Broke is a CBS sitcom starring Jaime Camil, Pauley Perrette, and Natasha Leggero which debuted in 2020 and aired for a single short season.
In the Reseda neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jackie (Perrette) is a struggling single mother who is trying her best to provide a decent life for her son Sammy (Antonio Raul Corbo). She is thrown for a loop when her estranged, stuck-up sister Elizabeth (Leggero) appears at her door out of the blue with her husband Javier (Camil) in tow. It seems Javier's wealthy father cut them off and they need a place to stay until they can get back on their feet. While Jackie is initially reluctant to let them back into her life, Sammy is overjoyed at getting to know his aunt and uncle. Adding to the mix is Luis (Izzy Diaz), Javier's assistant and best friend, who ably helps Javier come to grips with his new reality.
This episode provides examples of:
- All-Loving Hero: Invoked. Luis says that Javier only sees the good in everybody.
- Bad Date: In one episode, Javier and Elizabeth set up Luis and Jackie, respectively, with dates. At the end of the night, Luis and Jackie review their experiences: Luis' date went fine until the waiter turned out to be the former boyfriend of his date asking for a second chance, and getting it; Jackie claims that her date was arrested in the middle of dinner for the murder of his wife, but in reality he was just incredibly boring.
- Berserk Button: Javier's is Cinco de Mayo. Specifically, how Americans have co-opted a minor Mexican holiday without knowing what it actually celebrates. He goes on a rant in Spanish when Jackie thinks it's Mexican Independence Day (which it is not).
- Cliffhanger: The final episode of the season ends with Javier's father arriving by helicopter. Unfortunately, since it was also the last episode of the series, the cliffhanger is left unresolved.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Javier bought a Mayan pyramid on a whim, among other things. This spendthrift habit is what gets him cut off.
- Country Matters: Elizabeth says of an old classmate nicknamed Cookie that she gave her "another nickname starting with C".
- Deadpan Snarker: Jackie has a deep sarcastic streak and she draws from it regularly.
- Disappeared Dad: Sammy's father walked out on the family one day. He's inconsistent with his child-support payments and keeps flaking on his promise to spend time with Sammy.
- Gay Best Friend: Luis is gay and Javier's best friend. Luis recalls that when he came out, Javier immediately accepted it and threw a lavish coming-out party.
- The Ghost: Javier's rich father is frequently mentioned but never shown until the final moments of the series, where he steps off a helicopter, the camera only showing his feet.
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: Jackie and Elizabeth bicker and clash because they are polar opposites, with Jackie being a cynical pragmatist while Elizabeth is a haughty social climber.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Downplayed. When alone, Javier and Luis usually speak to each other in Spanish, which is subtitled for the audience.
- Idle Rich: Javier was a trust-fund kid who traveled the world and bought whatever he wanted without a care in the world and Elizabeth eagerly joined in his lifestyle. Then, Javier's father got sick of their behavior and cut them off.
- Innocently Insensitive: Javier means no harm in his insensitive comments. He's just incredibly sheltered.
- Manchild: Javier has no idea how the real world works after living a life where his every wish was catered to.
- Mistaken for Cheating: Jackie and Elizabeth find a lockbox of old love letters addressed to their mother hidden in the house. Elizabeth at first thinks that maybe this Alex is her real father, and goes to check out the house. Then it turns out that Alex is the name of the wife.
- Mistaken for Servant: Zigzagged. While in a paint store, a guy asks Javier if he's a painter, due to his outfit. When he says yes, the man offers to pay him to paint a house. Javier is about to correct him, but decides to take the job to show his father how hard he's working.
- Old Shame: In-Universe, Elizabeth views coming from Reseda as this, along with her old nickname of "Lizzy".
- Platonic Co-Parenting: Javier takes an immediate interest in helping to care for his nephew. Elizabeth takes a little longer to warm up to him.
- Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling: Elizabeth married a rich kid while her sister Jackie is a struggling single mom. In the pilot Liz's husband loses his trust fund and they have to move in with Jackie.
- Servile Snarker: Luis is unfailingly loyal to Javier, but this doesn't stop him from (politely) heaping on snark when his employer/friend does silly things.
- Shoddy Knockoff Product: Jackie's bar tries to form a sponsor partnership with Juan's Tequilla. Note the spelling; the representative even admits that it's not technically tequila. Elizabeth claims that she spilled some and it ate a hole on the floor.
- Tempting Fate: After accepting that he probably won't get his fortune back, Javier comments that it's not like his father is going to drop out of the sky and give him back his fortune. As the episode (and the series) ends, his father's helicopter lands on Jackie's backyard.
