Anxiety over 'Fresh Off the Boat' TV sitcom eases up

Critics like what they see; premiere on Feb. 4

The cast of Fresh Off The Boat is being praised for its portrayals of an immigrant family adjusting to America.

THE EARLY REVIEWS are in for the ground-breaking sitcom Fresh Off The Boat and those of us who were worried about this make-or-break series for Asian Americans can breathe a little easier.

The "Daily Variety," the entertainment industry's newspaper almost gushed. TV columnist Brian Lowry writes: 

"The series mixes that kind of cultural specificity with universal themes, and in that sense is far more committed to its premise than, say, 'Black-ish,' where race regularly disappears as an issue. By contrast, one of the funniest bits in 'Fresh Off the Boat' comes in a later episode when Eddie brings home a terrific report card, and his mother marches into the principal’s office, complaining that his classes must be too easy.

Lowry does acknowledge the lack of diversity on American television and credits ABC for its "diversity push" amongst its situation comedies. He calls FOB the network's best sitcom this season.

The show is apparently funny on many levels. "That's the kind of expanded reach that Fresh Off the Boat (like Black-ish and The Goldbergs) has and needs," writes Tim Goodman of the "Hollywood Reporter." 

"This is a comedy first and foremost," Goodman says. "The laughs can't always come from the same source." In other words, race is just one source of jokes, there's school and all the situations about fitting in, assimilation and fresh takes on American culture that hopefully will find the audience laughing along with the  writers and producers.

Fresh Off The Boat is loosely based on the book of the same name written by Eddie Huang and is from the viewpoint of his 11-year-old self. Hudson Yang, who plays Eddie's character, Constance Wu, the mother, and Randall Park, who plays the father, are getting singled out for their portrayals.  

If the reviews are correct, don't get turned off by the first episode, which apparently relies on the same, old tired Asian stereotypes. By airing the second episode the same evening, viewers can reportedly still see the stereotypes but they can also see an evolution in the characters.

Hudson Yang, right, as Fresh Off the Boat's hip-hop loving Eddie Huang. 

That's the beauty of a series, characters can get more rounded and more complex beyond our first impressions. Let's hope ABC gives FOB more of a chance to achieve this than it did for the short-lived Selfie.

Despite their individual quirks, the Huang family is likable, which important if you want the American audience to commit itself to a half-hour every week. There has to be a reason to come back. TV viewers can hopefully find a bit of their own families in the Huangs' immigrant experience. The awkwardness of trying to fit in is a universal experience. Despite the mother's accent and the food that they eat, audience should see the Huangs as just another American family. We're all a little bit weird, unique, and similar at the same time, eh?

Not all the reviews were good but almost all were unanimous in praise of the cast.

FOB must seek that delicate balance between universality and what makes the show unique, which is the Asian American angle. America has not seen this side of the Asian American experience beside a few paragraphs in their history books about working on railroads and WW II.

The show premieres its first two episodes on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. before moving to its regular Tuesday evening slot. 

Come back to this blog a day or two after the show when I'll be giving my two cents.

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