None of the TV networks get an 'A' grade for diversity, but some are trying

Led by 'Fresh Off the Boat,' ABC rated highest by an Asian American media group.

ASAM NEWS

WHICH of the major networks would you recognize for featuring the most Asian/Americans in its programming?

The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition gave ABC an overall grade of “B,” matching the highest grade the group has ever given a network in its 16 years of issuing this report card. NBC also scored a grade of “B” in the 2010-2011 season.

The APAMC recognized ABC for a new high for actors-a total of 21 regular and 23 recurring AAPI actors in prime time series last season.

By contrast Fox scored an incomplete. The network failed to submit its diversity report despite agreeing in a memorandum of understanding to do so. There may be a reason for this. The APAMC believes there were only six Asian/American regulars on Fox series in 2016-2017. That’s the lowest since 2008.

Fox has installed a new diversity team which has pledged to submit its report as soon as possible.

CBS had 16 Asian American regulars and 22 in recurring roles for an overall grade of “B-.” APAMC says the network missed an opportunity with Hawaii Five-0. Despite being based in a state with a majority Asian American population, the coalition says Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on the show are often limited to secondary roles. In addition, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park were released at the end of last season.

Similarly APAMC says NBC is missing an opportunity with CODE BLACK and NCIS: Los Angeles. Both are set in Los Angeles where there is a significant AAPI population. Neither show has an AAPI actor in a regular role.

NBC scored an overall grade of C+

Overall APAMC sees an improvement in diversity it attributes to a pipeline of diversity programs coming from a memorandum of understanding signed by the networks in 2000. The multi-ethnic media coalition includes the NAACP, the National Latino Media Council, American Indians in Film/TV, and the APAMC.

The networks were also rated for behind the scenes diversity.

______________________________________________________________________________

Some Italian/Americans aren't laughing at writer's Emmy remarks

Alan Yang, left, and Aziz Ansara celebrate their Emmy win.

ALAN YANG, who with his co-writer Aziz Ansara, won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy last Sunday, is under fire from some Italian/Americans.

While trying to make a point about the lack of representation of AAPI in the entertainment industry, while receiving his Emmy, Yang used stereotypes that angered Italian/Americans. 

“The National Italian American Foundation is disturbed by the very public degradation of Italian American history that was part of the 2016 Emmy Awards that aired last Sunday night,” said NIAF President John M. Viola in a statement released today, “where Mr. Alan Yang — in accepting his award for best writing in a comedy series — compared Italian American representations in film and television to portrayals of Asian Americans, pointing out that our populations are similar in size and yet we have much more representation in film and television.

“Mr. Yang then listed what he considered to be notable representations of Italian Americans in the entertainment industry citing Goodfellas, The Godfather, and The Sopranos.

“Mr. Yang’s comments, while meant to point out the under-representation of Asian Americans in film, ended up including a reckless disregard for Italian Americans by citing films that portray Italian Americans as violent, dim-witted, and involved with organized crime — all three — and insensitive stereotypes that in no way reflect the lives of everyday Italian Americans.”

RELATED:

• 'Master of None' writers win Emmys
• More AAPI stars at the Emmy Awards
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Quest Crew win Emmys
• Giving thanks for our immigrant parents
• 'Master of None' debuts with Aziz Ansari

"If I had time on Sunday," Yang responded with an Instagram post "I would've mentioned films like Titanic, Pulp Fiction, Raging Bull, Inception, Meet the Parents, Leaving Las Vegas, and Midnight Run, all of which star amazing Italian/American actors."

"But the point isn't to pit groups of people against each other. I was praising what I consider to be four masterpieces of film and TV. I hope someday Asian/Americans can achieve a fraction of what Italian-Americans have in the world of pop culture. We're not there yet. I love Harold and Kumar. It's one of the only times I've ever seen a dude who looks like me star in a movie and even speak English fluently. But Harold and Kumar ain't The Revenant," said Yang. "P.S. Let's get some more Italian/American and Asian/American actresses in leading roles, too." 

I agree with the NIAF statement. You shouldn't use one group's stereotype to argue against another group's stereotypes.

However, what Italian/Americans don't realize, while they may decry the gangster stereotype, there have been scores of movies depicting and celebrating Italian/Americans representing the wide breadth of people of Italian descent, from the examples cited by Yang in his defense to Coming to America  and Moonstruck to My Cousin Vinny, Rockie and Marty to the recent Oscar nominee Brooklyn. There are perhaps hundreds of non-stereotypical portrayals in the movies and television from which people can gather a deeper understanding and appreciation of Italian/Americans and their culture.

