get ready for the cho show

The New York Times has an interesting profile on veteran comedian Margaret Cho (I think she's been in this game long enough to be considered a veteran), whose new TV series The Cho Show, premieres this month on VH1: Returning in Her Favorite Role, Herself.

While most folks would probably want to forget her now-infamous failed 1994-95 network sitcom All-American Girl, she brings it up right away to make the point that she's spent the last 13 years reinventing herself, she's not the same person, and this is not that show.

The Cho Show is a seven-episode, half-hour series billed as a "reality sitcom", described as a blend of unscripted dialogue and sequences based on her own life. The show features Cho's quirky entourage, which includes her 3-foot-10 assistant Selene Luna and a gay "glam squad" of stylists.

But best of all, the show features Margaret's parents, Seung Hoon and Young Hie Cho, who get to be in on the action and speak for themselves after years and years of only being known through Margaret's comic impersonations. Awkward... but funny. They could end up being the runaway stars of The Cho Show.

I have seen the first episode, and while it's a little rough, I generally liked it. I'm looking forward to seeing more. The Cho Show premieres August 21 on VH1. For more information about the show, go here, and visit Margaret Cho's official website here. And watch a "supertrailer" for The Cho Show here.