Riz Ahmed's historic Emmy award; Aziz Ansari repeats as winner

Riz Ahmed, left, and Aziz Ansari won Emmy's last night.

HISTORY was made at the Emmy's last night (Sept. 17) when TV's most coveted honor was awarded to Riz Ahmed, the first Asian/American actor to win an Emmy.

Ahmed won the award for Outstanding Acting In A Limited Series for his work on HBO’s The Night Of. In his speech, the British actor gave a shout out in his acceptance speech to South Asian Youth Action and The Innocence Project for helping him prepare for his turn as Nasir ‘Naz’ Khan on the HBO limited series.

“It was an endurance test. It was quite emotionally and physically draining work,” Ahmed told EW. “But I just caught the slightest glimpse of what it would be like to be a prisoner, as an actor who got to go home every day, and I found it extremely difficult. I can’t even begin to think what it must be like for people who live in that situation. Just experiencing that for eight months and to shoot for eight months was new for me. So the fact that the most challenging project for me has also been  probably the most prominent and successful, certainly in America, that’s satisfying.”

“It is always strange reaping the rewards of a story based on real world suffering but if this show has shown a light on some of the prejudice in our societies, xenophobia and some of the injustice in our justice system, then maybe that is something,” said Ahmed.

The only other Asian/American to win an Emmy for acting was Archie Panjabi who won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role on CBS's The Good Wife in 2010.

For the second year in a row, Aziz Ansari won the award for Best Comedy Writing. He shared the award this year with Lena Waith who teamed up to write the "Thanksgiving" episode in Master of None's second season.

Ansari stepped aside and let Waithe have her historic win as the first Black woman to win the Emmy for Best Comedy Writing.

“Thank you for embracing a little Indian boy from South Carolina and a queer Black girl from Southside of Chicago,” said Waithe.

The episode the duo won was for the “Thanksgiving,” episode in which Waithe’s character, Denise comes out to her family. It immediately garnered acclaim, but more than that, it was a personal story for Waithe.

Ansari said of the episode, “It was pretty ambitious — even finding two young Indian kids was hard. It was the most demanding episode for the whole crew and everyone came through.”

Ansari added that he hopes “that people see the different kind of stories out there and that people are responding to them.”

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Riz Ahmed, Aziz Ansari garner multiple Emmy nominations

In a scene in 'Master of None,' Aziz Ansari is lectured by his real-life father.

THE EMMY'S, television's equivalent to the Oscars, has always shown more diversity in its nominations and winners than the motion pictures awards. This year is no exception.

Master of None, the acclaimed TV series created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, received three Emmy nominations. 

The Netflix product was nominated for an Emmy in the Best Comedy Series category and Writing for a Comedy Series. Ansari also was nominated for Best Comedy Actor.

Riz Ahmed received two Emmy nominations: Best Actor in a Limited Series for HBO's The Night Of and as a guest actor in a comedy series for an episode of Girls. His costar, John Turturro was also nominated in the same category.

Riz Ahmed in 'The Night Of.'

BD Wong was nominated as a guest actor in a drama series for his role in Mr. Robot.

The Night Of, which depicted a Pakistani/American family and communitiy, also received a nomination Outstanding Limited Series category. 

Silicon Valley, which features two Asian/American actors in its ensemble: Kumail Najiani and Jimmy O. Yang, was also nominated in the Best Comedy Series.

Westworld's writing team of Lisa Joy and Lena Waithe was nominated for Writing for a Drama Series.

Nominated for Writing for a Nonfiction Program was Prashanth Venkataramanujam, who was part of the writing team including CeCe Pleasants, Sanden Totten, Mike Drucker & Flora Lichtman for Bill Nye Saves the World. 

Johanna Gaines and her spouse Chip were nominated for Best Structured Reality Program for their HGTV show, Fixer Upper. Johanna Gaines is half Korean. Although not considered one of the major categories, we need to bring attention to the casting teams for Master of None (Cody Beke & Teresa Razzauti) and Silicon Valley (Jeanne McCarthy, Nicole Abellera Hallman & Leslie Woo). Both shows are noted for their diverse casts. 

