"¡Familia P.Luche somos! Toda la familia muy unida está."
La familia P. Luche (also known as La familia Peluche) is a Mexican television comedy series, created by Eugenio Derbez and produced by Televisa, ran for 10 years from 2002 to 2012. It's a sequel of sorts of Derbez's sketch show Derbez en cuando and XHDRBZ; it was originally one of the sketches on the show, but due to its big popularity, it was given its own space as a weekly series; it aired as a section of XHDRBZ from 2002 to 2004, while the seasons produced and aired in 2007 and 2012 were made independently. The series was written, directed and produced by Eugenio Derbez.
The show is about the daily life of a dysfunctional family and whose plot is set on a fictional city named Ciudad Peluche, where ridiculous and comical situations are common.
La Familia P. Luche provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adoption Diss: This is a common joke involving Junior, with Ludovico and Federica pointing out he's adopted every time he messes up, with some of them even coming from himself.
- Adult Adoptee: Junior is an example Played for Laughs, as his gags center on how he's the adopted one.
- The Backwards Я: Given it started off as a sketch from XHDЯBZ, one can expect to see every writing sign have this letter in place of the actual R.
- Beta Couple: Flavio and Martina Galax, who unlike the main couple, seem to genuinely like each other. However, they break up between the series' second and third season.
- Blind Mistake: Cristy and her husband Rigo are the family's blind neighbors, and their house has all objects misplaced due to that. Whenever Cristy appears, Federica takes advantage of her blindness.
- Butt-Monkey: Ludovico.
- The Cameo: The titular character from children's telenovela Maria Belen appears in the episodes "Ludovico en la escuela" and "La novia de Ludoviquito", in the former as Ludovico's bully and in the latter as Ludoviquito's girlfriend.
- Cheating with the Milkman: Federica is implied to have frequently cheated on Ludovico with the Milkman, the opening of the third season highlights it for laughs.
- Cheek Copy: After finding out that the short man he insulted, Licenciado Cortillo, was his new boss, Ludovico tells Flavio to not do this before following the man to the bathroom to apologize. However, Flavio didn't listen and did just that, unknowingly sending the copies to the company's bosses. The rest of the episode centers on Ludovico and Flavio trying to retrieve said copies, with the last one being in Cortillo's office.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: A rare example occurring on a comedy series.
- Ludovico - Blue
- Federica - Pink
- Bibi - Purple
- Ludoviquito - Green
- Junior - Yellow/Orange
- Excelsa - Turquoise
- Comedic Sociopathy: A common staple of the series. The most glaring examples are Federica's abusive treatment of Ludovico and how they (and everyone else) treat their daughter Bibi.
- Cousin Oliver: Maradonio in the third season.
- Domestic Abuse: Played for Laughs, when Federica assaults her husband Ludovico (it's that kind of show).
- Deadpan Snarker: Excelsa is the most deadpan in the cast.
- Deserted Island: At the start of the second season, it's revealed that the plane the family was traveling in had crashed and they spent the last few years stranded on a deserted island. Very soon Subverted as it turns out they were actually in Cancún, and they were just a short walk away from civilization but didn't found out until then. They never let Ludovico live that one down afterwards.
- Dysfunctional Family: In spades.
- Easy Amnesia: How Junior came to be. He was an undercover police officer known as "Comandante Aligheri", who lost his memory after being run over by Federica and reducing him to the level of a 6-year-old upon waking. Every time he recovers his memory, the couple smacks him in the head to revert him back into "Junior" and keep him from spilling the beans on the incident.
- Fake Relationship: One episode has Excelsa pretend to be Ludovico's wife when her parents come to visit, having told them that she was successful and had a family. Hilarity Ensues.
- Faking the Dead: The episode "El velorio de Ludovico" centers on Ludovico faking his own death to cancel the debt he has with the bank for the maxed out credit cards.
- Five-Finger Discount: Ludoviquito is know for being very friendly with other's possessions.
- Flanderization: From the second season on, the family has undergone massive changes in their personality.
- Ludovico became more uninitelligent, whinier, and selfish on top of Derbez exaggerating his voice.
- Federica turned more abusive and controlling, not helped by the sound improvement made by Derbez that makes her come off as more aggressive.
- Bibi turned from the "weird" daughter whose family occasionally showed her affection, to their punching bag while Ludoviquito and Junior always get away with whatever bad things they do. The character herself didn't change a bit, save for her metaphoric speeches turning sappier and more saccharine than before.
- Ludoviquito turned from a smart, cunning kid to an oafish bully who likes to steal things.
- Junior is the only one who stayed the same, but he became the butt of "adopted" jokes more often.
- Gag Nose: Excelsa's big nose is frequent noted in derisive manner since she is Argentine.note
- Hilariously Abusive Childhood: The abuse Bibi goes through makes Meg's childhood look tame.
- Henpecked Husband: Ludovico P. Luche. His wife Federica always finds a way to abuse him.
- I'll Kill You!: In the episode "La primera vez
de Ludoviquito" Don Camerino screams this upon finding out it was Ludovico who denounced him to the police for corruption of minors. - Innocent Innuendo: In "La primera vez de Ludoviquito", Don Camerino tells Ludovico to invite everyone to his niece Rosita's party, which the latter misinterprets as an orgy because he thought the former knew about Ludoviquito's dilemma as well as his poor choice of words, prompting Ludovico to call the police on him.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Federica in one episode. In one episode Ludovico disguises as a bellhop and Federica dates a thief, in the end she gets arrested alongside the thief while Ludovico is acclaimed like a hero. This is one of the few episodes where Federica receives a comeuppance.