As Yang correctly pointed out in his Emmy acceptance speech, Asians have Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles and - oh, yeah - Mickey Rooney's character in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

As if to underscore the point about the lack Asians in American pop culture feeding the lack of exposure to AAPI people in general, Associated Press released a bunch of photos of the  cast of Masters of None and its writers at the Emmy awards show, in which they mixed up Yang with the actor Kelvin Yu. 

Yup! As Yang said in his acceptance speech, we still have a long way to go.

Report: Hollywood continues to be "an old (white) boys club"

WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

The new study released Feb. 22 on the motion picture and television industry about diversity in entertainment media is nothing new. It merely confirmed what minority actors and pop-culture pundits have been saying for years, Hollywood is "an old boys" club that systematically excludes African/Americans, Asian/Americans, Hispanic/Americans and other people of color.

Even as America is shifting to a minority majority country, you wouldn't know it by watching the movies and TV shows coming out of what most people consider the entertainment capitol of the world.

The USC report "Inclusion or Invisibility: Comprehensive Report on Diversity in Entertainment," concluded that an "epidemic of invisibility" runs throughout the entertainment media industry as if people of color didn't exist in America.

It is as if the media industry is in a time warp where it is perpetually stuck in 1950.

RELATED: #OscarsSoWhite - The Sequel

A study released by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism gives a failing grade to every movie studio and most TV networks.

Stacy L. Smith, a USC professor and one of the study's authors, said, "The prequel to OscarsSoWhite is HollywoodSoWhite," in reference to the hashtag that went viral on social media when all of the 20 the Oscar acting nominees turned out to be all white for the 2015 awards show. For the second straight year, the nominees for this year's Academy Awards that will air next weekend, didn't include a single actor of color or a single movie dominated by minority actors. Only the nomination of Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for the film Revenant broke the string of blinding whiteness.

Characters from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups are also excluded or erased from mediated storytelling. No platform presents a profile of race/ethnicity that matches proportional representation in the U.S. Over 50% of stories featured no Asian speaking characters, and 22% featured no Black or African/American characters. The complete absence of individuals from these backgrounds is a symptom of a diversity strategy that relies on tokenistic inclusion rather than integration.

Some of the more striking discrepancies include the fact that only a third of all speaking characters are female, at least half of all stories don't include a speaking African-American or Asian character, and females represent less than a quarter of all top executives. In short, the film and television industry does not match the demographic breakdown of the United States.

"Hollywood is not really (about) numbers, more so than it is nepotism," said Miki Turner, a full time lecturer at USC's Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. "People tend to hire the people they know and [that] look like them."

Including more underrepresented directors can lead to more diversity on screen, too. Only 26.2 percent of on screen characters came from underrepresented backgrounds whenever there was a white director. However, that numbers rose to 43.7 percent when a minority directed a project.

It appears that race, ethnicity and gender have a direct impact on what groups are represented on screen. Instead of hiring actors based on talent, these other factors play a more influential role.""People are invisible. Every person deserves to be seen and heard. These data make a compelling case that storytellers need to think beyond their own bias.”

"We see a titled reality of exclusion for different groups," Smith said. "My hope is that companies will… take actionable steps… to be more inclusive, so that we can see talent that looks like the population of the United States thriving on screen and behind the camera."

###

For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

TGIF FEATURE: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend cast takes on love; returns Jan. 25

Rachel Bloom and Vincent Rodriguez III, the main leads in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,
break into song during an interview.

INTRIGUED by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? During the last two weeks, you probably saw Rachel Bloom, who plays the television show's - well, crazy - title character, win the Golden Globe's Best Actress in a Comedy series and the Critics Choice Award in the same category. Not bad for someone who was a virtual unknown just 10 months ago.

In the show, the character, who is the object of her obsession, is Josh Chan, portrayed by Filipino/American Vincent Rodriguez III.

The musical romantic comedy is noteworthy for having an Asian/American romantic male lead. If that wasn't historic enough, it also brought the first Filipino/American family to U.S. audiences.

RELATED: Why you should be watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; TV's first Filipino/American family debuts

The finale will have Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga making a special singing appearance. We have no information on what her role will be like or if it will be a recurring character.

Crazy will have its 18-episode mid-season premiere on Jan. 25, Monday, 8 p.m. on the CW network. The show's future is uncertain beyond this first season because of its dismal ratings. Hopefully, Bloom's awards will bring some attention to one of the brightest and innovative comedies on television.

