Ronny Chieng to Voice Kahn From ‘King of the Hill’

Here's a snippet of the article on resonate:

Addressing Representation in Animated Roles

Chieng’s casting for Kahn aligns with ongoing industry conversations about ensuring animated characters are voiced by actors who share their characters’ ethnic backgrounds. Chieng himself reportedly alluded to this casting in December during a podcast recording, explaining that the recasting for Kahn was intended to ensure an Asian actor would voice the character.

Kahn Souphanousinphone is married to Minh and is the father of Connie (both of whom will continue to be voiced by Lauren Tom). The character is known for his complex relationship with Hank Hill, often asserting his “superiority complex” while navigating suburban life in Arlen, Texas.

Read more here: https://www.weareresonate.com/2025/07/ronny-chieng-to-voice-kahn-in-king-of-the-hill-revival-on-hulu

Fox's Gang Related + Stereotypes + The Godfather + Breaking Bad

From a strict media to representation POV, I get it, but I'm also a sucker for action/drama, and I like seeing someone like Sung Kang and the other POC cast in a good story a la Infernal Affairs and its remake The Departed. Does the story-line have some issues and do some of the characters lack depth? Sure, and I think they need to tighten up some of the timeline/back story issues too - but it's still a good watch.

From a tipping point of when it's okay to see actors of color in roles that aren't the hero or the savior, I think it's a personal choice. For all the casting and image issues you can talk about in relation to movies like The Godfather or Scarface - those are still American classics in that genre. What if Breaking Bad had a mainly Asian, Latino, Black or Native American cast?

What happens then?

I don't want to see actors of color in bad roles but sometimes it's a fine line between a stereotype and an archetype, and at least for now, I'm putting Gang Related in the latter.

Myx TV's "I'm Asian American and..."

Definitely something I'm going to have to check out. The show premieres at 8 p.m. on April 23.



Here's a link to the Variety article.

You Should Know: Jessalyn Wanlim Is A Scoundrel

Numbers And Stats

Height: 5' 4"
Weight: 106 lbs
Bust: 0
Waist: 24
Hips: 33
Cup: A
Dress: 0
Shoe: 7.5
Hair color: Black
Hair length: Medium
Eye color: Brown
Ethnicity: Asian
Skin color: Tanned
Experience: Experienced
Compensation: Depends on Assignment
Shoot nudes: No
Genres: n/a

Last Seen On

ABC's Scoundrels as Patty Hong

Getting Ready For Fall: Hawaii Five-O, Maggie Q, And Nikita

Hawaii Five-O



Nikita

JohnTheCho, G4, Sexy Sulu, Behind The Scenes, And The Untitled Star Trek Sequel (Not Squeakquel)

Main G4 Interview



Behind The Scenes

Random Apolo Anton Ohno Commerical

Olivia Munn + Carson Daly

Good Read: "Flash Forward: The ’sexification’ of the Asian-American Male is Overdue"

Happened to catch this up at popcultureshock - and it's great:

But the biggest thing I am most concerned about though is co-lead, John Cho (Harold and Kumar, Star Trek) and his character, Demitri Noh. As a first-generation Asian-American, the sexification of the Asian-American Male is long overdue. The World Wars and Vietnam did wonders for the Asian-American woman, and Hispanics and Blacks have made great strides but what about my Asian brothers? Every time we’re portrayed either as a pencil protecting nerd, a camera-toting tourist, a scholar fresh off the boat, or a drugged out burnout. Never has an Asian male been cast in a straight lead role of a major network television show who is an actual Asian-AMERICAN.

Read it in full here.

Cashmere Mafia: You've been cancelled

Well - I guess it's official. Cashmere Mafia and Lucy Liu have been voted off the Great Big White TV Island.

How sad is that?

Update: Go here for more shows with Asian Americans that have been cancelled.

TV diversity - more work to do

So according to this news report from Reuters, ABC has won a top grade of an A for television diversity, while NBC and CBS received grades of B and B-.

But eveything isn't as it looks either:

"The number of American Latinos both in front and back of camera has increased, but they are incremental numbers in proportion to the (Latino) population," said National Latino Media Council chair Esteban Torres.

Things look dimmer for American Indians and Asians. "Behind the camera, American Indians remain invisible," said Mark Reed, spokesman for American Indians in Film and Television.

Added Karen K. Narasaki, chair of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, "We are deeply concerned about the lack of commitment to development deals with APA (Asian Pacific American) writers and talent."

If you're looking for another take on the report card, you'll also want to check out the post, Grading the Graders: Network TV Diversity Report Cards Get a Failing Grade From Me from The Feed.

