Fresh Off the Boat

"Fresh Off the Boat" is a show about a Taiwanese-American family who has moved from Washington, DC (where there are lots of Taiwanese- Americans) to Orlando, Florida (where there are none!). While this sounds a bit like "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" or the like, the show still is surprisingly original and worth seeing. There are several things I really appreciate about it: it DOES talk about race and stereotypes (something very rare on TV today) and writing is so good. The characters, as a result, are very likable. Overall, there's very little not to like about this one and I see it as actually being a lot like the wonderful show, "Brooklyn Bridge"--but with a greater emphasis on humor. Well worth seeing--whether you are Asian or not.

It's the 1990's. Eddie Huang moves from Washington D.C. to Orlando, Florida with his Taiwanese family. His father (Randall Park) opens a western style steakhouse. His mother (Constance Wu) is the Asian tiger mom. Honey (Chelsey Crisp) and Marvin (Ray Wise) are their next door neighbor.

This starts with a potential for an edgy sitcom of an Asian family moving into an all-white neighborhood. In the end, it is a very standard network sitcom. This should be Eddie's story but the breakout star is Constance Wu. The kids are fine but more could have been done. Marvin's daughter Nicole could have been a great side character but she gets ghosted over time. The brothers don't get to expand their roles. The show is good network fare but it doesn't stand out other than having the Asian cast.

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.

"Fresh Off The Boat" is so funny, so smart, and so charming that I enjoyed every minute of the first two episodes. I hope the creative team behind it, and the wonderful actors can maintain this high-level of quality.

Randall Park is terrific as Louis Huang the optimistic - perhaps a bit naive - patriarch of the family that has just moved to Orlando from Washington D.C. Park shows refreshing depth to his complex character by understanding certain realities while maintaining optimism; optimism that he hopes can carry him and his family through some rough adjustments.

Constance Wu is spectacular! She is the most beautiful woman on television. Her character - Jessica Huang - makes sure things get done. She makes changes at the family's restaurant, she makes sure the children study hard, and she makes an effort to get to know the neighbors; all of which is shown in smart and funny ways. As demanding as she can be, her mind is open and she shows great empathy and compassion when it makes sense. Jessica is a well-written character performed brilliantly by Constance Wu.

Their three boys in the show are funny, and smart which is quite refreshing compared to other kid characters on television. The grandmother character is like many grandmothers with a foreign background; she may be equal parts traditionalist and "ready for anything" - she seems to enjoy the oldest boy's taste in music more than anyone else does.

Sometimes a stranger, a newcomer, sees people more clearly than they are willing to see themselves...

I came into Fresh Off the Boat with low expectations, as there are seemingly endless ways to make a bad network show, especially by making it dull and mediocre by dumbing down the characters and their experiences. Add in the topic of race and immigration, where I'm certain network producers are terrified of offending anyone, and you're almost certain to brew up a giant batch of watered-down, "family friendly" weak tea.

But, amazingly, the show is good. And funny. Maybe most importantly, all of the characters are human, and they are full people while simultaneously showing different sides of the immigrant experience. I have a feeling you're not going to know who are the "good guys" and who are the "bad guys," and this really won't be a show about Eddie but about a family. As the first few episodes show, each family member has different, and even contradictory, skills for managing their lives together, and they complement each other. I also bet people outside of the family will soon be part of this equation.

Speaking of which, it's ironic that some reviewers are saying the show is anti-white, as a big critique of white people is how they tend to dominate any experience (like, for instance, a show about an Asian American immigrant family) and make it all about them.