It’s been well 20 years since a comedy featuring an all Asian-American cast has graced our television screens. That kind of absence is astounding, but thankfully, it seems like The Man is changing its tune on how it approaches diversity in the media. ABC has just greenlit “Fresh Off the Boat,” a comedy based chef Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name. There’s also more progression in diversity thanks to “Cristela,” a comedy also focused on finding middle ground between American and old-world cultures.
The show is set in the ’90s, when 12-year-old Eddie and his family have moved to Orlando. The move from Washington DC’s Chinatown to Orlando is a big culture shock for everyone, from Eddie and his family to Eddie’s classmates. The show stars Hudson Yang as young Eddie, Constance Wu as his traditionally-minded mother Jessica, Randall Park as his pro-American father Louis, Forrest Wheeler as Emery and Ian Chen as Evan.
ABC’s other comedy, “Cristela,” is co-written by and stars comedian Cristela Alonzo. The show centers around Cristela, who is out of law school and working on her career, but she’s in the middle of achieving the American Dream while retaining her family’s Mexican culture. “Cristela” also stars Carlos Ponce as her brother-in-law Felix, Terri Hoyos as her mother Natalia, Andrew Leeds as Josh and Sam McMurray as Trent.
The first image looks at both “Fresh Off the Boat” and “Cristela” are below. Both comedies will air in the fall. What do you think about the shows? Talk about it in the comments section below.