Amazing Asians: Amazing Race's Ronald & Christina

The new upcoming season of The Amazing Race starts soon (November 4th) and two of the contestants are an Asian-American father and daughter team. How they'll fare is anyone's guess, but it's good to see CBS continuing its representation of Asian-Americans on the show - and judging from their information, their backdrop could prove to be an interesting storyline.

Here's some more info on the team from their CBS bio:

Ronald: Tacoma, WA58, VP of Sales
Christina, Washington, DC26, Policy Analyst

Ronald & Christina are a father/daughter Team who are competing in the Race to make up for lost time. Since Ronald was constantly traveling for work throughout much of his daughter's formative years, Christina hopes the Race will allow her father--a self-proclaimed workaholic--to stop and smell the roses and provide them with some meaningful time together.

Ronald, a first-generation immigrant and eldest of five, works as a Vice President of sales for a paper packaging company. His proudest achievements are his thirty-one years of marriage and raising two independent daughters.

Christina is Ronald's youngest daughter and holds degrees from both Duke and Princeton. She once served in the State Department and often wishes her Teammate could be as diplomatic as she.

Dance War: Carrie Ann Inaba

If you can't - or won't - be able to get enough of Dancing with the Stars or Carrie Ann Inaba judging the good, the bad, and the danceless - she'll be starring in a new show with fellow judge Bruno Tonioli called Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann.

Two teams will compete against each other - one headed out by Carrie Ann Inaba and the other by Bruno Tonioli where they will then be voted on each week by viewers, and then the losing team will have a contestant voted off by their coaches.

Read more here down at the NY Post.

Will Yun Lee and The Bionic Woman

Depending on your schedule - your DVR schedule - you may have just saw the premiere of NBC’s The Bionic Woman. If that’s the case, or you saw it on its actual premiere night, you know two things:

1. The show is INCREDIBLE.
2. Will Yun Lee sets the series off with the opening scenes AND seems to play an integral part of the cast and storyline.

Check it out on NBC Wednesdays 9/8c.

Big Bad TV List #1: New network fall shows with cast diversity

The Lists

Below is a list of the new network fall shows which have at least some diversity in their lineups. The list does not include reality television, and was compiled from the new shows listed from the MSNBC Fall 2007 TV Preview. Unless where noted, cast members are listed in the show's main cast/bio credits - however this may not always indicate a prominent role.

Shows which are bold in all navy/blue are ones where the main stars (or faces which seem to be promoted according to the network, or other marketing materials) are persons of color. Note that in many ways while this is based on what is being put out by the networks and other media, this can be more subjective in regard to an ensemble cast.

For instance Women's Murder Club and Private Practice are bold in navy/blue, while shows like Carpoolers and Pushing Daisies are not because there is still a question mark in regard to prominence and screen time (however in the end the star power of someone like Chi McBride may push that show over the line no matter what).

• Aliens in America - CW, Mondays, 8:30 p.m. ET, comedy - Premiere Oct 1.
  
  

  • ADHIR KALYAN

• Big Bang Theory - CBS, Mondays, 8:30 p.m. ET, comedy - Premiere Sept. 24

  • Kunal Nayyar

• Big Shots - ABC, Thursdays, 10 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 27

  • Nia Long (Role: Could be more secondary cast)

• Bionic Woman - NBC, Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 26

  • Will Yun Lee (No direct link to cast page - view main flash site, Wikipedia profile)

• Cane - CBS, Tuesdays, 10 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 25

  • The whole cast is diverse including (among others) Jimmy Smits, Hector Elizondo, Nester Carbonell, and Rita Moreno

• Canterbury's Law- Fox, midseason time TBD, Drama

  • Julianna Margulies (Wikipedia profile)

  • Keith Robinson (IMDB profile)

• Carpoolers - ABC Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. ET, comedy - Premiere Oct. 2

  • Jerry Minor

• Cashmere Mafia - ABC, Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Dec. 4

  • Lucy Liu (Wikipedia profile)

• Chuck - NBC, Mondays, 8 p.m. ET, Drama- Premiere Sept. 24

  • Joshua Gomez

• Gossip Girl - CW, Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 24

  • NICOLE FISCELLA

  • Nan Zhang

• Journeyman - NBC, Mondays, 10 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 24

  • Moon Bloodgood (No direct link to cast page - view main flash site)

• K-Ville - Fox, Mondays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 24

  • Anthony Anderson

  • Tawny Cypress

• Life is Wild - CW, Sundays, 8 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Oct 7

  • ATANDWA KANI (No direct link to cast page - view main flash site)

• Life - NBC, Wednesdays, 10 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 26

