ALL-AMERICAN GIRL – THE COMPLETE SERIES (ABC 1994-95) Margaret Cho, Clyde Kusatsu, BD Wong, Amy Hill, Jodi Long J.B. Quon, Ashley Johnson
All-American Girl is a 1994 American sitcom starring standup comedian Margaret Cho. The series, Created by Gary Jacobs, aired on ABC from September 14, 1994, to March 15, 1995.
Cho starred as Margaret Kim, the rebellious daughter of Korean American bookstore owners in San Francisco, whose American attitude often comes into conflict with her more traditional parents as she tries to navigate life with her family, friends, and romantic partners.
In the Kim family household, Margaret has many squabbles with her very traditional mother, Katherine (Jodi Long), who wants nothing more than for her to settle down with a Korean boy and be successful. Her passive father (Clyde Kusatsu) plays more of the middle-man in these touchy debates, and prefers to spend time working in their family-owned bookstore. Also in the house are Margaret's brothers — her successful older brother, Dr. Stuart Kim (BD Wong), and her admiring younger brother, Eric (J.B. Quon) — as well as her eccentric grandmother "Grandma" Kim (Amy Hill). A frequent guest at the Kim home is Eric’s friend Casey Emmerson (Ashley Johnson, “Growing Pains”).
Outside of home, Margaret — who goes to college, though frequently bounces between majors — works at the cosmetics counter of a department store with her friends, pathetic Ruthie (Maddie Corman) and promiscuous Gloria (Judy Gold).
All-American Girl was created by ABC to capitalize on the trend of female comediennes headlining their own sitcoms. Margaret Cho was included in a Wednesday night lineup that included other women in lead roles — Brett Butler (Grace Under Fire), Ellen DeGeneres (Ellen), and most successfully, Roseanne Barr (Roseanne). However, Cho was the only minority of this group and the only one who had no creative control over the process.
The series is notable for being both groundbreaking and infamous. The series was the first prime time sitcom to feature an Asian American family as its focus; however, it received criticism for its stereotypical characters.
This 2-DVD set contains all 19 episodes, plus a bonus interview. Some of the guest stars appearing on the series included Vicki Lawrence, Garrett Wang, Ming-Na Wen, Quentin Tarantino, Mariska Hargitay.