'Fresh Off the Boat' to bid viewers a fond farewell Friday after six seasons

ABC

Behind the scenes of 'Fresh Off the Boat,' Hudson Yang and Randall Park go over their lines.

By Louis Chan

ASAM NEWS

The Asian American community is reacting with both sadness and appreciation in anticipation of the series finale of Fresh Off the Boat airing Friday night (February 21) at 8/7 Central on ABC.

Sixteen-year-old Hudson Yang who plays Eddie on the program debuted with the rest of the cast at the age of 11. The thought of life without the program is hitting him hard.

“It’s weird—it’s kind of like waking up and not knowing who you’re going to be next week! I know I’m going to miss it, I miss it already!” he told AsAmNews.

He isn’t the only one who will miss it.

“It’s really difficult knowing Fresh Off the Boat will leave the airwaves after Friday night,” said Guy Aoki, founding member of both the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and founding member of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition.

Aoki told AsAmNews he saw the pilot script back in 2014, a year before the program premiered. The network wanted APAMC’s feedback.

“Was the title of the show offensive? One of the characters uses a racial slur. Is that OK? I gave two pages of notes and all of the scenes that I felt didn’t work, were excised. When I saw the filmed pilot months ahead of its broadcast, I knew this was something I could get behind,” Aoki said.

Asians Americans took over social media the night FOTB premiered in February 2015. They held Twitter parties quoting from the script, applauding the performances and even shedding happy tears over the story line. The show network executives likely debuted nervously was trending.

“Fresh Off The Boat was a truly groundbreaking television series in several ways,” said Daniel Mayeda Chair, Asian Pacific American Media Coalition. “FOTB told a very specific and authentic story of Taiwanese American immigrants. And it was told from the perspective of Asian Americans, as reflected in the pilot episode when Eddie Huang, trying to fit in, asked his mother to take him to the market so he could buy “White people lunch” to take to school. Asian Americans had never seen such an unapologetic portrayal of ourselves on network TV and we reveled in it.”

The show also proved a national audience would watch a show starring and centered around an Asian American family with a predominantly Asian American cast.

According to Aoki, FOTB indexed at 100 percent among White audiences. In other words, 60 percent of the nation is White. 60 percent of FOTB’s audience was also White. Blacks indexed at 105%. Asian Americans also over indexed.

ABC

Part of the final episode of FOTB is the graduation of Eddie Huang (Hudson Yang)

The show catapulted stars Constance Wu (Jessica Huang) and Randall Park (Louis Huang) into stardom. Wu went onto to star in Crazy Rich Asians and Hustlers. Park is seen frequently in both the Marvel and DC comic universe. Most recently he starred alongside Ali Wong in Always be My Maybe. He also made his directing debut for the series finale of Fresh Off the Boat.

Eight months after FOTB debut, ABC also premiered Dr. Ken starring Ken Jeong. Quantico, Andi Mack and Killing Eve would follow.

“I started at CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) in March 2015, right after Fresh off the Boat premiered, so the show has always been a clear demarcation for me,” Michelle K. Sugihara, CAPE Executive Director, said to AsAmNews. “It’s amazing how much has happened since then in terms of representation in media, but we still have further to go. I’m excited to see what this pilot season brings.”

The show will end Friday night with an hour-long double episode.

“I wish we were still going on because there are a lot more stories to tell, but the good thing is … it feels like we have a lot more of us telling them now, not just one show,” said Hudson Yang.

Its a wrap for 'Fresh Off the Boat'

The groundbreaking show Fresh Off the Boat finished taping it's last episode Dec. 20. 

It was an emotional moment for the cast members, who have been together the last six years, especially for Hudson Yang, who played Eddie Huang. "I'm not afraid to say I cried," Yang posted in a tweet along with photo of him crying as he said goodbye.

"I love my #Freshofftheboat family," he continued. "I always will."

The show was historic in that it centered on an Asian American family as they adjusted to life in suburban Florida in the decade of the 1990s. It was originally based on the memoirs of restaurateur Eddie Huang,

“We couldn’t be prouder of this game-changing show and the impact it has had on our cultural landscape. The success of ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ has helped pave the way for inclusion throughout the industry,” said ABC entertainment president Karey Burke. 

“Nahnatchka Khan and her brilliant creative team have created an unforgettable series with an Asian-American family front and center, something that hadn’t been done in two decades. The cast, led by Randall Park and Constance Wu, is one of the finest and funniest on television. We’ll miss the Huang family and are eternally grateful for the incredibly heartfelt stories they have told these past six seasons.”
It made Constance Wu and Randall Park recognizable names and faces in America's living rooms. It opened the doors for other shows to star Asian American actors or to have them play prominent roles in ensemble dramas. 

Besides Yang, Wu and Park, the rest of the cast included: Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, Lucille Soong, Chesley Crisp and Ray Wise.
Most importantly, it showed that the immigrant experience was an American story and depicted Asian Americans as human beings.

The last episode will air on ABC on Feb. 21.

Say goodbye to the Huang family; 'Fresh Off the Boat' cancelled

Groundbreaking ABC comedy Fresh Off the Boat will conclude its critically acclaimed six-season run on ABC, Karey Burke, president, ABC Entertainment, announced Friday. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the situation comedy's producers requested the show’s cancelation so that they could end it on their own terms. ABC's hour-long series finale will air next year on February 21, 8-9 p.m. EST.