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TGIF FEATURE: Hit series, 'Master of None,' returning, May 12

'MASTER OF NONE,' the award-winning TV series that peeked  into the lives of young Asian/American adults surviving in New York released its official trailer for the second season this week.

The brilliant Netflix series, which we described as Friends with people of color, inspired by the experiences of executive producers Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang will be returning for its second season next month after an 18 month hiatus.

Why so long?

"This show isn't the type of show where we're going to be able to just turn around and turn it in right away," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "We covered so much stuff in season one and wanted to make sure the ideas we had in season two were equally interesting and the episodes were just as ambitious. So we took a long break, and that's why season two hasn't come out yet.

"The show was so personalized, we dumped our heads into this, we just needed to be people and live our actual life," Ansari said.

The first season, which garnered Yang and Ansari writing awards, was most noteworthy when it explored the relationship the main characters had with their immigrant parents, something that struck a sensitive nerve with the AAPI viewers and hopefully, opened the eyes of none immigrants. Thankfully, Ansari's real parents who played his TV parents will be returning.

Based on the trailer, after traveling abroad, Dev (Ansari) returns to New York to take on challenges in his personal and family life, a new career opportunity, and a complex, developing relationship with someone very meaningful to him.

It looks as though Dev is living La Dolce Vita in Italy (an apparent tribute to Frederico Fellini?)  before returning to New York. We also don't see Rachel, played by Noel Wells, who was living with Dev before leaving for adventures in Japan. So it appears Dev is single again and he'll be going through the dating scene again. Most likely, he will be drawing from his book, Modern Romance, which explored the topic in detail from a comedian's perspective. 

Circle it on your calendar, Master of None's second season will start May 12 on Netflix.

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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.

'Master of None' wins an Emmy for Outstanding Writing

via GIPHY

Writers and creators of "Master of None" Alan Wang and Aziz Ansari accepted their Emmy.

DIVERSITY - racial, gender, sexual orientation, lifestyle - was threaded throughout the Emmy awards show Sunday night - from the opening monologue by Jimmy Kimmel to the series of awards to actors of color.starting with the Outstanding Writing for a Comedy, won by Ansari Aziz and Alan Wang for their writing in "Parents," the episode in Master of None about their parents' journey to America and the sacrifices they made to make sure their children had better lives.

The diversity at the the Emmy was in stark contrast to the Academy Awards for the motion picture industry that sparked #OscarsSoWhite when no person of color was nominated for its acting awards two consecutive years.


It is the first Emmy for both Ansari and Yang. Yang's acceptance speech touched on the need for diversity in programming. He said Asian/Americans have "a long way to go" in terms of representation in Hollywood, but he believes they can get there. He addressed Asian parents saying that if a few of them could get their kids "cameras instead of violins" then "we'll be all good."

RELATED:

• 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

Time ran out before Ansari could issue his "thank you's,"on stage but in interview backstage, he said thanks to his own parents, who played themselves in the episode,  “And those people in South Carolina who were mean to my parents — shout out to them!” added Ansari. 

The "Parents" episode struck a nerve with a lot of young Asian/Americans who saw their own parents in the show.

Both have been outspoken about the lack of diversity among characters on television before, with Ansari having previously called out television network CBS for its lack of diversity. Master of None appears on Netflix

Later in the show, as Ansari presented an award, he joked that he'd be voting for Donald Trump. He suggested that all the Muslim and Hispanic nominees should leave. "Wow, this would be so much easier if we were at the Oscars," he joked.

"America Ferrera, nice try changing your name to America," Ansari added. "You're not fooling anybody. You're out."

Master of None had previously been recognized by the Critics Award, Peabody Awards and American Film Institute Award.

The Emmy Awards for the television industry reflected the reality of the people of the United States better than the Oscars but there is still a long way to go: Master of None could have won best comedy and Ansari could have won best actor in a comedy; Constance Wu of Fresh Off the Boat should have been nominated in the best actress in a comedy category and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend should have been nominated for Best Comedy.

This year, 25% of the acting nominees were people of color — since the first Emmys, just 9% of the nominees in total have been actors of color — so 2016 was certainly a step up.

