January 5th, 2017
A Closer Look at Fresh off the Boat 細說《菜鳥新移民》‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥p. 1 A Closer Look at Fresh off the Boat by Theodore Pigott, special correspondent
For many people, the television series Fresh off the Boat was a surprise hit. After all, this sitcom was the first major American TV show to feature an Asian-American family since Margaret Cho’s All-American girl in 1994, which lasted for only one season. Yet, this show Fresh off the Boat has become tremendously popular over the past few years, especially among Asian-Americans and even in many parts of Asia, including Taiwan. In fact, this past summer, the first episode of the show’s third season was filmed entirely in Taipei. Briefly speaking, Fresh off the Boat tells the story of Eddie Huang and his experiences growing up in American in the mid-1990s. In the show, Huang’s parents are Taiwanese immigrants to America, with Huang himself being born in Washington, D.C. The show focuses on the family’s move from Washington, D.C. to Orlando, Florida, after Huang’s father decides to open up a steakhouse there in 1995. In the episodes that follow, the show explores how Huang and his family try to adjust to living in an area with very few other Asian-Americans. It also looks at how Huang tries to fit in at his new school, while also highlighting Huang’s father’s attempts to achieve success in the restaurant business and live the “American dream.” The TV show is actually based on a memoir of the same name by Eddie Huang. He wrote the memoir to share his experiences growing up in America as a first-generation Asian-American, whose parents were “fresh off the boat.” Although Huang served as the narrator of the first season of the series and was involved in some of the show’s early episodes, he has since distanced himself from the show, complaining that the show had become an “ambiguous (and) artificial representation of Asian-American lives.” Nevertheless, fans of the show, especially those in Taiwan, were very excited about the first episode of the show’s third season. This season-opening was filmed on location at several spots around Taipei, including Dihua Street, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, and the Grand Hotel, among others. The episode also featured the superstar Hsu Wei-ning, who is also known as Ann Hsu. In the episode, the Huang family has returned to Taiwan, and Huang’s mother tells her sons that they are “home,” though her son Eddie reminds her that “we’ve never been here.” By the end of the show, however, Huang’s mother says that she is “homesick for Orlando.” ~1~