had not been born in the island country. Tomás Muñiz, Tommy's father and a famous producer in his own merit, had met Jean Baptiste Romanacce-García, a Corsican immigrant whose name was adapted into Juan Bautista García, a Spanish-sounding name, upon his arrival to Puerto Rico in 1906. García was a self-made man who thrived after his orphaned childhood and became a handyman and freelance set designer for Puerto Rico's television stations. He was also known in the island country for having fathered ten children, adopting three more, and somehow managing the entire tribe. After using García's services often through the years, Tommy Muñiz (himself the father of eight children) befriended García. In turn, Rafo Muñiz, Tommy Muñiz's son, was a childhood friend of García's grandson, Roberto, who in turn was the son of Rodofreddo (also known as Roberto) García. Tommy Muñiz felt inspired by the decorations that García had done at the Parroquia Espíritu Santo -the neighborhood church near Muñiz's household,- and came with the idea of dedicating a television show to the García family. Based on this, Tommy's character became Juan Bautista García, and Rafo Muñiz's character was Godofredo, a young neighbor (a twist on Rodofreddo's name). The real García died on June 1, 1975, just before the series went on the air. The cast Casting for the series was fortuitous, as were many production details. While Tommy was writing his scripts, his son Rafael (Rafo), who had played the family's son in the television version of "Gloria y Miguel", asked to play Godofredo -the role demanded a cheeky, wisecracking teenager, and although Rafo was already in his twenties, he felt he could play it. Juan Bautista needed a daughter -who would be Godofredo's girlfriend, and mutual family friends referred Gina Beveraggi, who had no previous stage experience, to Muñiz. He ended up naming the character Ginny, after Gina's real name. Mutual references also contacted Manela Bustamante, a very successful Cuban-born comedian, famous for her role of Cachucha in Cuban radio and television. to play Doña Toni, a fast-talking, nosy neighbor. Muñiz asked a neighbor, William Gracia -also with no acting experience- to play Don Pepín, another nosy neighbor. Liberato Garced, Jr. was originally cast as Juan, Jr., better known as Junito. Garced was later replaced by Edgardo Rubio, (the son of United States Medal of Honor recipient Euripides Rubio), who would later on achieve fame in WAPA-TV's Barrio