As pointed out by Yang, there are 17 million Asian/Americans in the U.S and 17 million Italian/Americans. “They have The Godfather, Rocky, Goodfellas, The Sopranos … We have Long Duk Dong,” he said, referring to the stereotypical Sixteen Candles character.

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#EmmysAintSoWhite: Aziz Ansari garners a bunch of Emmy nominations

A scene with the "parents" from the Emmy-nominated episode Parents from "Master of None."

ACTOR and comedian Aziz Ansari was nominated for Emmys in a number of categories for his hit series Master of None - which might best described as Friends with friends of color.

The Netflix production, which Ansari created with Alan Wang, was nominated in the Best Comedy Series category.

Ansari was also nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. In addition, the heralded episode Parents, won nods in Best Writing in a Comedy and Best Direction of a Comedy.

In the heartfelt episode Parents, the lead characters - two single Asian/Americans living in New York City, acknowledged the sacrifices made by their immigrant parents, touching the heartstrings of a generation of Asian/Americans.

"It's been really incredible," Ansari told Vulture. "I think the show has definitely resonated with a lot of people who are like, 'I've never seen this perspective,' and a lot of South Asian people and people of color have said the nicest things about our show. I do feel like it's an underdog show, in a sense. For us to get the recognition like this is really super-flattering. We're really excited."

Actress Michelle Ang from Fear the Walking Dead was also nominated for outstanding actress in a short form comedy or drama series.
In the more esoteric categories, Quest Crew, made up mostly of Asian/American dancers, were nominated in the Best Choreography for their performance in America's Best Dance Crew. 

In the same category, Vincent Rodriguez III's performance in "A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes" in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was cited. If you haven't seen it, here it is:

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was also picked for the categories of Best Original Music & Lyrics for "I'm Going On A Date With Josh's Friend"/"Settle For Me;" Best Title Theme Music and Best Editing.

The nominations for the 2016 Emmys is noteworthy for its diversity and the many more opportunities for actors of color, which stands in stark contrast to the all-white nominations for the Academy Awards acting categories.

With the new version of Roots and several hit programs starring -- not just "featuring", but "starring" -- minority actors, such as The Good Wife, Blackish and Empire, the selections for nominations made it easier to make the nominations more racially diverse in more categories.

Constance Wu, from the groundbreaking comedy Fresh Off the Boat, was overlooked by the members of the industry despite being widely praised by critics and fans. Her nuanced depiction of Jessica Huang and comedic timing is perfect. Too much one way or the other and she could be accused of stereotyping or lampooning. But she is able to negotiate that fine line.

The Emmy's award ceremony will be held on Sunday, Sept. 18, at the Microsoft Theater, and will air live on ABC, with Jimmy Kimmel acting as host.

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TGIF FEATURE: CAAMFest 2016 is a huge celebration of Asian and Asian/American films and videos

Fast & Furious' Sung Kang talks about his career.

FOR those who love film and video, this weekend you can be in your glory. CAAMFest presents a 10-day smorgasbord of documentaries, home movies, personalities, shorts and feature films from the US and from Asia,

Formerly the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), CAAMFest is an 11‐day celebration of film, music, food and digital media from the world’s most innovative Asian and Asia/American artists. 

The team behind the animated Sanjay's Super Team

Presented by the Center for Asian American Media, this year's festival of the video arts will be spread out from San Francisco's Chinatown, to a brewpub to the Castro Theater to the Oakland California Museum.

The offerings are almost too much to take in. Click here for the full schedule of showings and events from March 10 to March 20.

Umrika is a mythical country for this Indian village.

One of the highlights will the rare showing and sing-along for the 10th anniversary of the feature-length with a cast of Asian/American unknowns in the unique but lovable Colma, The Musical, which has become a cult classic. The Bay Area production will be shown this Sunday, 3 p.m. at the Alamo Drafthouse. A lot of the original cast ad director Richard Wong and writer H.P Mendoza will be present.

RELATED: Rare showing Colma, the Musical

Atomic Dust from Tehran is one of the featured films.

