Some 15 years ago, in September of 1994, ABC debuted a family sitcom starring comedian Margaret Cho. All American Girl stars Cho as Margaret Kim, a fledgling stand-up who tries to balance modern life with the traditional values of her Korean parents (Jodi Long and Clyde Kusatsu).
Also living in the home are her medical student brother, Stuart (B.D. Wong), young brother Eric (J.B. Quon), and TV-obsessed grandmother (Amy Hill). Margaret spent her days working at the beauty counter of a department store alongside friends Gloria (Judy Gold) and Ruthie (Maddie Corman)
The ratings for All American Girl weren’t what the network wanted and producers kept adjusting the premise to try to boost viewership. Cho felt that the show’s premise got too watered down by all of the outside interference. She got into a public dispute with the execs and says that she was asked to do things like lose a significant amount of weight and act “more Asian.”
By the final episode, the initial premise and the entire supporting cast (with the exception of Grandma) had been dropped. Margaret has suddenly moved out of her parents’ home and she’s now living with three young male friends; Phil (Sam Seder), Jimmy (Andrew Lowry), and Spencer (Diedrich Baker). Cho has said that, at this point, she was told that she was acting “too Asian” for the new setting.
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All American Girl
