"All-American Girl" (1994) TV series 1994-1995

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Creator:

Gary Jacobs

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

14 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Based around the stand-up routines of comedienne Margaret Cho, this series looked at the culture clashes...

Plot Keywords:

Korean | Comedienne | Immigrant | Parent Child Relationship | Generational

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Margaret Cho	...	Margaret Kim (19 episodes, 1994-1995)
Amy Hill	...	Yung-hee 'Grandma' Kim (19 episodes, 1994-1995)
Jodi Long	...	Katherine Kim (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Benny Kim (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
Maddie Corman	...	Ruthie Latham (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
Judy Gold	...	Gloria Schechter (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
J.B. Quon	...	Eric Kim (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
B.D. Wong	...	Dr. Stuart Kim (18 episodes, 1994-1995)
Ashley Johnson	...	Casey Emmerson (12 episodes, 1994)

Runtime:

30 min (19 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Sandollar

Trivia:

This show became famous for Margaret Cho's battle with ABC executives which ended in the show's cancellation and her subsequent health problems. Cho used her own material but executives kept making changes in an effort to boost ratings but resulted in bad critical reviews which commented on the show's constant shift in tone and characters. Cho later said that she was approached by the network to drop a great deal of weight in a very short time. She was also told that she was not acting Asian enough which resulted in the hiring of an Asian consultant. All the Asian characters were dropped from the show in order to make Cho stand out but then Cho was accused of acting too Asian. These constant changes led to the show being canceled after only one season. After the show was canceled Cho suffered kidney failure due to the rapid weight loss and spiraled into drug and alcohol addiction. She eventually got clean and her problems with the show has become material for her stand-up act.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Angels' Revenge (#7.22)" (1995)

Kudos to All American Girl

As an avid Margaret Cho fan I thought that I wouldn't particularly enjoy my new box set of "All American Girl" and bought it purely as a Margaret Cho souvenir. Margaret has a lot to say about the show in her stand up routine and I was prepared to watch one train wreck of a show. I didn't remember much of the show when it was on the air except that there was finally an Asian television show, which was monumental at the time. Well monumental of any time. Let's just say that I am now an "All American Girl" fan. Margaret Cho is hilarious as... herself. It's based on her stand up routines and of course it is watered down for TGIF viewership. Still, it's good to see a show with as much heart as this. There is an underlying family theme to it thrown in with some great characters. Amy Hill as grandma is genius. No matter what ethnicity you are you will connect with her. She's hilarious to watch as a caricature, but has a way of pulling at your heart stings when she needs to. It's a very strong cast and a funny show that should have had it's day in the sun. The only episode I didn't like was the last episode in which the show was reworked and everyone was fired except Margaret and Amy Hill. It was a typical generic mess of a nondescript sitcom; the type that suddenly emerged in the mid to late nineties. "All American Girl" was way ahead of it's time. It would still be ahead of it's time today. I'm glad I now have a great series in my collection that I can pull out and laugh with on the next rainy day.