We saw previews for both and I was surprised at how action-packed Nikita was. The show was definitely no-holds-barred when it came to violence. It was like watching a female Jack Bauer. After the preview, lead star Maggie Q came onstage to greet the audience and talk a little about the show. She was the only actor to not read off the teleprompter, and she was funny, self-deprecating, and genuine. I think all of us in the audience fell a little in love with her, particularly after she said, “I don’t think any of you understand how good-looking it [the other CW stars] is backstage. It’s really intimidating. I had to push the A-cups up a little bit.”

If Maggie Q’s charm isn’t enough of a reason to check out Nikita (airing Thursdays this fall at 9PM), check out a sneak peek at the series above.

Now I’m reading about this ad on Craigslist from Tyrese Gibson’s production company looking for what could be a totally awesome…or truly abominable new reality series: an Asian-American version of Jersey Shore. Here’s what the ad says:

Looking for interesting, attractive, colorful Asian-Americans to cast in a reality show similar to JERSEY SHORE, REAL WORLD, THE HILLS, etc. We need attractive Asian-Americans with lively, strong, and unique personalities between the ages of 18 to 30 with equally interesting life stories and perspectives to share, especially individuals who know about and/or experienced the Koreatown life. If you are not Asian but are obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way, email us and please explain.

Three things came to mind when I read this ad.

1. I’m not sure what to make of the fact that they welcome non-Asians who are “obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way.” (The f word is right on the tip of my tongue.)
2. Why does the ad ask for Asian Americans, and yet they emphasize “Koreatown life”? Then again, Jersey Shore sought to cast guidos, but they ended up with a couple of non-Italians, like JWoww.
3. Reality TV often exploits and stereotypes its contestants, so I have my reservations about how “Koreatown life” would be portrayed.

Regardless of how you feel about this, it’s best to keep in mind that this potential show is a long, long way from becoming a TV series. A long way. It might not even happen. I mean, just think about it. An all Asian American cast on TV? Yeah, right!

It’s hard to ignore the latest commercial from Sharp Electronics, which stars George Takei of Star Trek fame. He plays a Sharp engineer introducing the latest technology for television called Quattron, which adds a fourth pixel color, yellow, to the standard RGB (red, green and blue) color system. No, I don’t have a clue what that all means.

What I do know is how confused I was by the end of the commercial. George Takei, an Asian American actor, is introducing a yellow pixel. Is this supposed to be tongue-in-cheek? Should I be mildly offended–I’m not sure I am–or should I laugh it off because if George Takei thinks it’s funny, then it’s okay? The ad is actually quite humorous and George is great in it.

What do you guys think?

It’s TV pilot season, which means the networks are loading up on new projects they’d like to pursue in hopes of finding the next hit series. Since I work in TV research, I hear pilot news on a regular basis. Every day, I hear about this actor or that actor signing on to star in this new show or that one.

Guess what? Not a single lead actor is Asian or Asian American.* Yes, I am elated that Daniel Dae Kim has found life after Lost, but he’s technically in a supporting role to Alex O’Loughlin. And there aren’t many other Asian Americans in the dozens of pilot projects currently in development: a minor role here, a minor role there. It’s the same as always.

The Hollywood Reporter recently came out with an article discussing the expansion of minorities in lead roles in TV pilots. Forest Whitaker, an African American man, is heading the Criminal Minds spinoff on CBS. Biracial actors Gugu Mbatha-Raw (South African/English) and Boris Kodjoe (German/Ghanaian) are leading NBC’s new JJ Abrams drama, Undercovers. Afro-Cuban Laz Alonso is headlining Fox’s new project, Breakout Kings. According to THR, casting for the leads in Undercovers “was done color-blind, with producers looking for the actors who best fit the characters and had the best chemistry … [E]arly breakdowns had Michael Keaton and Kiefer Sutherland as prototypes for the role on the Criminal Minds spinoff that was offered to Whitaker.”

I applaud the producers of Undercovers for being able to look beyond race, so they could cast purely based on chemistry and how the actors fit into the roles. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Mbatha-Raw and Kodjoe are both gorgeous.) I’m happy for all these actors; since I am not familiar with most of them or their work, it’ll be a pleasure to see some fresh talent on the small screen next season.

I just wish that Asian American actors could take part in what looks like a breakout year not just for new actors, but actors of color.

* Is Iranian considered Asian? ABC ordered a pilot called Funny in Farsi, based on the memoir by Iranian American Firoozeh Dumas. Iran is geographically in Asia but Persians are racially Caucasian. I’ll leave this up to you guys to figure out.

(Image Credit: ABC)

I gave up on Lost after the first season, but I am excited to hear that Kim, a terrific actor and one of the few Asian American males on network television, has found life after Lost. He is the first member of the cast to sign on to a new show. Sure, it’ll take some time getting used to him as someone other than Jin. But I’m sure he will have no problem settling into his new role.

Hawaii Five-O is a cop series that ran from 1968-1980. I’ve never seen so much as a clip. And I abhor TV remakes. But this time, I will make an exception.

Then I read this article on racebending.com and found out that Harrison Ford’s character, a doctor who finds a cure for Pompe disease, is actually based on an Asian doctor, Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen. Here is a portion of Roger Ebert’s review of the movie:

Dr. Robert Stonehill doesn’t exist in real life. The Pompe cure was developed by and his colleagues while he was at Duke University. He is now director of the Institute of Biomedical Science in Taiwan. Harrison Ford, as this film’s executive producer, perhaps saw Stonehill as a plum role for himself; a rewrite was necessary because he couldn’t very well play Dr. Chen. The real Chen, a Taiwan University graduate, worked his way up at Duke from a residency to professor and chief of medical genetics at the Duke University Medical Center. He has been mentioned as a Nobel candidate.

I know this isn’t the first time a Caucasian actor was hired to play a role based on an Asian or Asian American — far from it. But that doesn’t make it any more bearable each time it happens. I’ve always had respect for Harrison Ford as an actor, but I wonder if the movie — which opened to just $7 million this weekend, for 7th place — would’ve been better had an unknown Asian actor been cast. I understand the studio probably wanted a famous actor to carry the role. Yet, if you look at previous unknowns like Gabourey Sidibe in Precious and Carey Mulligan in An Education, you know this is the year of the breakout star.

I don’t know about you, but I believe America is more than ready for Asian Americans starring in non-martial arts films. Even if Hollywood isn’t.