A sitcom about the experiences of a Taiwanese immigrant family is set to air on US television this week.

“Fresh Off the Boat” will be the first network sitcom to focus on the story of a Taiwanese immigrant family and only the third attempt by any major American network to launch an Asian-American situational comedy.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan immigrant whose life is the basis for the show has expressed tortured ambivalence towards the sitcom, which is set to air on February 10.

Eddie Huang says in his interview with the New York Times Magazine that he laments selling his life rights to a major network but also praised the show as a milestone in US television history.

Huang says he chose to sign with ABC, hoping to use the power of network television to alter mass perceptions about race and to show the Asian-immigrant experience without compromise.

The report says Huang later felt the show was performing a kind of ‘reverse yellow-face’– “telling white American stories with Chinese faces”.

Meanwhile, previews of the first two episodes of “Fresh Off the Boat” have garnered more than 7.93 million and 7.56 million views respectively.

 

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