His eponymous television sitcom wrapped up after six seasons, and now comedian George Lopez seems to be everywhere. He is starring in "Balls of Fury" with Christopher Walken and Dan Fogler, set for release Friday, and will be in another movie early next year, "Swing Vote" with Kelsey Grammer.

Cited by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America, Lopez, 46, received a new kidney in April 2005 from his wife, Ann. He has a genetic condition that causes kidneys to deteriorate.

On Sept. 12 he is the focus of a PBS documentary "Brown Is the New Green: George Lopez and The American Dream." His HBO stand-up special "America's Mexican" was just released last month on DVD.

Is having your own TV sitcom the pinnacle of success for stand-up comics today?

I don't know if it's the pinnacle because it doesn't last forever. With stand-ups everybody wants a TV show. I don't know. It's like standard equipment when you become a comedian to have a TV show. I never would have thought it would happen because of the way I looked and what I talked about.

Do you find that your audience is predominantly Latino, Hispanic?

Yeah, and I like that. Woody Allen is not for me. And George Carlin, who's brilliant, I never really got into. Too intellectual for me. But [Richard] Pryor yes. Here's the thing, like in the beginning you try to appeal to like everybody who is white, like mainstream. If white people don't like you, you can't succeed. It's not true anymore.

Isn't the Latino population in America growing by leaps and bounds?

I don't care if my crowd isn't 60 percent white because I sell more tickets than 100 percent of all white comedians. So the TV show was great because it allowed a family that never existed on TV before to exist. I don't think there will be another one. Not in this climate. I mean I was in the elevator with Al Sharpton in New York and he was "Hey what's going on?" I've known him for a while, and I said "Hey, just trying to stay in the country." And it buckled his knees, he couldn't stop laughing.

Growing up, were you more interested in assimilating?

Well, you know, we were kind of assimilated. My grandfather was from Mexico; he spoke Spanish. My grandmother spoke English and worked in an electronics company with all different nationalities. My neighborhood was predominantly white. We were only one of five maybe, I think, Latino families in that neighborhood. And there were very few black people in my neighborhood. So we were raised as Americans. Not Mexican-Americans. I didn't become Mexican- American until the middle of the '80s.

Where did your comedy come from? Was it a way to cope?

I think so. At the beginning I thought you were born with this kind of wit. It's starting to dim a little. It's like that "Rocky" movie; Rocky got really rich, and he didn't want to work out anymore. You have to remind yourself to go out there and do stuff. You know I wasn't really bright in school, but I was kind of analytical with everything. I went with what my strength was, so I started stand-up when I was 18. I was still in high school. I don't think people know that.

Were you concerned about stereotyping or hurting your own people?

In the beginning, you know, it was a different time. There wasn't the term politically correct. Things were just things. Comedy was more racial. Richard Pryor was alive and doing probably some of his best work.

So, you would say this whole political correctness has hurt the world of humor?

Yes. I don't subscribe to it myself. I'm old. I didn't come from that. That is not what my strengths are. My strengths are reporting on what is what.

In the documentary "Brown Is the New Green" do you feel yourself to be an advocate or a spokesperson for Hispanics?

No. What I see myself as is an American of Mexican decent. I talk to advertisers, and they target Hispanics. I just want people to be people. The best advertising is when you include us with everybody else. These advertising agencies spend millions of dollars excluding us. It's divisive.

Are fame and money the great equalizers?

You know it's interesting because I still feel very kind of simple in my life even though financially you can live a certain lifestyle.

Did your sense of humor suffer during your kidney tribulations?

You know what, I think it made me appreciate my sense of humor. You don't know how much time you have, so you kind of really have to make everything work. My wife and I are national spokespeople for the National Kidney Foundation. But look I'm living and I'm healthy because of someone else's gift to me. I mean can you be more unconditional then to give someone part of your body so they could live?