Dr. Ken Recap 1.02 – “The Seminar”

Growing up as an Asian-American, I never understood why my parents barely gave me any positive reinforcement, but as I got older and learned more about my parents and my culture, I was able to slowly connect the dots. You see, Vietnamese parents don’t usually praise their children’s achievements because don’t want their kids to stop being humble and striving to do better. Instead, they show their support by providing shelter, food, clothes, college tuition, and everything else to ensure that I could keep achieving. This cultural “clash” with my “American” upbringing was the source of many a conflict with my parents, which is why I was glad to see that last Friday’s episode of Dr. Ken was all about perceptions and misunderstanding (that old sitcom standby), with a slight Asian twist.

Dr. Ken’s parents are in town, which is an event dreaded by the whole family, especially his wife Allison. Ken’s promise to be a buffer between her and his emotionless parents are dashed as his non-reaction to friend and co-worker Clark’s announcement of becoming a registered nurse led to a series of event that accidentally resulted in Ken being forced to attend “Physician Sensitivity Training,” (or “DMV for doctors”). Fortunately, Ken eventually realizes during the seminar how Clark must have felt when he didn’t receive any recognition for his achievement and immediately apologized to his “work husband.”

While everything was going down at the hospital, Allison was facing her own “Korean Mt. Rushmore.” Throughout her marriage with Ken, she always believed that his parents didn’t think she was good enough for their “golden boy, the successful doctor”. However, after she finally confronts them, she learns that they actually do like her and that although Ken might be a doctor, his humility needs some work. In fact, sometimes they actually think that Ken might not be good enough for her.

This episode’s plot had two parallel lines. With Ken and his parents on one side, withholding their emotions, and Clark and Allison on the other, not knowing how to process that. Like with my own experiences, Allison’s American upbringing clashed with Ken’s parent’s Asian point of view, and she was not able to understand her in-laws true feelings toward her. But when everything is put out into the open, Ken’s parents finally understood why their daughter in-law always acts awkward around them, and become more open with her. Ken, once again, showed us that he was capable of learning from his mistakes, and Clark learns that while Ken might not give praises freely, he does, in fact, respect him.

I think we can all agree that relationships are the most important things in life, regardless of our ethnicities. Without proper communication, misunderstandings are bound to rise. If each individual can yield a little to one another, be more patient, and be honest to one another when there is an issue, relationships don’t have to be so hard. “The Seminar” portrayed this perfectly.

logo2

Featured Photo: Nicole Wilder / ABC

Fresh off the Boat Recap 2.03 – “Shaquille O’Neal Motors”

For those who may not know, buying a car is serious business in an Asian family. One must go into the dealership with their game face on, ready to take advantage of all the deals and not get taken advantage of in the process. Mentally, it’s like entering the Hunger Games, only not life-threatening (and less blood). This week’s episode of Fresh off the Boat explores high stakes adventure through the eyes of the heads of the Huang household.

In honor of their 12th wedding anniversary, Louis recreates the day he and Jessica got married by bringing her to a car dealership, Shaquille O’Neal Motors specifically, to pick out a second car (which they desperately need). Despite the thoughtful gesture, Jessica is uneasy about buying a new car; not so much out of frugality, but because as a proud, top notch bargainer, her confidence was shaken when they bought their first car and she accidently missed out on a deal for free floor mats. Luckily, Louis brings Jessica back to her senses and she regains her mojo to finally go back and get a good deal on a new car. Their coordinated tactics through the gauntlet of “top managers” sent to negotiate with them is eventually rewarded with a face to face with the dealership’s real top manager, the eponymous Shaq himself.

Meanwhile, Eddie and his brothers have their eyes on a waterslide that’s shaped like a hot dog (appropriately called the Hot Dogger) but they can’t afford to buy it themselves. After learning from his neighbors that his brother Evan’s limited edition Beanie Babies are worth some real cash, dollar signs appear in his eyes as he decides to use this new development to buy the waterslide. Although he may have missed a crucial step in the process and is later met with negative consequences when Evan finds out what he’s done.

This is the first episode of my memory where it was really about the relationship between Louis and Jessica. Their personalities may be anything but alike, but this episode showed how they really are on the same team. Randall Park and Constance Wu have such great chemistry together, their comedic timing and acting are on point as they naturally bounce off each other, especially in the negotiation scenes at the dealership.

This was also the first time where we see the Huang brothers together throughout a whole episode. It was nice to see all three of them in a storyline for once. Similar to Park and Wu’s performance, their scenes in this episode gave me a good look at how Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler and Ian Chen perform together and I have to say, they really do a convincing job as onscreen brothers.

Finally, I really liked O’Neal’s guest appearance as himself and I thought how he was incorporated into the storyline as the manager of his own car dealership was very clever. While he is not the first NBA star to appear on Fresh off the Boat, he still made a big impression (pun intended) in the two scenes he appeared in with a distinctive camera presence and impeccable comic timing. Also, this might be stating the obvious but I have to say: That computer Shaq was typing at looked tiny compared to him. My awareness for just how tall this man is popped out even more when he and Jessica stood up to shake hands on the car deal. I swear she looked like a small girl from the back of her head compared to him.

Another great outing for this show, until next week!

logo2

 

Feature Image Credit: ABC 

“Fresh Off the Boat” premieres Feb. 4: A new Asian American family takes the spotlight

“I need white people lunch,” exclaims young Eddie Huang midway through the pilot episode of ABC’s upcoming family sitcom, “Fresh Off the Boat.” “That gets you a seat at the table, and then you get to change the rules.”