Thirteen episodes were originally ordered but a few episodes into the debut season, CW asked for five more episodes to bring the total number of episodes to 18. Invited to put the best possible spin on the mediocre ratings-to-date for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, CW president Mark Pedowitz … admitted he was unable to. “But we believe in the show, we stand by the show … we’re going to give it a chance to get seen,” he said. “I hope it comes back” for Season 2.

That's where you come in, friends. 

If you're a newcomer to the show, let the cast introduce you to their characters in the above video.

RELATED: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star wins Golden Globe; speaks on value of diversity

###

Asians-on-TV revolution continues into 2016

IT'S BEEN a remarkable year for Asians on American television. The sheer number of Asian actors working is unprecedented. 

Oh, and there's still that terrible stereotype lives on in Two Broke Girls, but now Han Lee and image that character perpetuates is balanced out by scores of other Asian roles. Now we can point to wide gamut of roles played by Asians: Heroes and villains, love interests, businessmen, superheroes and clumsy fathers, mothers who know best, doctors and cops, robbers and a vampire killer.

The historic 2015 fall TV season listed over 52 roles played by Asian/American actors and we are not even counting the upcoming Marco Polo and the Netflix movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel. The winter season which is about to begin in 2016 and we'll see some new additions beyond what was mentioned in a previous blog.

RELATED: Every role played by Asian/Americans & Pacific Islanders this season 

Nico Santo is interviewed here.

Superstore

NBC, Jan. 4

Sneak peek on Hulu now available.

SUPERSTORE will feature two Asian/American actors, Filipino/American Nico Santos and  Nicole Bloom, whose mother is Japanese.

Santos stars as Mateo, a new super-energetic employee at Cloud 9, on NBC's new comedy "Superstore." He's the co-worker everybody hates because he's a brown-noser.

Bloom portrays Cheyenne, Cloud 9's bubbly, young, pregnant employee.

America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") and Ben Feldman ("Mad Men," "A to Z") are the main stars in a workplace comedy about a unique family of employees at a supersized megastore. From the bright-eyed newbies and the seen-it-all veterans to the clueless summer hires and the in-it-for-life managers, together they tackle the day-to-day grind of rabid bargain hunters, riot-causing sales and nap-worthy training sessions. Did I mention it's a comedy?

Santos was born and raised in the Philippines and assimilated into American culture rather quickly by living in California by way of Portland, Oregon. He started doing stand-up in San Francisco and, in just a short amount of time, conquered the Bay Area comedy scene with his acute observations and quirky characters.

Nicole (Sakura) Bloom

Charming audiences all across the country with his sharp sarcastic wit and outrageous sensibility, Santos has that rare ability to be crass and snarky while at the same time remaining completely likable.

Santos has written for E! Network's "Fashion Police" and appeared on screen on Showtime's "Pride Comedy Jam," as well as "Ground Floor," "Mulaney" and "2 Broke Girls." He was also a regular panelist on "Chelsea Lately" and made his film debut in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2."

Bloom was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a child, she loved creating characters and making movies at home, which led to her involvement in theater, starting at age eight. At 14, she made the transition to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Bloom has studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade and the Groundlings Theatre and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Prior to "Superstore," she recurred on Showtime's "Shameless" and can be seen in such films as "Project X" and "Model Minority."

***

,

TV's Rush Hour" will star Jon Loo and Justin Hires.

Jon Foo

Rush Hour
CBS, 2016

RUSH HOUR - The TV version of the hit motion picture franchise that starred Jackie Chan and  Chris Rock as an unlikely pair of LAPD detectives. On the small screen, Chan's  Detective Lee, a Hong Kong lawman assigned to the LAPD, is played by Jon Foo. 

Det. Lee is described as a reserved, honorable master martial artist with lightning-fast moves who comes to L.A. to avenge his sister’s alleged death and learn more about her connection to a Chinese organized crime ring.

As in the motion picture, much of the comedy stems from the culture clash between the two main characters.

Foo comes from a line of experienced martial artists. His father practices karate and his mother, judo. Foo himself started learning kung fu at eight years old and began seriously training for wushu (traditional Chinese martial arts) at 15.

The CBS production is slated for a 2016 debut still doesn't have a premiere date.

***

The Vampire Diaries

Leslie-Anne Huff

CW, Thursdays, 8 p.m. EST

Leslie-Ann (Delfin) Huff  will be introduced this season in a recurring role on The Vampire Diaries, where she plays Rayna, a vampire hunter who returns to the world of the living to exact vengeance on her enemies. It's a role she can bite into.

