Fresh Off the Boat: The Complete First Season

Based on a memoir by renowned chef Eddie Huang, this sitcom focuses on Huang's childhood in America as the son of immigrant parents from Taiwan, serving up a rare primetime series that features Asian-American characters at the center of the story. The series opens with the family moving from the urban culture of Washington D.C., where Huang was born and raised, to Orlando, FL, where Eddie's father opens an American steakhouse in 1995. While 12-year-old Eddie (Hudson Yang) identifies with rap and hip-hop culture but doesn't quite fit into the social environment of his new school, his thoroughly Americanized father (Randall Park) struggles to become part of Orlando society while pursuing the American Dream. Eddie's penny-pinching tiger mom (Constance Wu) tries to hold onto her Chinese roots while getting sucked into American culture and suburban society, and his two overachieving younger brothers constantly show him up with good grades, extracurricular projects, and shameless brown-nosing. In short, Fresh Off the Boat plays with all sorts of stereotypes and situations, from ethnic tropes and suburban social cliques, to the grade school shark tank of bullies, cool kids, and outcasts—all within sitcom conventions. While Huang himself criticized the show for watering down his memoir, critics embraced it for its warmth, strong ensemble, and fresh cultural perspective. A fast-paced comedy, full of clever fantasy sequences, this is an entertaining and family-friendly series. Compiling all 13 episodes from the 2015 first season, extras include a trivia track and a gag reel. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)