'The Cleaning Lady' features a not-so-typical Filipino American family. |
UPDATED: Sept. 12 to include 'Quantum Leap."
One of laments of many AANHIPI of influence has been that they grew up without seeing themselves on the big screen or on television. That can't be said anymore.
There are lawyers, chefs, first responders, a slew of doctors, reality show stars, high school students and and even a superhero (or two) and an under-the-radar schemer on the immensely popular House of Dragons.
While there may seem to be a lot of AANHPI faces on television these days, AANHPI continue to be severely underrepresented, according to several recent studies on media diversity. But compared to five years ago, that shouldn't stop us from appreciating the increased presence as a sign of progress, small as it is.
There's lots of room for improvement and it is why we need to continue to demand more representation in the media, which shapes the ideals and the American image to the world and to ourselves.
I would love to see an Asian American version of Friends based in L.A. or San Francisco, or an Asian American family dramady without super powers that includes a responsible father figure. Until those shows matrerialize, we have a good foundation in which we are able to see ourselves:
The Cleaning Lady, Season 2, premieres Sept. 19. On Fox, 9 p.m. Mondays:
One of the most original series of last year, Thony de la Rosa, as played by Elodie Yung, who is an undocumented immigrant, came to the US seeking medical treatment for her son. Unsuccessful, she begins to live a double life, keeping secrets from her family, while cleaning crime scenes for Arman and dodging the law, including the smooth-talking FBI Agent Garrett Miller who is in pursuit. Using her cunning and intelligence to forge her own path in the criminal underworld, Thony does what is necessary to save Luca – even if it means sacrificing her own soul and values in the process. Last we saw Thony and her sister-in-law, played by Filipino Aussie Martha Millan, are about to embark on a path that will take them deeper into the underworld. Asian American fingerprints are all over this series developed by Chinese Canadian Miranda Kwok and produced by Filipino Canadian Shay Mitchell and Filipino American Rose Marie Vega.
The NCIS franchise really is trying to reflect Hawaii's diversity with its casting. It features Filipino American Vanessa Lachey as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, along with NCIS agents Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) and Jessica Knight (Katrina Law), track The Raven’s whereabouts to the island of Oahu and learn about his plans to attack RIMPAC (The Rim of the Pacific Exercises), the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, on the exciting conclusion to the special crossover event and the season two-hour premiere. A warning to fans, the NCIS and NCIS Hawai’i season premiere will be a crossover event merging the two teams. The two-hour premiere event puts the teams on the hunt for a dangerous suspect and unveils a complex network and a larger sinister plan that will take the D.C. team to Hawai’i in a race to thwart the next large-scale attack. It also stars Filipino American Yasmine al-Bustami, Alex Terrant, Noah Mills and Jason Atoon. I would love to see Tennant cook a Filipino meal for her family and friends. It's the Filipino way, hindi ba?
Quantum Leap, premieres September 19, 9 p.m. on NBC
The Resident, Season 6, premieres Sept. 20 9 p.m., Fox
We're including this show mainly because it features Maneshe Dayal as Dr. Devon Pravesh, and his apparent love interest, Anuja Joshi as Dr. Leela Devi unraveling the stereotype that Asian men can't be attractive to the opposite sex. Also of interest, Joshi's twin sister, Aneesha Joshi, plays Leela's free-spirited twin, whose role will get bigger as the surrogate mother of another doctor's unborn child.
'The Good Doctor' stars real-life Indian American twins Anuja and Aneesha Joshi. |
The Good Doctor, Season 6, premieres Oct. 3, 10 p.m. CBS:
The series' fifth season ended on a number of ups and downs, with the most joyous moment being Dr. Murphy (Freddie Highmore) finally getting married to Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) on the hospital rooftop with their friends in attendance. However, while re-entering the hospital to refresh supplies for the celebration, Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) finds Nurse Villanueva (Elfina Luk) stabbed and bleeding out. Nurse Villanueva warns Dr. Lim that she was stabbed by her abusive ex-boyfriend, but before Dr. Lim can react, she is stabbed twice, leaving her life in peril with her friends nearby, seemingly oblivious to her condition. Developed by producer Daniel Dae Kim.
Kung Fu, Season 3, premieres Oct. 5 9 p.m., CW
The action series had been a mid-season series but it has become part of CW's fall debuts. We left Kung Fu in a state of transition. Henry (Eddie Liu) decided to learn more about his father after the man died in his arms. It’s a journey that necessitated an end to his relationship with the central character Nicky Shen (Olivia Liang) despite the two being split by life and circumstances and not a loss of love and care for one another Others in the predominantly Asian American cast include:
- Tzi Ma as Jin Shen
- Shannon Dang as Althea Shen
- Tony Chung as Dennis Soong
- Kheng Hua Tan as Mei-Li Shen
- Jon Prasida as Ryan Shen
- Vanessa Kai as Pei-Ling Zheng
- Gavin Stenhouse as Evan Hartley
- Vanessa Yao as Mia
Young Rock, Season 2, Nov. 4 8 p.m. NBC
Late in the season, the adventures of your favorite WWE icon-turned-blockbuster movie star (a.k.a, Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson) returns to your small screen sooner. The comedy details the life of the very real celebrated movie star and WWE icon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and the various stages of his life that lead to his (fictional) run for president in 2032. The series is both narrated and executive produced by Johnson himself. The returning cast of Pacific Islanders includes Joseph Lee Anderson (Rocky), Stacy Leilua (Ata), Lia Maivia (Ana), and all three actors who play younger versions of Johnson: Constant, Adrian Groulx, and Uli Latukefu.
- Partner Track, Netflix
- Paper Girls, Prime
- Ms. Marvel, Disney
- Never Have I Ever, Netflix
- See, Apple+
- Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, Netflix
- Bling Empire, Netflix
- House of Ho, HBO Max
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