Extra is a Spanish comedy show with English and Spanish subtitles. The show has a comedic “Friends” vibe to it and centers around two girls, Lola and Ana who share an apartment in Spain. They have a downstairs neighbor that they interact with, Pablo who is also a main cast member. In the episode I watched, Lola’s American penpal, Sam, from seven years ago is coming to stay with the girls.

I noticed that the show and characters were very similar to any 90s type American show that you would watch. I didn’t find many differences culturally. The one main difference of the characters is that they seemed to sexualize anyone who was American. If an American was mentioned, the dream like scene of them would be a generalization of someone half naked wearing sunglasses and wrapped in an American Flag.

Similarly the characters seemed to value friendship. They joked together, and had fun. They laughed at inside jokes and lived exactly like friends would live in the US. The one main difference was a scene that was shown of the girls shopping. The shopping option of a big mass outdoor market isn’t something common in America as it is in other countries.

Culturally, as a show, I think that the generalization of Americans and the way they treated their visitor, came off as offensive. They sexualized the American before he came and they made fun of him when he spoke. Pablo also had a scene were he sexualized Lola as well by staring at her butt for several seconds as the audience laughed.

I don’t think some of those references would pass as appropriate today in the US. I gather that the cancel culture of Americans today may not be apart of countries like Spain.