The world is watching Luis Miguel La Serie and no wonder. Any Latin pop music fan has a stake in this series as Luis Miguel plays an important part in Mexico’s musical history. From the moment Luis Miguel stepped on stage at XEW where they filmed Siempre En Domingo in 1982, everyone knew he was going to be someone.
And when I say the world is watching, I mean it. Not only fans of Luis Miguel but even celebrities are watching the life of Luis Miguel play out. Only the close inner circle knew about what he had to go through to make it to the top, but now everyone is finding out. It means a lot when even the real Luis Miguel has authorized this part of his life to be exposed.
This morning, I binged watched the first five episodes via Telemundo On Demand and hope to get through the next five episodes tomorrow for another article post. First of all, I am seriously impressed with Diego Boneta’s interpretation of the star in Luis Miguel La Serie. Nine times out of ten I lose myself and see Luis Miguel the other time I am marveling at Diego’s performance. To know that Diego recorded all the songs and went through a year-long transformation into the role shows true dedication and commitment to the show.
Growing up watching the entertainment shows like the ones shown in the first five episodes helped to paint a picture. Siempre En Domingo with Raul Velasco, El Mundo Del Espectaculos with Paty Chapoy, and Video Exitos with Gloria Calzada were featured during this group of episodes.
Though it is hard not speaking Spanish to follow along with everything that is being said, I am following along. There are certain moments where there are just a conversation and no real action happening that I suffer. It is a disservice that Telemundo didn’t take the opportunity to English subtitle the show. Luis Miguel’s popularity goes way beyond the Spanish-speaking community that they are losing prime market shares by excluding the rest of the world.
We also got to see Yuri during her wedding with Fernando Iriarte where Luis Miguel first announces his relationship with Mariana Yasbek. And it is during this scene that we get to see where Stephanie Salas (who is being called Sophi, in the series). As many people know, Stephanie and Luis Miguel gave birth to a daughter in 1989. This would mean the baby conceived in November 1988. My problem with shows like this is that I am trying to blow holes in dates based on real events. Yuri and Fernando’s wedding was on January 20, 1988. Within this time frame of events on the series, Luis Miguel and Stephanie Salas got together shortly after this time. Now unless we see more of Stephanie in the series, they let on that it was a one-time affair and the timeline is off by ten months.
Now all of this was taking place while Luis Miguel was recording the album, Busca Una Mujer. The series portrays that the song “Cupable O No” was his break-up track to Mariana. I am sure that going forward we will continue to see Luis Miguel’s romance tally card fill up since, after this point per the media, Luis Miguel became a player.
The first five episodes of Luis Miguel La Serie are only the beginning but they show so much. Within the show, we jump between two time periods. The main source material comes during 1987-1988, which is where the strong relationship with Mariana is discussed, but it is also the era when he separates from his father as he comes of age. During this time, Luis Miguel and his brother begin to realize that their mother has disappeared. If you don’t know much about Luis Miguel’s history, this is a mystery to you. Keep watching.
The second era is 1981-1982. This is when Luisito Rey (Luis Miguel’s father) is trying to be a musician but finds that his meal ticket is going to be his son. During this era, we find how his career begins and what it took for him to get his record deal and television breaks. We also see the beginning of the estrangement between Luis Miguel’s parents.
If this wasn’t real life, we would be sitting at the edge of our seats waiting to find out what happens next, but we know. What we don’t know is that inner circle and behind-the-scenes moments that brought us to the next moments of history.
Luis Miguel La Serie has kept me glued even though there is a language barrier. Let’s hope Telemundo breaks it with season two. The series got greenlit for a second go around.
Since that day, I have been study Latin pop and rock music and have become a Latin pop music historian through the publishing of articles, fanzine, and websites. My goal is to teach people about Latin pop music and the history behind it with my website, Siempre En Domingo.
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