen Tobolowsky has a lot of experiene on a lot of different sets for comparison! The actor shared his thoughts on how Lopez vs. Lopez compares to One Day at a Time specifically, explaining:
In Lopez vs. Lopez, they take on what I would consider big personal issues, life events. The one I was involved with is about my son being engaged and now married, and what the marriage is going to be. Big life events, people falling in love. In terms of George making a new life for himself and a better life for himself, and apologizing for the wrongs of the past – how do we do that in life? You have to do it with love. You have to do it with humor and Lopez vs. Lopez takes that stuff on. The show gets to me when I see it. It’s great to work on. It’s a great show to work on.
Both George Lopez and Mayan Lopez playing fictionalized versions of themselves makes it hit a little harder when Lopez vs. Lopez deals with heavier subjects, even when the father and daughter are still bringing the laughs. The formula is one that clearly has worked for Stephen Tobolowsky, and he – like Vicki Lawrence – in on board to reprise his role as a Van Bryan parent.
Whether Lopez vs. Lopez plans on bringing the Van Bryans back in Season 3 is still unknown, however. For now, fans can just keep tuning in to NBC on Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET for new episodes, immediately following new episodes of Reba McEntire’s Happy’s Place. You can also stream every episodes of Lopez vs. Lopez so far via Peacock and the first two seasons with a Netflix subscription.