For those looking for celebrities, take a look at the panel offerings on March 12 and 13 being held deep in the Mission at the Gray Area Foundation of Arts.

​On March 12, Golden Globe‐nominated Netflix series Master of None has had critics and viewers binge‐watching every episode and thirsting for more. Series co‐creator Alan Yang and cast member Kelvin Yu will be stopping by CAAMFest for a panel on the award‐winning show. Yang and Yu will divulge juicy details on the show’s inspiration and production as well as their own experiences in an industry full of both opportunity and obstacle.

The next day, ​CAAMFest will explore the bane of existence for many Asian American actors: typecasting. For Asian/American women and men looking for work, roles can be severely limited and stereotyped, especially when it comes to appearing as a character intended (or specifically not intended) for romance. Featuring actress V​ella Lovell and B​ay Area native Filipino/American actor Vincent Rodriguez III from the hit series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Rodriguez and Lovell join other actors and filmmakers (TBA) to discuss the gradually changing landscape for gender roles and what they hope the future holds.

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

Presenting the Anna Awards (the alternate Oscars for AAPI actors)

Cary Fukunaga, wins the "best director" Anna Award for 2016

IT'S AWARDS SEASON again. Peoples Choice, Emmies, Oscars, there's a whole lot of categories in which Asian/American and Pacific Islander actors WERE NOT nominated. Not because they have any  less talent, but mostly because of the lack of opportunities for meaty roles in big and important movies, television and stage shows.

The biggest award show of them all, the Academy Awards, is coming up this weekend and a handful of AAPI, African/American and Latino/Americans were picked to present the coveted trophies, a deserved honor in itself, but ostensibly, to add a little color to the #OscarsSoWhite proceedings.

RELATED: #HollywoodSoWhite - The incredible 'Whiteness' of being

Anna May Wo

To make up for the lack of recognition for Asian/American and Pacific Islander performing artists, there is always the highly anticipated awards handed out by Views From The Edge, which debuted last year. This year, we have had to abandon the (admittedly self-promoting) Eddie Awards from last year because - as we belatedly learned - there is already an Eddie Award sponsored by the American Cinema Editors named after the legendary editor, Eddie Shore.

After much deliberation, this year we decided to rename these awards to the Anna Awards, named after Anna May Wong, the first Chinese/American star in Hollywood. Despite the lack of acting opportunities for Asian/American actresses, she actually turned down a role because it cast Asians in a bad light. Hooray!

You might notice that most of the awards were given to TV actors. That's because the motion picture industry has not caught on to the changing demographics of the American audience. The 2015 television season, including streaming media, is historic in the number of offerings featuring AAPI actors. Let's hope this diversification of the entertainment industry is more than a trend.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The categories are made up entirely by whimsical me and really have no serious artistic merit. They are subject to change at a moment's notice or a sudden change of heart or because I didn't have my morning cup of coffee. The Anna Awards considers the performances by AAPI artists in all the performing arts in the year 2015. Enjoy!)

Envelope, please! The Anna Awards for 2016 go to:

Cary Fukunaga

Best Director: Hands down, it has to be Cary Fukunaga for directing Beasts of No Nation, an encgrossing drama about Africa's child soldiers. His direction helped showcase Idris Elba's talent enough to earn Elba acting nomination for the Screen Actors Guild. Critics say Beasts was snubbed and should have been nominated for Best Picture. Fukunaga also got an Emmy for directing the critically acclaimed first season of True Detective for television.

Best Newcomer: Priyanka Chopra hit American TV screens in a big way this season on her hit show Quantico. The Bollywood actress has made the transition with ease and U.S. audiences have shown their appreciation by voting her Favorite Actress in A New TV Series in the Peoples' Choice Awards. She will also present at the Academy Awards next week.

Priyanka Chopra

Best Actor Hardly Anyone Has Seen: Joel de la Fuente for his portrayal of the Japanese Chief Inspector Kido in Man In The High Castle. This excellent alternate history story based on the classic Philip K. Dick novel, is on Amazon so it is not accessible to great number of viewers. But if you have Amazon, you've got to tune in to watch veteran actor de la Fuente make his calculating smart character, a bad guy, almost sympathetic, always a step behind the American rebels and subtly showing his doubts about the Nazi persecution of Jews.

