Coming in 2015, ABC will present a new sitcom called “Fresh off

Coming in 2015, ABC will present a new sitcom called “Fresh off the Boat”, which focuses on daily challenges of Asian-American stereotypes. Not only is the show expected to be funny, it will be the first to focus on Asian Americans in more than 20 years!

“Fresh off the Boat” is based on a memoir of Eddie Huang, a chef and restaurateur. The 30-minute television show is set in the 1990s with the primary focus being on a 12-year-old boy named Eddie and his Taiwanese family. After arriving from Washington DC to Orlando, Florida, which is predominately Caucasian the family faces culture shock.

The family plans to open a steak house in Florida and while the mother struggles with the move, the father embraces what he sees as the “All-American Dream”. For the boys, their biggest struggles involve getting adjusted but also accepted in school.

Of all minority groups on television, Asian Americans are among the least represented although in the United States alone, there are approximately 18.9 people of Asian descent. The last Asian show was a comedy that aired on ABC in 1994 called “All-American Girl”. This Korean-American show starred Margaret Cho but unfortunately, it survived just one season.

Since that time, there have been a few other Asian American shows to include “The Mindy Project” starring Mindy Kaling and “Elementary” with Lucy Liu, but these types of shows are few and far between. In “Fresh off the Boat”, new life is breathed into Asian American television, with stars like Randall Park, Constance Wu, Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, and Ian Chen.