This is a memorable Christmas episode from “Fresh Off the Boat” and it’s sad to see the series no longer on television. It was a rarity to see an Asian family on television that would do very well in the ratings and last that long. Recommended!
Click here to watch “Fresh Off the Boat – Season 2” on Amazon
TITLE: Fresh Off the Boat – Season 2, Episode 10
TV YEAR: 2015
DURATION: 21 Minutes
COMPANY: ABC
Created by Nahnatchka Khan
Inspired by the Book by Eddie Huang
Directed by Henry Chan
Written by Kourtney Kang
Producer: Rich Blomquist, Justin McEwen
Co-Producer: Jeff Chiang, Eric Ziobrowski
Executive Producers: Jake Kasdan, Nahnatchka Khan, Melvin Mar
Co-Executive Producer: Keith Heisler, Kourtney Kang, Matt Kuhn, Sanjay Shah
Associate Producer: Kyle Weber
Music by Craig Wedren
Cinematography: Brandon Mastripollito
Edited by Jeremy Cohen
Casting by Anya Colloff, Michael V. Nicolo
Production Design by Liz Kay
Costume Design by Debra McGuire
Starring:
Randall Park as Louis Huang
Constance Wu as Jessica Huang
Hudson Yang as Eddie Huang
Forrest Wheeler as Emery Huang
Ian Chen as Evan Huang
Chelsey Crisp as Honey
Paul Scheer as Mitch
Ray Wise as Marvin
Jessica loves the holidays, but feels that Santa could use some improvements. So she and Louis convince Evan that Santa is a scientist with multiple post-graduate degrees from Princeton and has a close relationship with his mother. Meanwhile, Eddie and Emery are struggling to find the perfect Christmas gift for their mother.
As I wait for more holiday films to be made available and easily accessible (as I am reviewing this in advance), I am going to review a few Christmas TV episodes for now.
A Christmas episode that I am reviewing is from “Fresh Off the Boat” season two, episode 10 titled “The Real Santa”.
This was a hilarious episode that I remember very well. The show is about a Chinese family in America and revolves around the Huang family. The show was inspired by chef Eddie Huang’s book, but aside from Eddie growing up in the US, the show doesn’t really have much to do with Eddie Huang’s life and even became a source of tension as Eddie Huang had creative differences with ABC and Huang didn’t like how the show progressed, so different from his own life.
But the show went on for six years (2015-2020) and was a hit but with the kids growing older and Randall Park and Constance Wu wanting to pursue bigger things, the show ended and it was sad because this was one of the most successful network TV shows featuring Asian Americans and for me, I enjoyed the show (even though I read Eddie Huang’s book before the show aired).
This Christmas episode is regarding mother Jessica (portrayed by Constance Wu), who wants her younger son Evan (portrayed by Ian Chen) to look forward to Christmas and Santa, but changing some details to make Santa to a person who has a rich career (as Jessica feels that Santa is not a financially stable person since he works as a delivery person once a year).
But while she gets her neighbor friend to be Santa Claus, unfortunately restaurant worker Mitch also dresses up as Santa which confuses Evan even more.
So, she invents an idea that the real Santa Claus is Chinese, that’s why all the toys are “Made in China”. And of course, husband Louis (portrayed by Randall Park) goes along with his wife lie about Santa.
For the most part, this is a memorable Christmas episode from “Fresh Off the Boat” and it’s sad to see the series no longer on television. It was a rarity to see an Asian family on television that would do very well in the ratings and last that long.
Recommended!
Click here to watch “Fresh Off the Boat – Season 2” on Amazon