Joel de la Fuente

The Huang family opened the door for other Asian/American families.

Best Asian/American Family Portrayal: This is a tough one but it is a nice problem to have. For the first time in history we have more than one Asian/American family to consider: Josh Chan's family in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Dev Shah's family in Master of None, and the Park family in Dr. Ken. However, this year the award will go to the Huang Family on Fresh Off The Boat. The parents (Constance Wu and Randall Park) especially are excellent. I like the inside jokes that only Asian/Amerian viewers would catch like the scene where the family is watching the show "All-American Girl" that starred Margaret Cho and one of the sons turns to the mother with the comment, "Still no shows about Asians." The best comedy and pathos comes from the friendly way the writers and producers approach race by not hitting you over the head.  In FOtB, you can find yourself laughing but then realize the not-so-funny "truth" of those race-based situations. 

Is he, or isn't he?: Bobby Morley, who plays Bellamy Blake in The 100. He's one of those Filipino/Australians who has found success in Hollywood (actually the show is taped in British Columbia). His character is not race-specific and it appears he uses makeup on his face to look a bit lighter (whiteface?). But if you Google his mugshots, his browness shines through enough to make you ask, "Is he half-Asian?"



Bobby Morley

Chrissy Teigen

Best Tweeter/Personality: For the second year in a row, the award goes to  Chrissy Teigen. The irreverent don't-care funny Tweets have made her a go-to during the awards shows. When her husband performs, watch out for the camera to pan over to her. Whether co-hosting Tyra Bank's F.A.B. fashionista TV show or swaying lip-synching celebrities in Lip Sync Battle, she is sure to come up with biting remarks, riposte's and repartee. I love her response to haters.

Best Badass Man: That would have to go to Daniel Wu, star of Into The Badlands on AMC. He's also one of the producers of the martial arts epic that takes place in a future dystopian America where guns are outlawed. That premise allows for a lot of swordplay, kicks, punches and acrobatic jumps and somersaults, a perfect imagined world for the Hong-kong style of spectacular choreographed fight scenes. The opening fight scene is a classic.

Michelle Yeoh's character (left)  in 'Strike Back' was instrumental in one of the main character's death.

Best Badass Woman: It was a pleasant surprise to find Michelle Yeoh on the last season of Strike Back, where she played the villainess, a spy for North Korea. She was able to demonstrate her physicality and familiarity with martial arts moves in the TV shoot'em-up in marvelous fight scenes. All-in-all, she was portrayed an evil character not to be messed with. Runner-up: Agent May as played by Ming Na Wen in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. For some unfortunate reason, the show shied away from Agent May-centric stories this season.

Let's See More Of Him: This is a first-time category also. Because this past year we've seen a number of roles that put more facets on the Asian/American image. One of the most intriguing characters on TV is that of Job as played by Hoon Lee in Banshee, which will end its run this spring. The former Ninja Turtle appeared in the Broadway production of the King And I over the summer but obviously, this talented actor has got more to give. 

Hoon Lee

Best Performance in A Musical: Obviously. it must go to Vanessa Hudgens for her role in the Grease Live production. Her portrayal of a brassy, but vulnerable, Rizzo drew raves and industry admiration. Her solo rendition of "There Are Worse Things I Could Do," was made even more poignant because Hudgen's father died less than a day before Grease Live went on the air. We just need to keep the Filipina/American actress away from National Monuments.

Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo in 'Grease Live.'

Many fans thought Steven Yeun's character
Glenn Rhee was a goner.

Most Buzz & Angst: This is the first year for this category (because I didn't think of it last year.) but I had to find a way to mention The Walking Dead's non-death of Glenn Rhee as played by Steven Yeun. In terms of buzz, it generated as much, if not more, discussion than Jon Snow's non-death in Game of Thrones. For weeks, the Walking Dead producers kept us guessing the fate of everyone's favorite good-guy in the zombie apocalypse. Is he dead? Is he alive? What about Maggie? How could he survive? Was that his guts being eaten by zombies? The questions and theories kept coming up on discussion boards, talk shows, columns and blogs (including this one).

