Everything we know about CBS’s ‘Broke’ with Jaime Camil
Back when CBS first teased the pilot, the network promised another multi-camera sitcom about a family thrown together by circumstances. What actually aired was a brisk thirteen-episode run that ended on its own terms rather than the long arcs once imagined.
Jaime Camil, still riding the wave of Jane the Virgin, stepped into a lead role that placed him at the center of a very different household dynamic. Pauley Perrette returned to network television for what turned out to be her final on-screen appearance before stepping away from acting altogether.
The show premiered in April 2020 as a midseason replacement, finished its season in June, and quietly closed the book on its single outing. Here is the rest of the story, now that the numbers, reviews, and real-world context are in.
It has a suitably ludicrous premise
The setup stayed true to the trailer: Jackie, a single mother played by Perrette, takes in her once-wealthy sister Elizabeth and brother-in-law Javier after their fortune evaporates. Camil’s Javier arrives with assistant Luis in tow, and the four adults plus Jackie’s son Sammy attempt to share one roof.
What the original announcements left out was the series’ origin. Broke was adapted from the Colombian telenovela Pobres Rico, with executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman among the team translating the premise for American audiences. The show ran its full thirteen episodes from April to June 2020, opening to 7.07 million viewers before settling at 3.6 million by the finale.
It’s closer in tone to beloved rom-coms like Overboard than previous CBS sitcoms
Reviewers noted that the series leaned into the fish-out-of-water charm of 1980s romantic comedies rather than the sharper, sometimes mean-spirited poverty tropes common on the network. Camil’s Javier was written as already kind, which removed the familiar arc of the rich man learning humility.
Critics gave the season mixed marks overall, landing at a 60 percent Tomatometer and a Metacritic score of 38. The lighter tone helped the show avoid some of the cruelty that can sink similar stories, yet the modest scores reflected broader fatigue with multi-camera formats at the time.
It’s all about modern parenting and love in an unconventional family
Perrette’s Jackie was positioned as a self-sufficient single mother who did not require a romantic subplot to anchor her story. That choice carried through the season and became especially resonant once it was clear Broke marked her final television role before retirement in July 2020.
The household dynamics stayed centered on chosen family rather than traditional pairings, giving the cast room to explore the practical side of co-parenting without the usual “love interest of the week” distractions.
Reception and cancellation
CBS pulled the plug on May 6, 2020, after the thirteen-episode order wrapped. Declining live-plus-same-day numbers, combined with the network’s shifting priorities, made renewal unlikely. The finale drew 3.6 million viewers and a 0.4 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, numbers that placed the series well below the threshold for a second season on the broadcast schedule.
Pauley Perrette's final role and retirement
Perrette had already stepped away from NCIS in 2018; Broke became the last time audiences saw her in a weekly series. She announced her retirement from acting in July 2020, citing a desire to focus on music and personal projects. Her portrayal of Jackie therefore stands as both a character study in independent motherhood and a quiet curtain call.
Adaptation origins and cultural context
Translating a Colombian telenovela for CBS required trimming the melodrama while keeping the core class-clash humor. Urman’s involvement helped bridge the tonal gap, and the writers leaned on Camil’s natural warmth to soften the culture shock. The result felt more like a gentle culture-clash comedy than the high-stakes intrigue of the original Pobres Rico.
Milestone casting for Latino representation
Camil’s starring turn also carried industry weight. He became the first Latino to headline a CBS series in seventy years, a fact noted by outlets covering the April 2020 premiere. The role placed him at the center of a network comedy without relegating his character to sidekick status, an incremental but visible shift in casting patterns at the time.
By the time the credits rolled on the final episode, Broke had delivered exactly what the early footage suggested: a short, amiable run anchored by Camil’s charm and Perrette’s grounded presence. The numbers did not support another season, yet the series left behind a modest record of what a multi-camera comedy could look like when it chose warmth over cruelty and an unconventional family over the usual punchlines.
