Asians on TV: "A revolution is happening," Most Asian/Americans ever this season

The Huang family returns

The handy, dandy complete guide to Asian-viewing on TV
IF 2014 saw a trickle of Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders on American television, then 2015 is (relatively) a deluge. This week the fall season is launching a majority of shows and more will be released for the winter season.

Not counting the reality shows or daytime TV and not counting Marco Polo epic which has a huge, huge cast or the television/movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I count 52 roles being played by Asian/American or Pacific Islanders this year. I'd venture to guess that this a record.

With the number of shows that are being aired, the list below, while it looks plentiful, shows that the TV industry is starting to recognize that their audiences want more diversity in their actors and themes. However, there is still a long way to go if the industry wants to reflect its real audience.

Casting diversity has been the hot topic in production circles for the past few years but because of social media with its immediate interaction, the topic has really heated up. The success of shows like Fresh Off the Boat, Blackish and Empire was enough to force networks to rethink their casts and to be more willing to think out-of-the-box of when seeking new shows.

Keep in mind, although 2014 was an improvement from years past, a study by Fusion shows that TV shows featuring Asian/American in the lead roles may be still only in its starting phase.

America television has not done a good job depicting Asian/Americans but the upcoming television season could be turning point - if the ratings bear out. If ratings are poor for the shows featuring Asian/American leading roles, then it could be two-steps backwards as networks rethink any programming featuring Asians.

RELATED: It's Awards season, but not for Asian Americans

"Asian/American actors and those representing them are experiencing a sea change in the number of roles available to them," Deadline noted in a recent article. "The revolution is happening in a segment of the acting population that has been widely underserved for years, ..."

RELATED: Movie industry lacks diversity. So what's new?

Finally, it looks like all of those years of studies, reports and protests, something is being done about increasing the visibility of Asians. More than likely though, it is the growing realization of the changing audience and - it always comes down to this - the bottom line. According to a UCLA study, TV shows with a diverse cast do really well in ratings.

Even with the loss of Selfie's John Cho, Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari, The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi, Stalker's Maggie Q and Community’s Danni Pudi, television viewers can still catch a number of their favorite Asian/American stars as well as a wave of new up-and-coming stars.

LEAD ROLES

Fresh Off the Boat: The game-changing sitcom, very loosely based on restaurateur Eddie Huang's memoir,  features the 3-generation Taiwanese/American Huang family returns for a second season stars Constance Wu, Randall Park, Hudson Yang, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen and Lucille Soong.

Marco Polo: Literally a cast of thousands (of Asians and a few Pacific Islanders, most of them digitalized) since the show is supposed to take place in 11th century China following the adventures of the lone white buy in the country. But despite criticism from the Asian/American media, Polo is used as the "bridge" to the more interesting Chinese characters. The epic offers an opportunity for a whole lot of Asian actors to portray complicated people such as Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan and Joan Chen as his Empress Chabi and a slew of newcomers (to American TV audiences) including Remy Hii as Prince Jingim, Olivia Cheng as Mei Lin, Claudia Kim as Khutulun, Uli Latukefu as Byamba, Chin Han as Jia Sidao, and Tom Wu as Hundred Eyes.

Rumors are circulating that Glenn, Steven Yuen's
character in The Walking Dead, may meet his demise.
Please, no-o-o-o!

The Walking Dead: Steven Yuen as Glenn is apparently the only Asian to have survived the freaking zombie apocalypse. Glenn's future may be in doubt this year in a show known for killing off major characters. So, all you social networkers, start hitting those keyboards and start a campaign to keep Glenn alive. 

Elementary: Lucy Liu is back as the more-than-able assistant Dr. Watson to the defective detective Sherlock Holmes.

Mindy's Project: Mindy Kaling returns as date-seeking Mindy. Maybe she'd have better luck with an Asian boyfriend? Her sitcom has moved to Hulu. 

Scorpion: Elyes Gabel is the main genius. (Either the character, Walter O'Brien, is not Asian or he hasn't come to grips with his ethnic roots.) The show also features co-star Jadyn Wong as another genius, Happy Quinn.

Beauty and the Beast: Kristin Kruek as the beauty.

