Mr. Hyphen on CBS5 Bay Sunday Show
If you do not think this cover is adorable, I believe you have no heart.
A while ago "America's Next Top Model" had its girls do a Japanese Campbell's soup commercial for a challenge (yes, I remember). And please, allow me to say that they made them look like freaks. What the hell is up with the whole pink on the eyes and cheek look? Is this the new Asian look?
Continue reading "Reality Shows and Japan (and Other Asian Things)"
Posted by LisaLee at 1:06 AM
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September 5, 2008
MTV's Top Pop Group is Cheesy, but Empowering?
When MTV has a hit, they milk it for all it's worth. After two highly successful seasons of "America's Best Dance Crew," the cable channel has just launched a singing competition in the same vein: groups perform for a panel of young, urban judges (including Taboo from Black Eyed Peas and Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child) and America votes for MTV's Top Pop Group . It's "American Idol" but with singers in multiples of 3 or more. And yes, Mario Lopez is still there.
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Posted by Sylvie at 12:41 PM
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August 29, 2008
Only Asian American On 'ANTM 11' Looks Like A Lot Of Fun
I'll admit, just like Sylvie , watching "America's Next Top Model" is one of my guilty pleasures. Terrible but true. At any rate, the only Asian American on this cycle of ANTM looks like a helluva lot of fun.Although I can't quite tell what she means when she says she's "not your typical Asian American girl" (in response to another model asking her what it's like to be the only "Oriental" on the show), she does look like a pretty kickass alpha female, who proclaims somewhere around 0:15 that she's "dynamic" and "magnifying," whatever that means. In any case, fingers crossed that she represents well. Here's hoping Sheena makes it far and shows those judges that Asian American women can be both assertive and beautiful in our own right.
At very least, she probably won't be another Gina Choe and have some sort of
meltdown/identity crisis on
national television .
Posted by Elaine at 5:07 AM
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August 27, 2008
Kathie Lee Gifford Does Her Best Chinese Accent
Kathie Lee Gifford did a little Mickey Rooney-Mr. Yunioshi imitation on the "Today" show on Monday. See the video at Gawker: Kathie Lee Gifford Imitates Al Roker Imitating Chinese Person, Adds Helpful Squinting Gesture! Continue reading "Kathie Lee Gifford Does Her Best Chinese Accent"
Posted by Harry at 12:02 AM
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August 13, 2008
An Asian American 'Top Model'?
The inexplicable TV juggernaut and guilty pleasure (of which I am very guilty) known as "America's Next Top Model" will premiere its eleventh cycle on September 3rd with an actual Asian American gal in the running. The last AA contestant to appear on the show, Korean American Gina Choe, appeared 5 cycles ago back in 2006. She is best known as the chick that freaked out because she had to carry a hissing cockroach down the runway. Scroll to 5:04 on the video to refresh your memory:Continue reading "An Asian American 'Top Model'?"
Posted by Sylvie at 7:47 PM
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August 12, 2008
iaTV Pulled from San Francisco Cable Lineup
Comcast yanked Asian American television network iaTV from its San Francisco channel offerings last month, and apparently nobody noticed. The cable company cited low viewership as the reason.Continue reading "iaTV Pulled from San Francisco Cable Lineup"
Posted by Harry at 11:38 AM
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August 7, 2008
'America's Best Dance Crew' Final 2
Fanny Pak was robbed. Sorry, I just had to get that out of the way.
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Posted by Sylvie at 11:09 PM
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August 4, 2008
Mindy Kaling on Accents and Apu
From Defamer Australia , Mindy Kaling a.k.a. Kelly Kapoor from NBC's "The Office," recently went on "Late Night with David Letterman" to discuss, among other things, being typecast as an actor of Indian descent.
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July 18, 2008
Michael Paul Chan Q&A with Washington Post
The Washington Post posted a fan Q&A with actor Michael Paul Chan who plays Lt. Mike Tao on the TNT drama "The Closer" .Aiiieeeee! ."
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Posted by Sylvie at 1:45 PM
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July 17, 2008
Oh, Okazaki get Emmy Nods
Congrats to Sandra Oh and Steven Okazaki for being the lone Asian American Emmy nominees in non-technical categories this year. Oh's nod is for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series for her role as Dr. Christina Yang on "Grey's Anatomy" and Okazaki is in the running for the Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking award for his Hiroshima documentary "White Light/Black Rain" .Continue reading "Oh, Okazaki get Emmy Nods"
Posted by Sylvie at 9:48 AM
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July 9, 2008
"The Cho Show" on VH1
Well, there will be Asians on cable at least.LA Times , Margaret Cho will have the honor of being the star of the first and second all-Asian American television series, her first being 1994's All-American Girl on ABC.
