The Asian Queens on TV

Well, you guys know I'm Asian, right? So maybe you'll understand my excitement of spotting some mainstream TV programs that feature Asian faces or in some case, the program itself is even Asian themed. (Can we not count Shot of Love with Tila Tequila?)



I thought I would get to watch The Cho Show (Thursdays 11pm) and write a proper review piece, but I've been quite busy on Thursdays playing Mahjong with my friends and missing out on some episodes, thankfully they do reruns and there's always the online clips. It's hard for me not to compare it with My Life on the D-List with Kathy Griffin. Unlike Kathy's show who dig up fun with Kathy's relatively normal day to day life, Margaret's show is more staged.

The first episode is about Margaret going to receive the Korean of the Year award which celebrities often do, but the whole dress picking process is unconvincing. The second episode deals with Margaret image problem, so they decide to stage a "mother-daughter" beauty pageant that everyone ends up winning. The third episode Margaret experiments with camping in the name of environmentalism and return to a time where people uses recyclable energy, so the whole casts were wearing settler's costumes. And it seems like there's always a life lesson somewhere. As much as I like Margaret, the show feels a bit made up. Although the real stars are Margaret's parents, they seems genuine, wise and hilarious. Still, I've decided to love the show and watch it religiously and I'm already booking tickets for my crew to see her live show coming up next month.



There was a 6 episodes mini-series called Samurai Girl aired two episodes per night over the past three-day weekend on ABC Family. I caught a glimpse of it on Sunday, so I've probably missed the first four episodes. It might have been aired that way because ABC wasn't sure that it would generate enough viewership and they are testing the territories, or maybe it's a special way to gain cult status and it might go big time, but it sure feels like a strange move.

The main character Heaven is played by a pretty girl named Jamie Chung, who is actually Korean and not Japanese. You can see that she doesn't have any martial art trainings by her moves - it's a bit clumsy. After a little digging, I found a surprising amount of sexy pictures online that reminds me of Tila Tequila, and after more digging, I found out that she used to be in Real World: San Diego, I think I've seen that season but I have absolutely no recollection of her. Anyway, the show is pleasant even she plays the only good Asian, everybody else seems to be in a gang or an evil ninja or something. I believe if I was an actor in Hollywood, my career would probably be like Kenneth Choi's or playing an extra in a Choi Yun Fat movie.

And then there's this guy, Mr. Wisit Parapong from this season's Top Design:

I should stop making fun of my fellow gay Asian brother, he does seem incredibly talented. Wisit is a fashion designer who wanted to be an Opera singer who's trying out to be an interior designer. But he did busted out singing Opera in the middle of his self-introduction, and his mannerism is just too funny. (Not because of the effeminacy but more like because he smiles but then he's too shy to even smile. lol) The guys from Project RunGay are calling him not your average queen but the Grand Empress, I laughed so hard. I really have to give it up for the producers at Bravo for finding these unique individuals.