Portraying Rayna is a breakthrough for Huff. Together with other Filipino/American actors, she has been  working to improve and increase the number of Filipino artists with significant roles in Hollywood. She'll be making her first appearance on Jan. 28.

In a previous interview, she talked about her work ethic that must have played the part in booking the Vampire Diaries.

"Just be good at what you do and you are who you are. Maybe you are a person of color; maybe you are a woman; but your work is going to speak for yourself and that's always my attitude going through projects," she said.

A southern California native, she graduated from UC Berkeley with honors and was deeply involved in the Filipino student organization on campus, co-producing the traditional Pilipino cultural show.

Although her resume says she's been acting since she was 5 years old, it wasn't until 2006 when her career really started. She already has a long line of credits. Huff is a versatile actress with a knack for comedy. She's also a writer-producer who creates her own opportunities as seen in her work in the independent short film, Rosie, as well as her award-winning web series, The Lifesavers.

***

Let's hope that the networks are finally getting the message that diverse casts reflecting America is good business. That doesn't mean that every show featuring Asian cast members will be a success or artistically acclaimed, there are going to be some clunkers along the way, just like all the other shows that have been cancelled prematurely. 

That brings the total of 56 TV roles played by Asian actors ... and counting.

UPDATE: Despite the "revolution" increasing the presence of Asian/Americans on television, they compose only 7.1 percent of all the roles on TV according a report by Fusion and most of those are secondary roles instead of roles that affect the narrative. of the story. 

For more news about Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News. 

###

TGIF FEATURE: Premiering Sunday, 'Into The Badlands' starring an Asian/American badass

Stephen Fung and Daniel Wu provides insight into their action-packed show' Into the Badlands.'

FINALLY, Into The Badlands, is here, premiering Sunday (Nov. 15) starring California-raised Daniel Wu, who may become the next big Asian/American action hero.

No yellow-face here. No eyes taped into a squint. No accents or speaking broken English. No mysterious sayings open to all kinds of misinterpretation. 

Anticipation for this AMC production has been building for a year and reached a crescendo with the previews at ComicCon in San Diego. Wu, who after years of starring in over 60 movies in Hong Kong, has come back home to see if a the tastes of the American television audience is ready for a heroic Asian badass.

Well ... OK, he's skilled in the martial arts. Some stereotypes are tough to kill. But he's a good guy. Or, at least he wants to be a good guy. A bad guy wanting to be a good guy. Something like that.

Be thankful for what he's not. Wu's Sunny is not: a sex-starved buffoon, a second banana (no pun intended), a nerd, a white guy's best friend or the anonymous Asian guy lurking in the background.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Wu looked up to some of martial arts’ biggest stars. “As a Chinese-American kid growing up here, there was not many role models I could look up to on the big screen,” he said. “The ones that appeared were Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Those were the guys that inspired me to want to learn martial arts.”

Wu, along with fellow executive producer Stephen Fung, serves as fight director for the series.

Although best known for his action films - and Badlands does nothing to dispel that - it may be a recently released romantic comedy that will bring him the to the attention of Hollywood producers and writers. Go Away Mr. Tumour, is a gigantic box-office hit in China, and it is also China's entry in the foreign-language Oscar category.

"It's not at all my objective to become an Asian-American star," says Wu. He says it only occurred to him recently that he's now become that rare animal on American television: an Asian lead. "This will only be significant in proving that American tastes are evolving if (Into the Badlands) succeeds," he says.

The six-episode martial-arts series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the last traces of civilization reside in territories controlled by power-mad feudal barons. Working for one of these is cold-blooded assassin Sunny (Wu), who embarks on a spiritual journey with a teenager, M.K. (Aramis Knight), in tow. (Although the role of M.K. was not intentionally written for an Asian actor, it turns out that Aramis is half-Pakistani.)

We will have to wait and see if Sunny gets the girl. Any white hero eventually ends up with the girl, right? Asian characters don't follow that path in U.S. productions. The danger of martial arts-based characters - especially those played by Asian actors - is that they are one-dimensional fighters and nothing else; essentially emotionally and physically neutered.

Let's hope that Wu, who is the show's executive producer, has enough moxie and pull with the AMC to allow Sunny evolve into a more complex, multifaceted character. That would help the push the show beyond the kung fu genre.

“It can’t be just a martial arts show,” says Wu. “That’s a very narrow niche. 

"Just like what ‘The Walking Dead’ did for the zombie genre, you have to elevate it to another level so an audience can get into it. It’s not zombies chomping on people. We’ve seen that since the ‘60s. It’s the same thing with us. We’re trying to create a really compelling story, around the martial arts.”

###

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.

###