“We couldn’t be prouder of this game-changing show and the impact it has had on our cultural landscape. The success of Fresh Off the Boat has helped pave the way for inclusion throughout the industry.

"Nahnatchka Khan and her brilliant creative team have created an unforgettable series with an Asian American family front and center, something that hadn’t been done in two decades. The cast, led by Randall Park and Constance Wu, is one of the finest and funniest on television. We’ll miss the Huang family and are eternally grateful for the incredibly heartfelt stories they have told these past six seasons,” Burke said.

“I’m so proud of the show and what we’ve accomplished over the past six seasons,” said series creator Khan. “Thank you to everyone at ABC and 20th Century Fox Television for going on this ride with us. It was truly a special experience and hopefully will forever be a reminder of all the stories out there that deserve to be told. Like B.I.G. said, ‘And if you don’t know, now you know.’”

Originally based on the memoir of Eddie Huang growing up in the Orlando suburbs. FOB stars Randall Park as Louis Huang, Constance Wu as his wife Jessica, Hudson Yang as Eddie, Forrest Wheeler as Emery, Ian Chen as Evan, Lucille Soong as Grandma Huang, Chelsey Crisp and Ray Wise as neighbors Honey and Marvin.

Set in the 1990s, the series follows the experiences of hip-hop-loving Eddie Huang and his family. In this final season, the Huang family is at a crossroads. Jessica is becoming an educator (teacher boss); Louis is trying to expand himself outside running the restaurant by becoming a business consultant; Eddie is weighing whether to attend college or to take a different path; Emery is trying acting; and even Evan tries out pukka shells and a new nickname!

When FOB debuted six years ago the show was hailed as the first sitcom to ffocus on an Asian American family since All American Girl with Margaret Cho 25 years earlier. The real Eddie Huang served as the off-camera narrator in the series' first season. The second season saw his role reduced as a consultant. He left the show over creative difference

The show began to evolve around the entire family as the role of Eddie became less of the focus. Chu and Park as the Huang parents took on a bigger part of the show.

It can be argued that the critical success of FOB spawned a whole bevy of shows that featured Asian Americans in nontraditional roles and opened the minds of networks about the possibilities of diversifying its fare of dramas and sitcoms.

FOB could very well have a spinoff in the works in an episode due to air later this month about an Indian American immigrant family.

Fresh Off the Boat was not the first AAPI family leading a show on American television, but because of its historic role, there's reason to believe -- and, hope and pray -- that it won't be the last.

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'Fresh Off the Boat' barely avoids cancellation

The Huang family in the sitcom 'Fresh Off the Boat' is one of the few Asian American families on network TV.

ASAM NEWS

IT'S OFFICIAL. Fresh off the Boat will be coming back next year for its fifth season on ABC.

The show made the announcement on social media.

Anxiety was high that ABC would cancel the series. Randall Park who plays the dad, Louis Huang, half jokingly made a video for USA Today “begging” fans to lobby the network to bring the series back.

TV analysts had listed the show as “on the bubble,” meaning it was likely being eyed by the network for cancellation.

Fresh Off the Boat is produced by 20th Century Fox. Back in December, Disney which owns ABC announced it was buying assets from 20th Century Fox, including TV and film, for $52.4 billion. Assuming the sales goes through, that would mean Disney would have direct ownership of Fresh Off the Boat and would benefit from syndication rights. The fifth season is considered essential if a show is to be syndicated.

Whatever the reason, today’s announcement is good news for fans and one of the few Asian American families on network television right now. It stars Constance Wu, Randall Park, Hundson Yang, Ian Chen, Forest Wheeler, and Lucille Soong as the Huang family, loosely based on the memoir of restaurateur Eddie Huang.

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May 2 named 'Fresh Off the Boat' Day

The cast of 'Fresh Off the Boat.'

IT'S NOT every day that a TV show gets its own day.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced that today, May 2, is "Fresh Off the Boat Day." The ABC comedy is being celebrated for its depiction of an Asian/American family.

The announcement honoring the breakthrough television situation comedy Fresh Off the Boat is part of the city's celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

As for the day in L.A., the city is recognizing the cast and executive producers for their positive portrayals of Asian/Americans in the media, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

When it premiered in 2015, the half-hour show was the first Asian/American-fronted TV series for a broadcast network in nearly 20 years, since Margaret Cho's All American Girl briefly aired. 

The Asia Society of Southern California is honoring the show with its event at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The ABC sitcom has demonstrated to network executives that a show with an Asian/American theme with Asian/American lead actors can be critically praised and gain an audience beyond the Asian/American community.

FOtB is based on the memoirs of restauranteur and social commentator Eddie Huang's book of the same name.

It stars Hudson Yang as Eddie Huang, Ian Chen and Forest Wheeler as his younger siblings, Evan and Emery, respectively. Randall Park and Constance Wu are the parents who overlook their sons as they sometimes struggle with fitting into a mainly white society in 1990 Florida.

Fresh Off the Boat, which is in its third season, has its season finale on May 16.

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