Get ready for a history-making Monday night when 3 AANHPI shows premiere

From left, The Cleaning Lady's Elodie Yung, NCIS: Hawai'i's Vanessa Lachey and Quantum Leap's Raymond Lee.

This Monday, Sept. 19, for the first time in the history of American television, three shows with Asian American leads are premiering on the US networks on the same night.

The Cleaning Lady and NCIS: Hawai'i will begin their second season. Quantum Leap is coming back after a 30-year absence but with an entirely new cast that has Dr. Ben Song as the new central character.

Recording devices will be helpful as the air times conflict with each other.

If you subscribe to the streaming networks, you can also stream the shows: The Cleaning Lady on Hulu, NCIS: Hawai'i on Paramount and Quantum Leap on Peacock.

The Cleaning Lady

The Cleaning Lady, Season 2, premieres Sept. 19. On Fox, 9 p.m.

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.

NCIS Hawaii

NCIS: Hawai'i, Season 2 premieres Sept. 19, 10 p.m. CBS

The NCIS franchise really is trying to reflect Hawai'i'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 starts at 9 p.m. on NCIS and ends on NCIS: Hawai'i at 10 p.m. The story has 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

Quantum Leap, premieres September 19, 10 p.m. on NBC

Fans of the original Quantum Leap adventure series won't recognize the 2023 reboot. It's back and its features an Asian American in the lead role. Quantum leap, which ran for four seasons starring Scott Bakula, went off the air in 1993. The 2023 version stars Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. It's been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Also on the ensemble cast is Nanrisa Lee playing Jenn Chou, a computer whiz.

FYI: for more programs this Fall featuring AANHPI actors in leading and prominent roles, click here.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

 

TV's Fall season gives AANHPI viewers a chance to see themselves

'The Cleaning Lady' features a not-so-typical Filipino American family.

UPDATED: Sept. 12 to include 'Quantum Leap."

Labor day just passed and we're easing into television's Fall season, and, lo and behold, there's a a lot of AANHPI characters, at least, relatively speaking.

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.

NCIS: Hawaii, Season 2 premieres Sept. 19, 10 p.m. CBS

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?

The NCIS team in Hawaii reflects that state's diversity.

Quantum Leap, premieres September 19, 9 p.m. on NBC

Fans of the original Quantum Leap adventure series won't recognize the 2023 reboot. It's back and its features an Asian American in the lead role. Quantum leap, which ran for four seasons starring Scott Bakula, went off the air in 1993. The 2023 version stars Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. It's been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Also on the ensemble cast is Nanrisa Lee playing Jenn Chou, a computer whiz.

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

Olivia Liang stars in the new 'Kung Fu' action series.

Reginald the Vampire, Season 1  Oct. 5, 10 p.m. on SyFy

The series based on the comic book of the same name stars Jacob Batalon (Spiderman) as the world's first Filipino American vampire. Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit and vain vampires. Overweight Reginald Andres tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle – the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead.

Grey's Anatomy, Season 19, Oct. 6, 10 p.m., ABC

The longest-running prime time show will enter Season 19 with a cast that is being bolstered more Asian Americans at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to reflect a more realistic and diverse medical setting. (See article here.)

Awkwafina is Nora From Queens, Season 3, 10 p.m. EST/ 7 p.m. PST, Oct. 12, Comedy Central

Not much is known about what's in store for our heroine in the series' third season. As the title subtly suggests, Awkwafina plays Nora Lin, an exaggerated version of herself in the comedy. It follows "a 20-something woman, who strives for a larger-than-life existence". Living with her cousin Edmund (Bowen Yang), dad (BD Wong), and grandmother scene stealer (Lori Tan Chinn), Nora must learn to navigate adulthood in New York City. The series appears to be a popular gig for AANHPI actors. Guests on the series have included Jaboukie Young-White, Michelle Buteau, Wai Ching Ho, Stephanie Hsu, Ming-Na Wen, and Awkwafina's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings co-star, Simu Liu. Awkwafins created the series with Teresa Hsiao.

Blockbuster, Season 1, Nov. 3, streaming on Netflix

Everybody's nice guy Randall Park (Fresh Off the Boat) is Timmy Yoon, the lead character in this situation comedy about the last Blockbuster store trying to a survive in a world being taken over by streaming networks. (For you youngsters, before Blockbuster rented out videotapes and DVDs of your favorite movies and TV shows.) The 10-episode series doesn't dwell on race relations but just presents Timmy Yoon as your average American small business entrepreneur with a dream. Kind of refreshing, but we'll see if viewers can relate to Park's character.

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.

