In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
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So of course, FBSF⛈️ wouldn’t be possible without its self-proclaimed secret sauce: Enrique Luis Sapene.
Girl bye, that’s what he wants you to believe. Hell, I’m sure that’s what HE wants to believe.
But whatever, we shall give Enrique the floor.
The concept of this show came from Venezuelan immigrant actor Enrique Sapene who (back in 2005) moved from West Hollywood to the City of San Fernando with his mother and his brother. He said he preferred the peace and quiet of San Fernando more than the wild nightlife of West Hollywood. Television’s interest in the reality genre was continuing to grow, and by 2006, Enrique was already a fan of such shows as The Real World, The Hills, Laguna Beach, and The Real Housewives of Orange County. And after watching the first season of Flaming Bros Chatsworth in 2012, Enrique came up with this “astounding” idea in 2013 of a San Fernando-based spinoff, not realizing how big it would turn out to be. And indeed, it became a cultural phenomenon, but it was never because of Enrique. Remember that, because it’ll be much clearer, once we talk about the casting momentarily.
Prior to the development in 2013, Enrique already gave the show the working title Flaming Bros San Fernando, to make it clear future networks and audiences that it was always meant to be a spinoff of Flaming Bros Chatsworth. And… I’ll give Enrique credit where it’s due; he made the right call to name it “Flaming Bros San Fernando,” as it helps specify the main location, even if a future cast member might live somewhere else in the Valley rather than the City. And it’s true some people didn’t even think that basing a reality show in a not-so-well-known area was a good idea because the City of San Fernando is not a glamorous/celebrity-heavy location in Los Angeles. Enrique did not care about that and went with the location and title anyway.
The now 30-year-old Enrique himself would be the first person to join the show as an official cast member. The first person he considered as well was his 34-year-old brother Carlos Sapene, the Vice President of marketing for NCBUniversal who has a gift for starting shit, just like Enrique. Enrique also invited Miami-born Cuban-American actor Jason Caceres (aged 23) into the cast. After finishing high school in 2008, Jason moved to San Fernando with his brother and their parents, always wanted to be famous, and looked up to Enrique as his muse and mentor. He would scout his older brother and fellow actor Alex Caceres aka Alex C (born Alejandro Caceres Jr; aged 25), as they each have a similar spicy, feisty personality that Jason felt would work well for the show. Yes, two sets of brothers, all messy gays. Jason also approached his two best friends – dancer Estuardo Alvizures (aged 25) and film producer Aiden Tyler Lee (aged 24). Estuardo is a Guatemalan immigrant who was raised in Boston, Massachusetts before moving to the City of San Fernando in 2010. And despite being fluent in the Spanish language, the West Hollywood-raised Aiden was non-Latinx, being of Norwegian and English descent (and Caucasian), and moved to the City of San Fernando in 2009.
And with that, Flaming Bros San Fernando was born. Or so we thought. We know it best as both Flaming Bros San Fernando and FBSF⛈️. But for Enrique, it was more than that; it was his life being documented for the world to see. Lol, you know he’s lying because NEVER has his own life (outside of the cast) been documented on this show! The idea was to center FBSF⛈️ around Enrique and his five close friends, all of whom happen to live in the City of San Fernando and hang out, gossip, talk shit; basically stale trash TV tropes that we have seen OVER and OVER and OVER (2 hours later) and OVER again.
And in early 2013, with their skills in production, Enrique and Aiden put together a sizzle reel to help the cast sell the show, and miraculously the pitch was a huge success.
However, the sizzle wasn’t without its issues. While Jason was definitely the standout, the messiest, the most open, the most expressive, and sometimes the most honest (emphasis on SOMETIMES), and Estuardo had his mere moments of potential (whatever that was), everybody else was so sterile on-camera, even Enrique himself. Everyone was very, uh... snobby and obnoxious; a sign of things to come for Season 1.
Enrique and Carlos were the judgmental types who had a tendency to comment on other people’s behavior as being “ghetto,” “classless,” or “ratchet.” Carlos lacked anything memorable as an individual, making him the most forgettable one. Jason and Alex C gossiped a lot, with Alex C enabling Jason a lot. Aiden and Jason had a special type of friendship (more on that concern later). And Estuardo didn’t have a lot of original thoughts, from agreeing with Jason on EVERYTHING, speaking on Jason’s behalf, to disliking you because Jason disliked you. Oh, and Enrique bragged (onscreen) about the show being more real than The A-List franchise and Housewives. OOP!