Lea Salonga

Best Broadway Performer: Lea Salonga in Allegiance reminded Broadway why she was the first Asian/American artist to win a Tony, as she played the main female role in the musical loosely based on the experiences of actor and social media master George Take, who made his first appearance on the Great White Way in his role in this show. With Allegiance now shuttered on Broadway, let's hope that Salonga doesn't wait so long to return to the New York stage.

Emma Stone in a bad case of whitewashing
in the motion picture Aloha.

Best Asian role played by a non-Asian: We should call this the Emma Stone award. Her portrayal of a hapa in the movie Aloha came right after last year's #OscarsSoWhite fiasco so the criticism heaped upon the actress and director was enough for director Cameron Crowe to issue an apology. No amount of spray-on tan could convince anyone of Stone's character's mixed-race origins. Unfortunately, I expect this award to have more nominees next year.

Best non-Asian role played by an Asian: That would be Phillipa Soo, who plays Eliza Hamilton, the wife of one of America's founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, in the Broadway musical Hamilton. The hip-hop musical is the hit of the season and might very well give Soo a shot at the Tony award, Broadway's equivalent to the Oscar.


Phillipa Soo as 
Eliza Hamilton



Best Asian/American zombie: Well, let's just say, "the only Asian zombie" that we know of. Susan Tran played the nice, little old lady who liked to putter around in her garden next door to the main characters' house in Fear the Walking Dead, the West Coast spinoff of The Walking Dead. It is a relief to know that Glenn (Steven Yuen) from the original series, might not be the only AAPI to survive the zombie apocalypse. Travis Manama, who plays the main protagonist Cliff Curtis, is Maori/American. Unfortunately, Susan won't be returning in the second season. 

Susan Tran

"Crazy Ex- Girlfriend" got the Filipino family gathering right.

Best Show Not Being Watched: The winner (in this category, winning is losing) is Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Ii don't get it. It is one of the most original and entertaining shows on American TV this season. Is it because CW is the least watched network? Is the title scaring off a lot of people who might otherwise enjoy it? It is not because of the diverse cast, their talent abounds in the musical rom-com, the imaginative original songs and production numbers, an Asian/American romantic lead in Vincent Rodriguez III and the show introduced viewers to TV's first Filipino/American family, the Chan's. But the ratings are miserable - last not only in its time slot but last in Monday night's prime time. A second season is questionable so be sure to watch it while it is still on the air. Runner-up is Truth Be Told featuring Filipina/American actress Vanessa Latchey, who plays a Filipina married to a Euro/American. Race relations was supposed to be key part of the show which wanted to be edgy but the writing didn't match its expectations resulting in lackluster reviews.

Best Stereotype Buster: Aziz Ansari as, well as the character Dev Shah in Netflix's groundbreaking show Master of None. In the series, Ansari plays Dev Shah, a millennial Asian/American actor struggling to make ends meet while juggling his love life, his relationship with his parents and battling Asian stereotypes - in other words, a well-rounded human being with flaws and hang-ups. Good news for fans, the show will have a second season, but not until 2017. Runner-up honors go to Rene Gube for playing Father Brah, a hip, Filipino/American priest in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. 

Aziz Ansari



Most Groundbreaking Role: Vincent Rodriguez III, who, as Jose Chan, is the object of the obsessive "love" of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend's title character played by Golden Globe winner Rebecca Bloom. The CW romantic comedy musical  is struggling to find an audience despite glowing critical reviews. But hey, an Asian/American romantic leading man is historic. Through the season we've seen the Josh Chan character rounded out as a not-too-bright, but sensitive young man that you wouldn't mind to having a beer with.

Vincent Rodriguez III

Worst Portrayal of an Asian/American: For the second year in a row, Matthew Moy's character Han Lee in Two Broke Girls wins this ignominious award. The character is a short, desexualized Korean diner owner with a heavy accent and is often the butt of jokes. Producers have tried to round out Han Lee by occasionally allowing him to go out on dates. The only redeeming grace for this negative stereotype is that he occasionally is given a biting response towards the other characters.

Matthew Moy

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