I saw Sofia Vergara on a talk show the other night and understood everything she said. Perhaps the fact she was wearing a turtleneck helped me concentrate more on her words than on her, umm, ... accent.
Ms. Vergara's character, Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on “Modern Family” is the greatest female character to hit prime-time television since Julie Newmar purred her way across my old black-and-white console as the original Catwoman on “Batman.”
Many Catwomen have come and gone since the 1960s, but no one has played the part with as much style and humor as Newmar (although Eartha Kitt came a lot closer than Michelle Pfeiffer or Halle Barry). It's not by chance it's Julie's slinky costume that is on display at the Smithsonian, protected by a glass enclosure from the likes of the Penguin, Riddler or Joker. But I digress ... .
Vergara may be the hottest Latin bombshell around today, but she certainly wasn't the first. Remember Maria del Rosario Mercedes Laura Jennifer Pilar Martinez Molina Baeza? Perhaps you know her better by her stage name: Charo!
It was nearly impossible to turn on the TV a few decades ago and not see Charo chatting it up with Johnny Carson or “cuchi-cuchi”-ing her way along the deck of the Love Boat or the sands of Fantasy Island. (Dear spell-check, no, I don't mean couch or cache or kooky; trust me, “cuchi” is a word in Charo's language.)
It's a shame “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island” are no longer on the air. Vergara would have made the perfect guest. Imagine the cruise ship running aground on that imaginary isle stranding her and Charo? Hmmm, the Love Boat beached on Fantasy Island — would that be a case of the ship hitting the fan(tasy)?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