ALSO RETURNING 

Asian actors playing prominent (but not the lead) roles:

• Hawaii 5-O: Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Pak play detectives in the ensemble cop-and-robbers drama. The show is unique that it features a host of other Asain cast members and extras. The strong presence of Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders is unavoidable considering the show's locale.
• Grimm: Reggie Lee returns as Sgt. Drew Wu, whose role keeps getting bigger now that he is now officially part of the secret creature-killing team of the Portland PD.
• Big Bang Theory: Kunal Nayyar reprises his role as Raj Koothrappal, the second-worst Asian stereotype on television.
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Ming-Na Wen plays agent Melinda May; Chloe Bennet plays Skye in this TV adaptation of Marvel comics. 

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post did not include Blacklist cast members, The Talk's Julie Chen and Viking's surprise casting.

• Two Broke Girls: Unfortunately, Matthew Moy returns as Han Lee, the worst  Asian stereotype currently on TV.
• Red Band Society: Griffin Gluck, the comatose patient around whom the rest of the cast circles, could have been seen as a white boy if not for seeing his mother, Korean/American actress Susan Park.
• The Mysteries of Laura: Janina Gavankar as Detective Meredith Bose.
• Orange Is The New Black: Kimiko Glenn as Brook Soso, Lori Tan Chinn as mysterious don't-mess-with-her Chang.
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Ki Hong Lee plays a character with the unfortunate name of Dong Nguyen, a potential love interest of the main character.
• Z Nation: Pisay Pao is back as the mysterious Cassandra in this blood-splattering version of the zombie apocalypse.
• Blacklist: Amir Arison as Aram Mojtabai and Mozhan Marmo as Samar Marno are part of the elite, secret FBI team.
• Grey's Anatomy: The Asian scrub nurse Bokhee, who seems to make all the surgeries in the 11 seasons of this popular medical/hookup drama, is reportedly played by a real-life nurse; no lines, no big scenes, just a dependable Asian. Diversity advocate and producer Shonda Rhimes still needs to replace the huge hole left when Sandra Oh left the series based in a city that has a large Asian/American population. Let's hope Rhimes does something about this.

NEW PROGRAMS

It's not just the increased number of Asians that are going to be on our TV sets this fall and winter, but the number of quality roles they are playing makes 2015 different from previous years. Besides being the stereotypical comedic relief in some shows, in other programs Asians will be playing doctors, martial artists, heroes and love interests. Yes! Love interests! Despite the failure of John Cho's Selfie to break that barrier, we may actually see some Asians who have multi-faceted personalities besides being a buffoon, doctor or martial artist. Asian/Americans can be romantic leads!

THE NEW LEADS

Into the Badlands: Steven Wu as the motorcycle-riding badass warrior Sunny and Aramis Knight portrays his protege M.K. The duo fights outlaws and warlords in a dark future of a  dystopian America where guns are outlawed. Watch for its November premiere.

Dr. Ken: Comedic actor Ken Jeong plays a Dr. Ken Park who yearns to be a standup comedian. His family includes his wife played by Suzy Nakamura, Albert Tsai as son Dave, Krista Marie Yu plays daughter Molly. Margaret Cho, who starred in the ill-fated  Asian/American sitcom All American Girl, will return to primetime TV as Dr. Ken's sister. The Parks join the Huangs as the second Asian/American family on television.

Quantico: Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra will play the lead Alex, an FBI rookie learning the ropes at the FBI's training facility while kicking ass and looking beautiful. 

Heroes Reborn: Masi Oka will reprise the role of Hiro Nakamura from the original Heroes science fiction series and Sendhil Ramamurthy returns as Dr. Mohinder Suresh. They'll be joined by newcomer Kiki Sukezane as the katana-wielding Miko.

Fear The Walking Dead: In this Walking Dead spinoff, Cliff Curtis, a Maori/American, plays the father Travis Manawa of the wonderfully blended lead family trying to survive the zombie apocalypse in diverse southern California. In the third episode, the first Asian zombie in the Walking Dead universe made a brief, but meaningful, appearance.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Vincent Rodriguez III as Josh Chan in this highly anticipated "girl-meets-(Asian)-boy" musical comedy. Who knows if romance blossoms and if Rodriguez gets to kiss the girl, a historic act that eluded John Cho in Selfie.

Master of None: Aziz Ansari gets his own vehicle to star in. He plays Dev, who doesn't have his act together, a starving actor (is that redundant?) in New York.