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Posted by Sylvie at 8:54 PM
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Fall TV Forecast: Snowy with a Sprinkling of Minorities
TV Guide's list of network TV's fall line-up is looking a bit ... like it does every season.
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Posted by Sylvie at 1:35 PM
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July 7, 2008
Heath Hyche: Last Yellow Face Comic Standing
Thanks to my trusty DVR I had a chance to check out some of the previous week's "Last Comic Standing" on NBC and I'm glad I did, because otherwise I
wouldn't have seen how comedian Heath Hyche decided to go where pretty much no
other comedian goes anymore -- full blown Mickey Rooney Yellow Face.
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June 24, 2008
IATV Hopes to Fare Better than AZN
Cable channel IATV, formerly ImaginAsian TV, has recently revamped its programming lineup in order to draw in its young Asian American demographic and prevent a shutdown similar to that of AZN Television which ended broadcasting earlier this year.
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Posted by Sylvie at 11:29 AM
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June 17, 2008
Actor Alec Mapa is Entertainer of the Year
From Indiewire : The 14th annual Philadelphia International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival will honor Filipino American actor Alec Mapa as Entertainer of the Year.
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Posted by Sylvie at 10:34 AM
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June 16, 2008
Indian American Comedian to Co-Star in "The Office" Spinoff
Just read this report from the New York Observer , which says Indian American MTV writer Aziz Ansari has been cast in the new spinoff of NBC's "The Office." Ansari is currently an executive producer, writer and performer on the MTV show, "Human Giant," and has made cameos in shows like "Flight of the Concords." According to Variety , the "Office" spinoff may borrow minimally from the current cast, instead introducing characters on "The Office" before moving them on to the new show. Gelf Magazine feature story.
Posted by Elaine at 11:56 AM
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June 12, 2008
Tila Tequila Says She Helped Lift Gay Marriage Ban
Everyone's favorite Asian American MySpace model/singer/bisexual dating show contestant Tila Tequila recently told UsWeekly that her MTV show "A Shot at Love" should be credited for the recent legalization of same-sex marriages in California.Continue reading "Tila Tequila Says She Helped Lift Gay Marriage Ban"
Posted by Sylvie at 1:29 PM
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June 9, 2008
Sex and the City Not So Pretty
Raise your hands if you thought the new 'Sex and the City' blew chunks.New Yorker slam , the winner for "most revealing line in the film" is "Miranda's outburst as she hunts for an apartment in a mainly Chinese district: 'White guy with a baby! Let's follow him.' So that's what drives these people: Aryan real estate."Posted by Rebecca at 11:47 AM
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May 30, 2008
Brian Tee Cast in "Crash" Series
From Hollywood Reporter , the Starz network has cast five members in its upcoming "Crash" series, based on the 2004 Oscar-winning film by Paul Haggis. Cast members include Caucasian actor Ross McCall as a police officer, African American actor Jocko Sims as a driver for a music producer, Cuban American actress Arlene Tur as an actress-turned-cop, Latino American actor Luis Chavez as a "poor immigrant who embarks on a brutal journey to America," and Korean/Japanese American actor
Brian Tee as a Korean American immigrant who works as an EMT. Tee's credits include Justin Lin's "Finishing the Game" and "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."Continue reading "Brian Tee Cast in "Crash" Series"
Posted by Sylvie at 1:44 PM
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May 22, 2008
More Asian Americans get voted off the island
Continue reading "More Asian Americans get voted off the island"
Posted by Slanty at 2:41 PM
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A letter to Top Chef's Dale Talde
Top Chef
excellence, in the end I guess it just wasn't meant to be.Continue reading "A letter to Top Chef's Dale Talde"
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May 6, 2008
Everybody Loves the JabbaWockeeZ
I apologize for not posting as often as I'd like but I've been so busy with work and other pressing deadlines.
Anyway, I'm still amazed at the fact that people just can't seem to get enough of the JabbaWockeeZ group. Last week, I attended the East West Players (EWP) 42nd Anniversary Visionary Awards dinner held at the Universal Hilton Hotel. The EWP awarded the dance crew the Breakout Performance Award. Last year, Masi Oka of "Heroes " received the award.