In addition to the series mentioned above, a number of pretty good groundbreaking shows with Asian American leads and/or themes have premiered this summer on the streaming channels that are available at your convenience. They include:

• 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

In case you're wondering about my reference to dragons in the opening paragraphs: I throw this tidbit in because The House of the Dragon has a huge audience and it is a cultural phenomenon, I need to point out that there are no Asians in the fictional Westeros, except for Mysaria, played by Sonoya Muzuno. She  is the paramour of Prince Daemon Targaryen. Her role will grow as the plot gets more complicated.

It is notable that in the first few episodes, the casting for The House of the Dragon is more diverse than Game of Thrones, which was knocked because it was so blindingly white. It is a fantasy land after all and there is no reason for the lack of POC. The producers apparently didn't take the observation lightly when casting this prequel.

But the mysterious Mysaria had to come from somewhere, where there should be opportunities for more casting of Asian actors. Right? Just hoping.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter. Earlier versions of this post did not include the portion about House of the Dragon or the blurb on Quantum Leap.

Quick review: 'It may not be perfect, but you need to watch 'The Cleaning Lady'

From left, rapper Ruby Ibarra, actor Elodie Yung and creator Miranda Kwok at a sneak
screening of 'The Cleaning Lady.'

OPINION

I have to admit, I cheered when I heard Ruby Ibarra's music set the gritty undercurrent of the new Fox series, The Cleaning Lady: Struggle, American urban, underdog, defiant, and "I am not your model minority."

As the camera flew over the Las Vegas' Strip, fiently in the background, Tagalog lyrics were being sung in an aggressive rap, "Island woman rise, walang makakatagil."

"Hey, did you hear that? someone said.

"That's Ruby Ibarra," I proclaimed.

"That's a first!"

"So cool!," I said.

Producer and creator Miranda Kwok purposely chose Ibarra's work for the Filipino pride and cultural complexities she raps about as an immigrant and a woman, which mirror Kowk's own experience and the defines the world of The Cleaning Lady. The lyrics are from Ibarra's hit "Us," an anthem, of sorts, for Filipino immigrant women.

And despite having a French Cambodian actress, Elodie Yung as the central character Thony De La Rosa, the show had elements in it that were definitely and unapologetically Filipino, starting with the first episode's title, "TNT."

"TNT" means dynamite in most English language contexts, but in the Filipino community, TNT stands for "tago nang tago," literally translated to "always hiding," referring to the status of undocumented Filipinos in the U.S. and the status of Thony.

I wasn't alone in the burst of pride of seeing Filipinos as the main characters on an American network series. Filipinos all over the Twitterverse were cheering, crying tears of joy."

Miranda Kwok, the producer who brought The Cleaning Lady to Fox, tweeted:

The first episode got mixed - but, mostly good - reviews. "TNT" performed well, garnering the highest rating ever for a Fox premiere; ruling its time slot and beating out the more established NCIS on CBS.

Although filmed in New Mexico, the story takes place in Las Vegas, where Filipinos, drawn by the glitz, glamor and economic opportunities in healthcare, business and domestic work and an underground infrastructure,  constitute the largest Asian group in Nevada. If the series stays true to its locale, expect to see a lot more Asian Americans and AAPI-themes.

There was a lot  of information to pack in the show's first 45 minutes, but the stage has been set for some interesting possibilities that haven't been covered in other more conventional cop-crime series. The undocumented status of its principle characters; the Filipino cultural references thrown in that Filipinos "get" (mahal kita, ate) will hopefully gain more meaning for regular viewers;  and then there's Ibarra's  music and lyrics, mixing Tagalog and English, providing an undercurrent of anger and defiance.

The world of The Cleaning Lady is so different than the image most non-Filipinos have seen on network television where the Filipino American characters are depicted as members of the model minority, sidekicks, butts of a running joke but. The series show fully fleshed-out human beings with dreams and problems; just trying to create a better world for their families. 

The fact that the central character, Thony, as portrayed by Yung, is Cambodian and not Filipino -- a change from Kwok's original script necessitated by Yung's French Cambodian heritage -- did not bother me because Yung was so good in her role.

As the series goes deeper into the rabbit hole world of TNTs and moral choices between good and evil Thony must make, The Cleaning Lady will get even more complex and not so black-and-white in those predicaments as she struggles between  the moral debt (Filipinos' sense of utang na loob) she owes the crime boss who helped her and her own Filipino/Catholic-influenced moral code.

I know there will be some Filipino Americans who will scoff at the series and the picture it portrays of TNTs. I can hear titas, lolas and nanays tsk-tsking and saying, "We're all not like this."