So there was a pattern: it’s was Enrique’s concept, but it was all about Jason this and Jason that. Jason, Jason, Jason.
It’s amazing that the sizzle’s pitch was successful, because it was awful, boring, and fake as Hell. There was nobody to root for or truly care about, unless you were a fan of Jason’s everything. It was just a bunch of young men in their 20s and 30s hanging out to talk about somebody else who wasn’t even on the show.
The majority of that sizzle was nothing more than just a “Jason & Friends” type of show that just *happened* to be led by Enrique, barely. In fact, going back to Jason and Aiden’s special friendship, they were always VERY close to each other. VERY. There were some not-so-subtle FORESHADOWING moments between the two that makes the duo’s dynamic on the official series make a lot more sense in hindsight. The way Jason called Aiden ‘Aidencito’ in a flirty tone, and Aiden called him ‘Jay’ in a seductive way made it too risky to have both on the show. And because Jason was clearly the standout, Aiden was rejected. It actually makes sense, given Aiden’s engagement to fellow film producer Zachary Halley at the time, and Jason's engagement to fellow actor and makeup artist Christian Gabriel Lopez at the time.
And Jason and Estuardo’s close friendship feels rather forced, largely based on Estuardo dependance on Jason’s approval. Alex C and Carlos were just annoying. Alex C in particular is just too involved in Jason's life and relationship with Christian, and even too dependent on Jason despite being the older brother. Hey, I'm all for siblings getting along; I strongly dislike family drama - especially onscreen. But two sets of brothers with the exact same personality feels redundant. Yet Jason and Aiden having the same personality wasn’t redundant? Mmm... 🤨 And of course, Enrique is Enrique. What can I say?
And the cast just happen to live in the City of San Fernando, but you would’ve never guessed that, because there were no montages of the city itself, beyond Enrique’s neighborhood.
One thing that was often unnoticeable about the sizzle’s cast was the diversity at the time. Was it true diversity or technical diversity? I would say, “technical,” but it really depends on who you ask, and here’s why:
I appreciate the diversity, even if it was never actually touched upon: Enrique and Carlos are Venenzuelan and describe themselves as “citizens of the world.” Jason and Alex C are Cuban-Americans who were born raised in Miami. Estuardo Alvizuers is Guatemalan; born in the country and raised in the United States (Boston, MA). And Aiden, who was born and raised in West Hollywood, is of English and Norwegian descent.
But none of the potential six was of Mexican descent. Perhaps back in 2013, it was never seen as a big deal because everyone (sans Aiden) was Latinx.
But I’m sure there would have been plenty of mixed reactions about the sizzle cast’s lack of Mexican blood. And I can definitely see how this would have added to the racial insensitivity that would follow the show going forward (some being more subtle than others).
If nothing else, the sizzle reel can be seen as a reminder of how far the show has come since 2013, especially given how different the cast lineup is today compared to this sizzle reel’s cast.
Either way, Enrique created the show and was given EP credits. But he never actually WORKED as an executive producer a day in his life. He never had to, so he didn’t. So, he was never a real executive producer, when you think about it, not that he’ll admit it. He will swear until he’s blue in the face, "This is my show!"
Not much about the cast is that different between the sizzle reel and Season 1. Jason’s brother Alex C was demoted to a friend-of, and Carlos and Aiden were OUT.
Meanwhile, Jason, Enrique, and Estuardo stayed in the main cast, becoming three of the official main cast members for Season 1 (2015). And they would be joined by three more cast main members, who I can’t wait to talk about when we discuss Season 1. For now, just know that one of those three new cast members had to endure many storms in his life and would actually save the show, even at the expense of his own mental health, at the time.
More on the official Season 1 cast is coming up next. But until then, that was the messy backstory of how Flaming Bros San Fernando started as an astounding idea from the now-infamous method actor Enrique Sapene.
Messy as Hell.
⛈️
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