American television series with Asian leads

American television series with Asian leads means a scripted American television series that features an actor of Asian ancestry as the series' leading actor portraying the series' protagonist. The first example dates back to 1951 with Anna May Wong a classic Hollywood-era movie star with her TV show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.^[1]

Examples

1950's

• The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (Protagonist portrayed by Anna May Wong)

1970's

• The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (Protagonist portrayed by Keye Luke)
• Mr. T and Tina (Protagonist portrayed by Pat Morita)^[2][3]

1980's

• Ohara (Protagonist portrayed by Pat Morita)

1990's

• All American Girl (Protagonist portrayed by Margaret Cho)^[4][5][6]
• Vanishing Son (Protagonist portrayed by Russell Wong)
• Jackie Chan Adventures (Protagonist portrayed by James Sie)
• Martial Law (Protagonist portrayed by Sammo Hung)^[7]
• The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (protagonist portrayed by Irene Ng)

2000's

• American Dragon: Jake Long (Protagonist portrayed by Dante Basco)^[8]
• Inconceivable (Protagonist portrayed by Ming-Na Wen)
• Cashmere Mafia (Protagonist portrayed by Lucy Liu)
• Samurai Girl (Protagonist portrayed by Jamie Chung)

2010's

• Nikita (Protagonist portrayed by Maggie Q)^[9]
• Supah Ninjas (Protagonist portrayed by Ryan Potter)^[10]
• Sullivan & Son (Protagonist portrayed by Steve Byrne)
• Beauty & the Beast (Protagonist portrayed by Kristin Kreuk)^[11]
• The Mindy Project (Protagonist portrayed by Mindy Kaling)^[12]
• Sanjay and Craig (Protagonist portrayed by Maulik Pancholy)
• Fresh Off the Boat (Majority of the Cast)^[13]
• Quantico (Protagonist portrayed by Priyanka Chopra)^[14]
• Dr. Ken (Protagonist portrayed by Ken Jeong)
• Master of None (Protagonist portrayed by Aziz Ansari)^[15]
• Into the Badlands (Protagonist portrayed by Daniel Wu)^[16]

See also

Asian Americans in Arts and entertainment

References

1. "Film reveals real-life struggles of an onscreen 'Dragon Lady'."
2. "Pat Morita - Mr. T and Tina cast". Sitcoms Online. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
3. "Mr. T and Tina". The New York Times.
4. Du Brow, Rick (September 4, 1994). "COVER STORY : True Tales of TV Trauma: 3 Comics Chase Roseanne-dom : Margaret Cho : She's the freshman. But the 25-year-old Korean American has another role to play besides the 'All-American Girl.' Cho is hoping to be a groundbreaker.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
5. Braxton, Greg (September 14, 1994). "It's All in the (Ground-Breaking) Family : Television: As a sitcom centered on Asian Americans, 'All-American Girl' is being monitored by advocacy groups concerned about racial stereotypes. Welcome to the pressure cooker.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-14.
6. ...Open. "Watch Full Episodes Online of Pioneers of Television on PBS | Margaret Cho on "All-American Girl"". Video.pbs.org. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
7. McDonald, William (1998-09-26). "Kung Fu Show Adds Star, Hoping For a Hit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
8. Talia Baugnon (30 September 2014). "Dante Basco talks Hollywood at LMU". Los Angeles Loyolan. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
9. Yuan, Jada (August 22, 2010). "Hong Kong's Hit Girl". New York. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
10. "Supah Ninja's Ryan Potter – My Day My Life". Alloy TV. September 16, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
11. "The CW Finds Its Beauty: 'Smallville's Kristin Kreuk To Star In 'Beauty & The Beast' Pilot". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
12. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/09/26/like_it_or_not_the_mindy_project_is_historic.html Retrieved: September 26, 2012
13. Yang, Jeff (May 2, 2014). "Why the 'Fresh Off the Boat' TV Series Could Change the Game". WSJ Blogs - Speakeasy. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
14. Cain, Rob (1 October 2015). "Priyanka Chopra Breaks New Ground For Indian Actors In America". Forbes. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
15. J. Maureen Henderson. "Is Aziz Ansari's 'Master Of None' The Show That Aging Millennials Have Been Waiting For?". Forbes. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
16. Maureen Ryan. "'Into the Badlands' Review: Daniel Wu brings charisma to action drama — Variety". Variety. Retrieved April 22, 2016.