‘Fresh off the Boat,’ in a safe harbor
ABC sitcom about a Chinese family plays on a familiar theme
February 3, 2015
American popular culture has a long tradition of producing warmhearted looks at the comical problems of ethnic groups that haven’t yet blended into the melting pot. The usual lesson is that deep down we’re all the same.
A divergent tradition shows that the process of melting is painful and that some groups will never be considered completely blended, either in their own eyes or in the eyes of the majority. This lesson is less comforting.
ABC’s new sitcom “Fresh off the Boat,” about a Chinese family in Orlando, Fla., largely falls into the first tradition. The writers find the common humanity in the ethnic particularities, eliciting a few laughs and smiles along the way.
But the show’s premiere episode, written by its executive producer Nahnatchka Khan, briefly touches on the darker side of the immigrant experience. The producers, however, evidently didn’t want to get too political or controversial, and they quickly stopped digging in this vein of satire. But the moment is enough to make the episode end awkwardly.
Viewers who simply want to relax will be relieved to learn that the two other episodes provided for review mostly go for warm chuckles and often succeed. Viewers hoping for some incisive satire about prejudice and stereotyping will be disappointed.
Debuting with two episodes this Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 8:30 and 9:31 p.m., “Fresh off the Boat” is based on a memoir of the same name by Eddie Huang, one of the show’s producers. In the first episode, set in 1995, 11-year-old Eddie Huang (Hudson Yang) moves with his family from Chinatown in Washington, D.C., to a very white neighborhood in Orlando.
Eddie’s father, Louis (Randall Park), has recently opened a western-themed steakhouse that is doing poorly. He decides that customers are confused when he greets them and that he has to hire a host with “a nice happy white face like Bill Pullman.”
Eddie’s mother, Jessica (Constance Wu), is less assimilated and less enamored of the American dream. She is bewildered by the neighborhood moms, who travel in a pack on Rollerblades.
Eddie sticks out in his own family because of his love of hip-hop music and style. Initially, this helps him win a seat at the cool-boys table in the school cafeteria, but then the other boys are disgusted by his Chinese lunch.
Eddie tries to get his mother to buy Lunchables. “You want to fit inside a box,” she says. “That’s so American.”
Toward the end of the episode (spoiler alert!), another boy in school uses the most offensive epithet for a Chinese person — the equivalent term for many other minorities would have been bleeped out — and Eddie kicks him in what the school principal calls “the groinal area.”
Louis and Jessica are more upset that the other boy isn’t in trouble for using that epithet, and they prove how assimilated they are by threatening to sue. Attentive viewers will be upset that the use of the epithet otherwise has no dramatic consequences.
The episode ends with a commercial that Louis has shot for his restaurant that contains several stereotypes about white Americans. Other than reminding us that prejudice is bad, the point is hard to discern.
The night’s second episode addresses a Chinese stereotype. Eddie gets straight A’s on his first report card from his new school. The report cards of his two younger brothers, Emery (Forrest Wheeler) and Evan (Ian Chen), are covered with cutesy stickers in place of grades.
Instead of being proud, Jessica decides that the local schools are too easy. In the absence of a Chinese after-school enrichment program, she teaches the boys at home.
Louis is happy because this means Jessica doesn’t have time to berate the staff and customers at the restaurant. To save money, she has stopped up some of the holes in the pepper shakers.
Louis believes that treating people well will make them treat you well in return. “You think people are inherently good,” Jessica tells him. “They’re not!”
In a running joke, various family members realize that the others are hiding something when they say, “Love you!” The narrator, the real grown-up Eddie Huang, explains that his family never expressed emotions with words.
In the third episode, airing on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at the show’s regular time, 8 p.m., Jessica and Louis try to figure out what a Daytona 500 party could be. Jessica bonds with Honey (Chelsey Crisp), a neighbor’s sexy second wife, over their mutual love of Stephen King. Eddie tries to figure out how he can use Honey to impress his peers.
The comedy is less about being fresh off the boat than being a fish out of water, but the episode is amusing.
As has been noted everywhere, “Fresh off the Boat” is the first sitcom about an Asian-American family since Margaret Cho’s “All-American Girl,” which went off the air, coincidentally, in 1995. Given that record, it’s understandable that the writers will be skittish.
“Fresh off the Boat” will likely rely on relatable stories illustrating that aforementioned common humanity. That’s not exactly fresh, but it could keep the show afloat.
Related News
Coming, next phase of the spectrum auction
Hispanic share of ad spending: 8.4 percent
Long-term media economy outlook: OK
NBC’s ‘Telenovela’: Fun but flawed
Friday night belongs to ABC once again
Thanksgiving football boosts NBC’s ‘Tonight’
Correction: La Musica was not first
‘The Wiz’ tops last year’s NBC musical
Coming, a major overhaul of OOH ratings
For newspapers, a painful look back
New York: A happier holiday season
Rachel, help, I’m all over the internet
Weekend TV: ‘Model’ struts off the runway
People
- Lucy Silberman becomes managing editor at Maxim
- Mark Robinson and Blaise Zerega join Epic Magazine
- Matthew O'Toole rises to senior business editor at Harper's Bazaar
- Katrina Brooker becomes senior editor at LinkedIn
- Rich Jaroslovsky becomes tech columnist at Observer.com
- Linda Berman becomes director of scripted content at Lincoln Square
- Italia Ricci joins the cast of CBS's 'Supergirl'
- Tip 'T.I.' Harris and Mekhi Phifer join A&E's 'Roots'
- 'En la Lucha' host Hernán Molina leaves Estrella TV
This week’s top movies, songs and books
This week’s broadcast ratings
This week’s cable ratings
This month’s new media traffic data
This week’s daypart ratings
This week’s younger viewer ratings
Senior media planner opening in Boston
Assistant media planner job in Torrance, Calif.
Digital media planner opening in Seattle
Paid social media planner wanted in McLean, Virginia
Assistant OOH strategist position in New York