Fresh Off the Boat

Living in today's world we see more and more Asian people all in our communities I like living around them too, they are intelligent attractive and mostly friendly. This new ABC series set in 1990's Orlando about a Taiwanses family who moved from Washington D.C. to start a new life is a big winner! It centers around the young man and oldest child in the family named Eddie Huang(Hudson Yang)who is learning more and more American culture in the 90's from the style, music, TV, movies and one liners as this series captures the 90's culture well with it's slang and one liners! A real sugar and spice treat is the performance of the mom Jessica(Constance Wu)she's a sexy and sassy outspoken loving matriarch who guides the ship for the whole Huang clan as her husband(Randall Park)runs his steakhouse. Overall great show that learns us about Asian culture all the while being funny, educated and capturing 90's culture without taking things to serious! A thumbs up winner.

Some background. I came to the states without any knowledge of engish and neither did my parents. It was some midwestern state in the early 1990s. In the school, there were 3 asians, and 1 black kid. From the very first episode to episode 8. I felt like my life was shown. I had the same infatuation with hiphop. My first album was Straight Outta Compton. PE and Ice Cube and Ice T were my favorite groups. I felt exactly as the series describe, it's not that the white folks were disrespectful to me (in fact there where at the beginning), but they just don't know what to do with a person of different race and culture. I could never truly be in the "in crowd". I found commonality in people who are different and music that's different, and most hiphop at that time was portraying rebellion against the establishment. To me, the establishment was white with Christian morales. That's not what I am about. I had 3 Asian kids in school who are straight A and musicians. I ain't about that nonsense. All through school, my best friend was a black kid and he was the one that introduced me to straight outta compton.

So this show is a great authentic view of the Asian minority. Stereotypes of Asian parents are REAL and of the white folks are REAL. Exaggeration of course, but the gist of it is VERY VERY real. My parents HATED rap with a passion because they don't understand it. All they care about 100% of time is where is my grade, what am I doing wrt to studying. No basketball, nothing. I had to find solace in the things that are shown in this movie. I had to conform to pizza and sloppy joe where my parents served Chinese dishes. In the 90s, Chinese is not the in crowd, unlike now.

Overall, this is a VERY realistic view for ANY Asian's coming to a majority white area in the 80s, 90s. I felt my life was displayed on screen. It was hilarious at the same time nostalgic of my life.

I signed up just to say my support for this show. I know there are many Asians like me with the same background, living in the same white neighborhoods.

Every other sitcom I have seen before are either non relevant or non- relateable to person like me or Asian. I get all the jokes of Seinfeld and Friends, but those are non relatable to an Asian person. Supremely refreshing to finally get our voices heard. About time.

US needs more shows like this.

As the title says, not since Malcolm in the Middle have I seen such a hilarious family dynamic. Yes, the family is Chinese (Taiwanese) but this is just a side-story...they could be Polish (like in Malcolm in the Middle) or any other ethnicity making them unique. This is NOT about Asian stereotypes, this is about kids vs parents who are trying to keep up appearances/with the Jones'...and what could be more American than that? Superb acting by ALL the actors (even the Grandmother who only speaks Mandarin gets the funniest lines with subtitles). Add to this the nostalgia factor of the "hip-hop" 90's and I sincerely hope this is a formula for success. PLEASE keep this show on the air; it's got humor, good timing, good writing and it's something the whole family can watch and laugh at together. We are laughing WITH a family that happens to be Chinese, not AT a Chinese family.

I've been watching this every week since it started in 2015. Great funny show. Just sit back and laugh and don't think too much. Easy going with a good cast. It just works. It has a final ending and not just stop airing without a closure. Have fun with this little fun comedy show!

9/10

These TV series are very watchable, rewatchable and perfect as a background watch when you do something else. Many characters have undeniable charisma, relatable and the story line is rather lighthearted instilling the right values. It's also, in a way, generation X's nostalgic porn.

What didn't work for me:

• the family cast is rather mismatched visually, they didn't look as of the same ethnicity to me
• Louis's character is very cardboard like and lacks depth.

• They often forgot to balance Jessica's character, sacrificing showcasing the traits her family loves her for -all for the sake of comedy relief attached to her pushiness and other rather negative traits.

• I lived as a foreigner in a southern US town and it's already difficult to integrate even if you are a crowd pleaser. And though I am white and my town was mostly very lovely, I still experienced xenophobia, at least, once per month. With Jessica's character forget about it...I think the whole integration issue was super sugarcoated.