By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
Of all the new shows featuring Asian Americans in lead roles on prime time television this season, only one has failed to so far to be renewed.
The fate of Dr. Ken starring Ken Jeong on ABC is still unknown, although the prospects look good.
To help seal the deal, the show is doing a bit of cross promoting with Randall Park of Fresh Off the Park guest starring this Friday.
Ken’s wife Allison (Suzy Nakamura) encourages her husband to do more outside of home and work, so he joins the Korean Men’s Club.
Ken reluctantly goes and hears the group talking about a campaign to put a new speed bump in Koreatown. That immediately turns Ken off.
“This is a little too ethnic for me, Dr. Ken tells Gary (Randall Park). I’m more of a bandwagon Korean. Don’t get me wrong. If there’s a plate of kalbi in the middle of the table, I’m all over it.”
Ken returns home and talks about all the civic projects the group does. Allison is pleased, Ken’s daughter Molly (Krista Marie Yu) is surprised.
“I don’t know why you’re doing all this,” you already gone to college,” she says.
While the Asian American community hasn’t gotten behind Dr. Ken the way it did with Fresh Off the Boat, Dr. Ken is significant in that it is only the second show currently on the air that features an Asian American family.
The show features a diverse cast and shows Ken’s family in normal situations that all Americans can relate.
The show has averaged a 1.13 rating in the advertiser coveted 18-49 age group and has retained the audience from its lead-in Last Man Standing better than any other show previously in its time slot.
The other first year shows starring Asian Americans renewed already are Master of None starring Aziz Ansari on Netflix, Into the Badlands on AMC starring Daniel Wu, Quantico starring Priyanka Chopra on ABC, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend starring Vincent Rodriguez III on the CW.
What do you think? Would you like to see Dr. Ken renewed?
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