They Call Us Sanjay Shah and Jude Weng

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.

What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we continue our celebration of Fresh Off the Boat's 10th anniversary and welcome writer Sanjay Shah (Everybody Still Hates Chris, Dream Productions, Central Park) and director Jude Weng (Finding Ohana, The Good Place, Only Murders in the Building) -- key creatives involved in the making of the groundbreaking series. They look back at the impact of the show on their careers, some of the challenges and critiques they faces during production, and the importance of storytelling from an Asian American perspective. Also: The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of making Fresh Off the Boat.

Fox buys Sanjay Shah's comedy series 'Model Minorities'

A "stereotype-busting" Indian American comedy.



More Asians on TV, maybe! Fox has given a script commitment with significant penalty to Model Minorities, a single-camera comedy from Fresh Off The Boat co-executive producer Sanjay Shah, Portlandia and Baskets co-creator, executive producer and director Jonathan Krisel and 20th Century Fox TV.

Written by Shah, Model Minorities is a stereotype-busting comedy that follows a highly educated but struggling Indian American who moves in with his uneducated, but rich, immigrant cousin.

So... like an Indian Perfect Strangers? Sure, I'm down for it.

This could be great. Shah, who got his start on the animated series King of the Hill and was a co-executive producer on the comedy Enlisted, has had a hand in some of Fresh Off the Boat's most memorable episodes.

That title though... I'm going to have think about it.

More here: Fox Buys 'Model Minorities' Indian-American Comedy From Sanjay Shah & Jonathan Krisel With Penalty

Taiwan is Doing Cars Better Than Us

A Very Short Photo Essay About The Weird and Wonderful Cars of Taiwan. Guest Post by Sanjay Shah



I was in Taiwan earlier this month to help shoot the upcoming season premiere of Fresh Off The Boat. I am also so obsessed with cars that I dropped out of college to work on them. Here are some of the cars that I saw on the streets of Taiwan:

Forrest Wheeler describing a pager will make you feel old

'Fresh Off The Boat' star says it's "like an iPhone." But without a screen or apps.


Photo Credit: Jenny Yang
As fans of Fresh Off The Boat are aware, much of the show's humor is derived from some good old-fashioned '90s nostalgia. But we sometimes forget that the show's young stars weren't even alive yet during the nineties.

On Tuesday at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, comedian Jenny Yang and I hosted a live screening of Fresh Off the Boat, featuring members of the show's cast and crew, including stars Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen and Lucille Soong, writers Ali Wong and Sanjay Shah, and executive producer Melvin Mar.

During the Q&A, an audience member asked Forrest and Ian, who play brothers Emery and Evan Huang, what Fresh Off The Boat had taught them about 1990s pop culture. Forrest proceeded to describe what he had learned about pagers... and made us all feel some kind of way.

Check it out:

Rapper Heems is turning 'Eat Pray Thug' into a TV sitcom

Based on the real life of the former Das Racist member, starring Utkarsh Ambudkar.



Some cool TV news... Fox has given a script commitment to Eat Pray Thug, a comedy based on the real life of rapper Himanshu "Heems" Suri (formerly of Das Racist), with Utkarsh Ambudkar attached to star.

Utkarsh Ambudkar To Star In Fox Comedy 'Eat Pray Thug' Inspired By Rapper Heems

Executive produced by Sanjay Shah, who is currently a writer on Fresh Off The Boat, Eat Pray Thug is inspired by Heems' relationship with his parents. The single-camera comedy centers on a successful rapper who, like Heems, lives with his Indian American parents in Queens.

I love it. If this is riding the current wave of people of color on television, keeping bringing it.