Rush Hour: the TV adaptation of the cop-comedy movie will star John Foo as Detective Lee and his younger sister Kim Lee will be played by Jessica Van.

SUPPORTING ROLES

• Truth Be Told: Follow the relationship adventures of two couples, one of which is made up of Indonesian/American Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Mitch and Filipina/American Vanessa Lachey in what may be a breakthrough comedy. I haven't seen any previews yet so I don't know if Gosselaar's roots will be an issue. They might have him playing a white guy, kind of reverse yellow face.
• Chicago Med: Brian Tee stars as Dr. Ethan Amari in this medical drama.
• Childhood's End: Charlotte Nicdao plays Rachel Osaka in this television version of the science fiction classic.
• Code Black: Melanie Chandra portrays Dr. Malaya Pineda and Raza Jaffrey plays Dr. Neal Hudson in another medical drama.
• The Expanse: Florence Faivre has the part of Julie Mao, the girl who needs to be rescued to save the solar system in this space opera.
• Grandfathered: Ravi Patel's character Ravi is the best friend and chef to restaurant owner John Stamos.

• 

  The Truth Be Told cast will tackle any topic
  your parents told you not to talk about.T

• Minority Report: Li Jun Li plays a CSI tech Akeela in this sci-fi production based on the movie of the same name.
• The Man in the High Castle: Another sci-fi classic features Joel de la Fuente as Inspector Kido and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa plays Nobosuke Tagomi. The storyline is based on the premise on what the world would be like if the Axis had won WWII. 
• Vikings: Major surprise! Of all the TV shows, I never thought an Asian would appear on - Vikings, a tale of the 12th century Scandinavian marauders in Europe - is near the top of the list. Dianne Doan will play Yidu, a mysterious slave from a "distant land" in the saga's fourth season.

UNSCRIPTED ASIANS

FABLife: This ABC afternoon talk show features exuberant model Chrissy Tiegen as a foodie extraordinaire and fashionista Joe Zee as part of a diverse team of hosts talking about ... anything that can make your life more enjoyable, fun and Fab, with tips on how to enjoy life or make your life more "fab" ala The View.

The Talk: Julie Chen continues to rein in the hosts in this popular daytime gossipy/confessional talkshow.

This Is Life With Lisa Ling: Journalist Lisa Ling returns with one of the most informative investigative shows on TV on a variety of topics.

Survivor: The first reality/adventure show still attracts viewers. It normally features a diverse cast of ordinary people trying outwit and outsmart the other contestants. This season, two Asians will be in the cast of former cast members: Woo Hwang, the martial arts instructor who valued honor over strategy, and Peih-Gee Law, the abrasive Type-A lawyer from San Francisco.

Amazing Race: Like other reality shows, Amazing Race tries for a diverse cast. This year, the Asian/American team is Cindy and Rick Chac, newlyweds from San Diego.

Dancing With The Stars: Carrie Ann Inaba is the lone Asian in this dancing competition in which she is one of the judges. Professional dancer Cheryl Burke, a Filipina/American, has stepped away to other gigs.

BONUS: TV MOVIE

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend: A much-anticipated sequel to the successful groundbreaking movie will feature Michelle Yeoh reprising her movie role as well as a bunch of other Asian actors, including  Harry Shum, Jr., Jason Scott Lee, Roger Yuan, Eugenia Yuan, JuJu Chan, Chris Pang, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo. This is huge, especially for those of us who enjoyed the original. It will premiere simultaneously in IMAX and on Netflix in 2016.

* * *

As someone who grew up without any significant role models in American media, I know how that significant gap has impacted me. It was an important element in forming who I am became as an adult. I'm somewhat relieved that the younger members of my family won't have to experience that, but as I mentioned at the top of this post, there is still a long way to go.

(NOTE: My count is just for the fall and winter seasons. If summer programs were to be included, it would up the number of Asians considerably.)

RELATED: Summer of Asian watching

In the context of American society, does this year's relative increase of the Asian/American and Pacific Islander presence constitute a revolution? Maybe, but we need to see what happens when some of these shows get shot down because they're just not good enough to garner good ratings. Will the television honchos retreat?

At an individual level, growing up as an Asian kid these days, might be little bit easier because Asians are finally being depicted in a much wider gamut of roles and programs, which translates, hopefully, to a wider acceptance of Asians as an integral part of American culture and society.

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