Photo By: Gary Wong
Continue reading "Everybody Loves the JabbaWockeeZ"
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April 24, 2008
Turner Classic Movies to Air Series on Asian Images in Film
Turner Classic Movies is going to show a month-long series of movies examining images of Asians in June. It's a extension of the network's look at African American images and gay images it has aired during the past two years.
Continue reading "Turner Classic Movies to Air Series on Asian Images in Film"
Posted by Harry at 10:56 AM
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April 18, 2008
America's Next Top Model: Bay Area Search
Remember Tina Nguyen from San Jose who won The Bay Area Search for America's Next Top Model? 19 years old, full time student, picked from 500 different portfolios. round .Continue reading "America's Next Top Model: Bay Area Search"
Posted by LisaLee at 2:24 PM
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April 10, 2008
Move Over Maria, Here Comes Leela
Nitya Vidyasagar .
I remember feeling really warm seeing the Puerto Rican Rodriguez family -- Maria and Luis -- because they kinda looked like me. How cool that, from August 2008 -- Sesame Street's 39th (!!) season -- Indian kids will grow up with someone who REALLY looks like them.
The best part of this story is that the producers claim that they weren't looking for another ethnic character:
"When the producers of Sesame Street were looking for a new actor to run the local laundromat, they were not looking for an Indian or any particular ethnicity -- they just wanted someone who was charming and not patronizing to a young audience. According to the newspaper India-West , the fact that this character is a Hindu and Indian American is purely coincidental. In fact, the character was recreated for this actress since they were smitten by her theatrical abilities."
Momo recently blogged about the bi-lingual Madarin animated show Ni Hao, Kai-lan that Nickelodeon is showing. What other live or animated Asian American characters are there out there for children's programming? Posted by Neela at 10:44 AM
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March 31, 2008
Jabba Baby
First of all, congrats to the JabbaWockeeZ for winning America's Best Dance Crew!
It looks like they're already inspiring the youngsters. Check out this video of a 2-year-old dancing to the Jabba routine. This is the "superman" routine they did a while back.
And here's a video showing the Jabbawockeez's routine superimposed over the little one dancing:
Posted by Momo at 12:22 PM
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March 26, 2008
AZN Award Nominees Announced
AZN announced their list of nominees today for their 3rd annual Asian Excellence Awards. Though AZN TV is now defunct, the (award) show must go on...
This year's hosts are Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on Dancing With the Stars, and MADtv actor/comedian Bobby Lee.
This is the same award show that Adam Carolla made fun of on the radio a couple years ago. (insert angry emoticon here).
Continue reading "AZN Award Nominees Announced"
Posted by Momo at 4:13 PM
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March 24, 2008
Shaun Majumdar: Worst Indian Accent Ever
Picking up on Rebecca’s earlier post about Asian Americans in the current television line-up, I accidentally watched the Farrelly Brothers sitcom Unhitched last week.
Continue reading "Shaun Majumdar: Worst Indian Accent Ever"
Posted by Neela at 10:08 PM
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I Would Give Ken Leung My Lungs
Lost , I just had to say that I'm really enjoying watching Ken Leung on the telly -- or rather, my laptop.
He charmed me in last year's rotoscoped, admittedly saccharine, fairy tale feature Year of the Fish (but now I am thoroughly sick of people talking to goldfish in films), and when I saw him standing across the way at last year's SFIAAFF I wanted to run up to him and jump into his arms and ask him to rescue me.
Miles Straume, his swarthy Lost character, is the most fascinating of the new batch and arguably of the entire show. Not only is Miles a daredevil jerk with a temper, but he's a fricking medium . He talks to dead people! I totally dug the scene in Episode 2 where he's channeling the dead druggie kid and the room starts to get all crazy.
Also in my notes: Not so cool on TV -- Kal Penn in House .
Posted by Rebecca at 4:26 PM
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February 15, 2008
CNN blasted for report on Asian American voters
CNN is taking some heat for its very superficial Feb. 8 report on "Anderson Cooper 360" about why Asian American Democratic voters are favoring Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.
Continue reading "CNN blasted for report on Asian American voters"
Posted by Harry at 8:25 PM
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If you're in San Francisco tonight, come out to a vigil in support of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling hosted by Academy of Art University. The Current TV reporters are being held by North Korea on charges they entered the country illegally.