Having just moved to the suburbs of Orlando from the cultural enclave of DC’s Chinatown in the mid 1990’s, he was quickly ostracized in his new, mostly Caucasian school for his ethnic-looking lunch and felt like a true minority for the first time.

“I never realized how rough it was back then [to be a minority],” Hudson Yang, the young actor who portrays Eddie, tells us. “Eddie had to do weird and crazy things to deal with it.” The 1990’s were a much simpler time than today, and without the internet or social media to escape his bubble, Eddie desperately wanted to not only fit in, but also be seen as a force to be reckoned with.

This attitude runs parallel to the expectations the Asian American community has for the freshman sitcom, set to debut as a mid-season replacement with a two-episode premiere on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, and the third episode airing in its regular timeslot on Tuesday, February 10, 2015. Two Asian American-led shows were recently cancelled: fellow first year ABC sitcom “Selfie,” and TBS’ “Sullivan and Sons,” which lasted three seasons. While there are still a few shows out there with strong Asian American characters, “Fresh Off the Boat” represents the first time in 20 years that an all-Asian family has taken center stage in a network sitcom (the last being Margaret Cho’s “All-American Girl” in 1995). From the announcement of its pickup by ABC to the release of the first trailer, Asian Americans wondered if this was finally their chance to get a seat at the table.

IAN CHEN, CONSTANCE YU, HUDSON YANG, RANDALL PARK, FORREST WHEELER

“Fresh Off the Boat” has generated positive buzz leading up to its premiere from both critics and community members. Advance screenings of the pilot were met with praise, and even cynics left the screenings with wary optimism, including its own executive producer and subject matter, Eddie Huang, who recently published a strongly worded op-ed about the production process (though he did conclude with his own reluctant stamp of approval).

A lot of the praise goes to the cast, led by Randall Park, a long underrated comedic force recently thrust into the limelight for his role as infamous North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un in “The Interview” (and himself a Kollaboration alum), and Constance Wu, a relative unknown who may be the series’ secret comedic weapon. The show is also supported by a strong writers room, led by executive producer Nahnatchka Khan, whose last project was the critically acclaimed “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23,” and includes Kourtney Kang, who was a writer-producer on CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother,” Sanjay Shah, former writer-producer on “Cougar Town,” and Ali Wong, writer-actress-comedian (and past Kollaboration host).

“I’m not kidding when I say that we might have the most diverse writers’ room in television,” claimed Randall during a press junket. Taking a few moments in between takes to chat, Randall admitted that he does feel the pressure to do right by Asian Americans, especially as a Korean American playing a Taiwanese immigrant, but in the end, his goal is to tell a great story. In his defense, he’s been working hard to make sure that he does the part of Louis Huang justice. In fact, Randall has been taking Mandarin lessons to work on his scenes with Grandma Huang, the show’s other comedic secret weapon, as well as his own Chinese accent.

CONSTANCE WU, HUDSON YANG, FORREST WHEELER

Accents obviously feature prominently in “Fresh Off the Boat.” Mr. and Mrs. Huang are both first generation immigrants in America, and while Randall and Constance are perfectly able to speak perfect English, for their characters, English was an adopted language. It’s to the show’s credit then that the accents are used as character traits and never as the joke, as many commenters feared after watching the trailer. Authenticity was a huge focus in portraying the Huangs, and showrunners Melvin Mar and Nahnatchka Kahn went to great lengths to keep an honest and relatable perspective while avoiding the trappings of stereotypes.

In the end, it’s the characters and the smart writing that really make this show shine. If the first two episodes are any indication, the show finds its footing right out of the gate and never lets off the accelerator, attacking touchy issues like the racial slur “chink” while also letting loose a few inside jokes (“Who knew Asians were into karaoke?”). Randall Park is in great form as Louis, the boundlessly optimistic patriarch of the Huang family, whose belief in the American dream has brought his family to the exotic suburbs of Orlando. Constance Wu, who many believe will become the series’ breakout star, is amazing as Jessica, the Stephen King-loving matriarch just trying to make the most of her family’s new situation. Hudson Yang brings his New York swag to the hip-hop loving Eddie Huang, and Forrest Wheeler and Ian Chen absolutely kill it in their scenes as the younger Huang siblings.

The real, grown up Eddie Huang may have some misgivings about selling his family’s story to network TV, but the truth is he may have given Asian Americans the most precious gift of all, a seat at the table.

FORREST WHEELER, IAN CHEN, RANDALL PARK, HUDSON YANG, CONSTANCE WU

Fresh Off the Boat premieres Wednesday, February 4 with two episodes at 8:30/7:30c and 9:30/8:30c, and begins its regular time slot of Tuesdays at 8/7c on February 10.

Photos courtesy of DISNEY/ABC TELEVISION GROUP © ABC

‘Selfie’ TV Pilot Review

Regarded as a modern-day adaptation of My Fair Lady and Pygmalion, Selfie follows the story of Eliza Dooley, a narcissistic social media-obsessed ditz, who enlists the help of Henry Higenbottam, a marketing genius, after her online reputation gets smeared by a humiliating viral video.

Continue reading “‘Selfie’ TV Pilot Review”

ABC Orders ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ to Series

After some fierce negotiations, ABC has finally closed a deal with 20th Century Fox TV and picked up the single-camera comedy Fresh Off the Boat.  This is a big day for the Asian American entertainment world since the last AA family comedy to air on network prime-time TV was Margaret Cho‘s All American Girl, which aired 20 years ago and got cancelled after only 19 episodes.

Continue reading “ABC Orders ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ to Series”