- Lazy Bum: Excelsa, despite being the maid, is a lazy slacker.
- Literal-Minded: When Bibi tries to cheer everyone up with her metaphor-filled speeches, everyone chastises her for saying "dumb things" and always ends with her Phrase Catcher.
- Mall Santa: Ludovico had to work as one after wasting the family's christmas money.
- Manchild: Junior, who is obviously a grown man, acts like he is the youngest child, but this is because he genuinely thinks he is one. The reason for this is that he was actually an undercover police officer who got run over by Federica, causing him to lose his memory. Then he was adopted into the family to avoid arrest for harming a cop.
- Mistaken for Cheating: At the start of the third season everyone thinks that Ludovico cheated on Federica with Excelsa, and Federica kicks him out of the house (despite her having cheated on Ludovico several times before). It's not until several years later, that they find out that he never cheated even though Excelsa's son is his. She got a donor at a clinic and it happened to be Ludovico's.
- Mistaken for Gay: One episode has this trope as its premise with Ludovico being in a gay rights march and Flavio getting stuck in a (literal) closet.
- Mistaken for Pregnant: In one episode, Federica is mistaken for pregnant after drinking the green juice (actually Excelsa's homemade toilet unclogger) Ludoviquito offered her, as she suffered from abdominal pain and nausea.
- Nice Girl: Bibi. She is the only member of her family (and possibly, the whole city) who is kindhearted, smart, beautiful, and the only one in the entire city who doesn't wear plush clothes. She gets ostracized for all this.
- Not So Remote: After spending a year stranded on a deserted island due to a plane crash, the family discovers they are actually just outside Cancun.
- Old Flame: One episode featured the arrival of Exsimio, Excelsa's ex-boyfriend.
- Phrase Catcher:
- "Bibi, ¿por qué no eres una niña normal?" (Bibi, why aren't you a normal girl?) Whenever she says something others don't consider "Normal" (Read: Anything nice.).
- Ludovico calling Federica "¡Golosa!" whenever she seems horny (Usually at someone else).
- Poor Communication Kills: In one episode, Ludovico and Federica try to advise Ludoviquito on sex after Federica overheard him on the phone talking about a girl he wants to impress. Ludovico gives him a condom he snatched from Bibi, only to find out the girl in question is Rosita Malagón, Don Camerino's niece.
- To make matters worse, Don Camerino tells Ludo that he will throw a birthday party for Rosita, telling him to get guests, the teachers, and the press to her party, topping it off by saying he will record the party. Ludovico, who wanted to make sure Ludoviquito had his best first time, misinterprets the man's words as an orgy and calls the cops on Don Camerino.
- As the family watches Don Camerino's incarceration on TV, Ludoviquito shows up to clear the misunderstandings, as he wasn't planning to do the deed with Rosita. Lucrecia convinces Ludovico to pay for Don Camerino's bail, ending in the latter giving the former a beating for his misunderstanding at Rosita's party. To top it off, Ludoviquito shows up with a stuffed bear inside the condom given to him by Ludovico, prompting Don Camerino to try to strangle the latter.
- Pretty in Mink: More like world of mink to the point that the trope could be renamed to that. Almost everything in Ciudad Peluche is covered in fur, not just the characters. From mundane furniture, to the sidewalks, to the family car that appears in the intro, to road signs. This was mellowed out in later years, but the excessive fur coverings still pretained to the main cast at most.
- Put on a Bus: Martina, the family's neighbor, and Federica's best friend, leaves her husband in the third season, not standing Ludovico living with them during the Time Skip after being kicked out of his house by Federica.
- Singing in the Shower: Junior turns out to be a good Baritone singer while in the shower so his parents make him enter a singing competition, while showering.
- Swapped Roles: One episode had Ludovico and Federica swapping jobs after daring to do the other's.
- The Un-Favourite: Bibi, and they barely try to conceal it.
- The Napoleon: The aptly-named Licenciado Cortillo is a short-tempered man who takes it out on the employees, especially Ludovico.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Ludovico gets one in one episode. There's one episode in which Ludovico disguises as a bellhop, while Federica hangs with a thief. At the end, the thief is arrested and Federica is arrested with him as well, while Ludovico is acclaimed like a hero. This is noticeably for being one of the few episodes where Ludovico gets a happy ending, while Federica receives karma.
- Time Skip: Several years between each season to account for production time differences and the cast growing up.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: One episode had Bibi hit her head and become "Normal", to the increasing irritation of everyone except Federica. At the end they manage to hit her again to get her to become herself again. Then Ludovico shares a bonding moment with Bibi and even stops himself from wishing she was "normal", but still gets increasingly annoyed at her for her nice behavior, and ends undecided if he really prefers the regular Bibi after all.
- White Sheep: Bibi. She is the only kind member of her family.
- World of Jerkass: Everyone in Ciudad Peluche is a terrible person, except for Bibi.
- Written Sound Effect: A common feature of the series, given it has some elements of slapstick.
