More Asians on the Small Screen for the Fall Season

By Jee | Thursday, October 1, 2009 | View Comments

Ever since I got rid of my cable, my TV intake has decreased drastically, but I still get amusement from the little box and am especially looking forward to all of the wonderful Asians on TV: CBS has the return of The Mentalist with Tim Kang and also has the delight of having Daniel Henney on Three Rivers, which hasn’t premiered yet. Glee – the talk of the town — has Jenna Ushkowitz. Community has funny Doc gone comedic actor Ken Jeong. And last but not least, ’cause he’s like my favorite, is John Cho on FlashForward.

All of the shows are newbies, The Mentalist being the most senior of the group, but I’m very excited that writers, casting directors, producers, directors, whoever it was that decided that the small screen needed some Asians on it deserves a high-five or a pat on the back. No, I’m not snubbing Sandra Oh or Daniel Dae Kim; I’m just mentioning the beautiful new Asian faces we get to see on TV, that’s all.

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LindaChan

Glee should get special mention because of several APA actors–not just Jenna, but one of the football players who joined Glee Club is Asian, one of the Acafella members is Filipino, the principal is Pakistani, and I think even the football coach is part Asian.
jeesuh

Yeah you're right. Glee should have received special mention. I was so focused on the Glee Club member that I forgot about the principal(LOVE HIM) and the other cast members. YIPES! Hope they don't see this. ;o)
http://www.jozjozjoz.com jozjozjoz

Glee:

The new football player who plays Mike Chang is played by Harry Shum Jr

The Filipino Acafella (Howard) is played by Kent Avenido.

Principal Figgins is played by awesome Iqbal Theba. (Fans of the sitcom FRIENDS may remember him as the doctor who told Joey “Kidney Stones!)

The football coach's character is named Ken Tanaka, but is played by Patrick Gallagher. I can't tell by anything I've read online if Patrick is ACTUALLY part-Japanese (as his character is). Anyone know?
LindaChan

I hope you don't think I was trying to criticize. I was just so excited at all the Asian faces on this one little show on Fox that I just had to come here and list them all! I think it's great you wrote this post so show how prominent APAs are this fall season.
LindaChan

Hi Joz,

I looked up Patrick Gallagher before posting my first comment, and same as you, I couldn't find conclusive answers. I'm inclined to think that he is actually part Asian (maybe even part Japanese) because why would they go out of their way to write an Asian football coach but stop short at actually casting an Asian to play him? I'm thinking the producers at this show actually care about diversity.
jeesuh

Haha I knew you weren't!! I was grateful for the mention of people I forgot. hahaha
I'm totally agree with you, I got all excited when I saw all those wonderful Asian faces! And I hope we keep on seeing more so that Asian faces on TV is just commonplace, everyday thing.
jeesuh

WOW! I had no idea! Great teamwork on listing the actors who play those awesome characters on Glee. These comment threads can almost make another post for Glee! haha awesome!
I'm hoping it's safe to assume that Peter Gallagher is part Japanese? This makes me appreciate Glee so much more!
http://www.8asians.com/author/ancientone95131/ jeffat8asians

Don't forget Ming Na and Lou Diamond Phillipson the new SYFY series Stargate SGU.
http://www.8asians.com/2009/10/04/ming-na-plays-the-first-lesbian-asian-american-tv-series-regular-on-syfys-sgu/ 8Asians.com » Ming-Na Plays the First Lesbian Asian-American TV Series Regular on SyFy’s SGU

[...] season TV mojo. The thing is, I’m really trying to limit the number of new shows I get into this season. Originally, I only had Glee and Three Rivers on my list, but now I have to add Stargate Universe [...]
susiepatel

Patrick was raised in Canada and is of Chinese descent. Iqbal Theba is a Pakistani. I could not find Patrick's fan page or a website. But, iqbal theba does have a fan page on Facebook (iqbal theba page). Please, join and send him your love.
LindaChan

Thanks for the update on Patrick and Iqbal, Susie!
LindaChan

Thanks for the update on Patrick and Iqbal, Susie!

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