Jo Koy draws from his Filipino American life for material for a TV situation comedyJO

Jo Koy will play a nurse in a sitcom centering on a Filipino American family

Among Filipinos and Filipino Americans, family is everything: more than country, more than city, more than community, more than one's self. 

Filipino American comedian Jo Koy is producing and starring in a TV series centering around a Filipino American family. 

Asian American families are still a rare commodity on American television.

The sitcom All American Girl starring Margaret Chol featured a Korean American family and Fresh Off the Boat centered around a Taiwanese American family. It will be the first time a Filipino family will be fully portrayed on U.S. television.

There have been Filipino characters on U.S. TV for the last few years -- Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto) in The Good Place and Mateo Liwanag (Nico Santos) in Superstore -- but they were individual characters whose background we barely knew. Their families were practically nonexistent.

A peek at Filipino families was given in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend where we meet the family of Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III); and in The Assassination of Gianni Versace we are introduced  to the drark portrayal of Andrew Cunanan's (Darren Criss) father (Jon Jon Briones).

Currently, the Mindy Kaling production, Never Have I Ever, features an Indian American family of teenager Devi Vishwakuma played by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

The ABC half-hour sitcom, Josep, which is currently in development, will follow the life of a hardworking Filipino American nurse played by Koy. Written and executive produced by showrunner Steve Joe, Josep will also see its lead character navigating dating, fatherhood and his outspoken mother moving in with him.

If you've seen Koy's standup routines, you know that a good portion of his material comes from being raised by his Filipino mother and her eccentric family. 

Koy is at the peak of his popularity and his schedule reflects that. He is currently on his Just Kidding tour. Koy can also be heard on his weekly podcast, ​The Koy Pond with Jo Koy ​by Starburns Audio. Listeners can dive in each week as Koy welcomes friends and fellow comedians.

The Filipino American comedian is also producing a movie featuring a FIlipino cast, Easter Sunday. The family comedy is based on his life experiences and features Lou Diamond Phillips, Eva Noblezada, Brandon Wardell, Tia Carrere, Lydia Gaston, Rodney To, Melody Butiu, Joey Guila and Elana Juatco.

In addition, his memoire “Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo,” was released last March. The book shows how Koy’s mixed-race background ultimately shaped his brand of comedy and his determination not to give up on his childhood dream to be a stand-up comedian. 

“I’m not trying to pat myself on the back. It was a long road,” Koy said. “And when I finally got to this point in my career, I just looked at my manager. I was like, ‘Man, I would really like to tell people, you know, this struggle, and how hard it was to really get here.’”