Of course not, but not all Filipinos are also not all the professionals -- teachers, healthcare workers, lawyers, tech experts -- that you want your children to become. The Cleaning Lady helps round out a broader image of AAPIs outside the pigeon-holes that American society wants to place us in.

In episode four, we are going to be introduced to Filipino American actor Lou Diamond Phillips and his real-life daughter Gracie portraying a Filipino father and his daughter who will have an impact on the future health of Thony's son, who has an immune-deficient condition and needs a transplant.

I can't wait.

The Cleaning Lady airs on the Fox Network, Mondays, 9 p.m., 8 central. It is also streamed on Hulu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Sorry folks, there won't be a Filipino lead in 'The Cleaning Lady' TV series

FILIPINO AMERICAN actors, from top left, clockwise: Nicole Scherzinger, Nia Peebles, Ali Ewoldt, Tss Paras,
Eva Noblezada, Jaygee, MacaPugay, Lea Salonga, Vanessa Mannillo Latchsky and Shay Mitchell.

OH NO! The one time a Filipino American was going to be a lead actor in a US television production isn't going to happen.

The initial excitement at the prospect of seeing a Filipino in a dramatic series has gone in a poof. The script change in Fox's The Cleaning Lady is evidence of the compromises that have to be made in order for a Hollywood product get greenlit.

For some reason, Shannyn Sossamon, the original Filipino American actorpicked as the lead didn't survive the table read and the decision was made to seek a replacement.

So producers picked Elodie Yung, who is Cambodian French. Instead of insulting Filipino Americans by trying to pass a Cambodian French actress as a Filipino, the creators decided to rewrite the script to fit the actress.

It is not exactly a case of whitewashing ala Scarlett Johansson in The Ghost in the Shell, but for Filipinos, its just as bad. 

In the original script, Sossamon was cast as Reyna Salonga. With Yung's casting, the ethnicity of the Reyna character has been changed. The main character  now she will be Cambodian doctor married to a Filipino. and somehow, (don't ask me how) keep the "drama's focus on Philippine culture," according to Deadline.

The altered synopsis now reads (with my emphasis):

ELODIE YUNG

"Reyna is a whip-smart Cambodian doctor who was working in a top medical center in Manila, Philippines, where she met her Pilipino husband Marco Salonga. After their son was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening immunodeficiency disorder, Reyna comes to the US for a medical treatment to save their ailing son. But when the system fails and pushes her into hiding, Reyna refuses to be beaten down and marginalized. Instead, she becomes an on-call cleaning lady for the mob, while keeping secrets from her undocumented Filipina sister-in-law Fiona Salonga (Ginger Gonzaga) and dodging the FBI. Willing to do anything to save her son, Reyna walks the tightrope of morality, breaking the law for all the right reasons — and eventually forges her own path in the criminal underworld as she starts playing the game by her own rules."

Gonzaga, thus, becomes the only Filipino actor in the main cast.

Yung is probably best known for her role as martial artist extraordinaire Elektra Natchios on Marvel’s Netflix series Daredevil and The Defenders.
How Yung was selected over other equally talented Filipino American actresses is something we'll probably never know. Creator and writer Miranda Kwok and Executive Producer Shay Mitchell, who is Filipino Canadian, haven't said anything about the casting news in their social media accounts.

Who could have played Reyna? First off, we eliminated Filipino Americans Hailee Steinfeld and Vanessa Hudgens because they're too young to play someone who went to college and four years of med school followed by a residency. Although the role plays against type, we're sure these two extremely talented actresses could have handled the acting responsibilities of the role. Their name recognition alone would probably break the series' budget. But still, too young.

The obvious choice would have been Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell herself. Maybe as an executive producers she'd agree to a lower salary scale to help her foray into producing.

Would Nicole Schersinger break away from her role as one of the judges in the popular The Masked Singer to delve into a dramatic role? Again, even though she's Filipino American, maybe there are budget restrictions.

Then there are four actresses that are in the right age-range and their salaries would probably be reasonable enough for a prospective series. These include Vanessa Minnillo Latchky, Sharon Leal, Lea Salonga and Nia Peebles.

Then there are the experienced actors who have been waiting for their "breakthrough role" on the Hollywood's fringes. This tier of actors include Eva Noblezada (Miss Saigon), Tess Paras, Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera), Jaygee Macapugay (Here Lies Love), Asia Jackson and a host of others doing student films, stagework and taking acting classes.

Unfortunately, The Cleaning Lady, like the resto of the projects in Hollywood are at a standstill as Tinseltown is also practicing self-isolation to avoid spreading the coronavirus.