  • Sarah Shahi (No direct link to cast page - view main flash site, Wikipedia profile)

• Moonlight - CBS, Fridays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 28

  • Shannyn Sossamon

• New Amsterdam - Fox, midseason TBD, Drama

  • Zuleikha Robinson

• Private Practice - ABC, Wednesdays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 26

  • Taye Diggs

  • Audra McDonald

• Pushing Daisies - ABC, Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Oct. 3

  • Chi McBride

• Reaper - CW, Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premiere Sept. 25

  • RICK GONZALEZ

  • VALARIE RAE MILLER

• Samantha Who? - ABC, Mondays, 9:30 p.m. ET, comedy - Premiere (NA)

  • Tim Russ (Wikipedia profile)

• The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Fox, Sundays, midseason TBD, Drama

  • Richard T. Jones

• Viva Laughlin - CBS, Sundays, 8 p.m. ET, Drama - Premieres Oct. 21

  • DB Woodside

• Women's Murder Club - ABC, Fridays, 9 p.m. ET, Drama - Premieres Oct. 12

  • Linda Park (Wikipedia profile)

  • Paula Newsome (Tv.com profile)

  • Tyrees Allen (Tv.com profile)

Early Analysis

While some things could change in this list (additions or subtractions of cast, more prominence etc.) here are some early numbers (and remember that this does not include new reality television shows like Kid Nation which is very diverse):

1. Out of the 27 new shows listed from the Fall 2007 preview, 23 contained at least one cast member of color.

2. Out of those 23, 7 of the shows are ones where the main stars (or faces which seem to be promoted according to the network, or other marketing materials) are persons of color.

3. CW has 4 shows out of the 23
   CBS has 4 shows out of the 23
   ABC has 7 shows out of the 23
   NBC has 4 shows out of the 23
   FOX has 4 shows out of the 23

4. Out of the 7 shows where the main stars (or faces which seem to be promoted according to the network, or other marketing materials) are persons of color, ABC was the leader with 3, and then came Fox with 2, and then CBS and the CW each had 1 as well. NBC did not have a new show with that designation.

46 million dollar K-Drama

Last week was the rollout of the Korean Drama Taewangsasingi (The Four Guardian Gods of the King) and according to all reports, the television drama - which had a budget of $46 million (in U.S.) - is making news and attracting viewers:

From the Korean Times:

The long awaited drama, “Taewangsasingi” (The Four Guardian Gods of the King), starring hallyu icon Bae Yong-joon, finally met its audience on television Monday. A “Taewangsasingi Special” was aired with a sneak peek of highlights from the drama and behind-the-scenes interviews with the director and actors.

The special, aimed to give watchers a better understanding of the complicated storyline, sketched out an overall introduction to the drama and gave watchers a taste of the extravagant sets on Jeju Island and the vast planes of Kyrgyzstan, as well as the spectacular computer graphics that add a fantastical touch.

Scenes from the preview showed a striking resemblance to the highly credited graphics of the “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003),” and the recent box office hit “D-War,” thanks to the drama’s massive budget of 43 billion won.

Kim Myles: HGTV’s Design Star

In the world of Reality TV, Kim Myles was just recently crowned as this year’s Design Star for HGTV - and from watching the show and the final “design-off” - definitely deserved to win. Cool, calm, neat designs - and a person of color helming their own show on a major cable network channel - here’s a little more info on Kim from her profile down at HGTV:

Three favorite styles:

1. Modern

2. Boho (bohemian chic)

3. Contemporary

A design do: Texture and color.

A design don’t: Bare, white walls.

Favorite designer: I’m inspired by all kinds of designers — interior, fashion, furniture, pottery and jewelry. I could never choose just one!

Emmy Roundup: Oh, Masi, America, 30, Wounded Knee, Roots, and Sanjaya makes a comeback?

So the Emmys have come and gone and here’s what’s left on the Slanted front:

Sandra Oh didn’t win but I guess the black dress went over way better than last year according to the many various online polls - and wouldn’t she rather have online fashion love instead of an Emmy?

Masi didn’t win either, but he did get to spend some time in the spotlight with Ryan Seacrest while he “hooked up” MySpace founder, friend #1 Tom, with buddy Al Gore….does it get any sweeter in defeat?

America Fererra - she did win - Best Actress For A Comedy Series for Ugly Betty - and seriously - how could she not have won? Since she lept on the screen in HBO’s Real Women Have Curves - she’s kept on impressing.

Tracy Morgan didn’t get the individual nod - but his show 30 Rock! did win for Best Comedy - beating out other comedies like The Office.

Adam Beach didn’t get a nod either - but his HBO Film Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee won six awards including Best TV movie.

The epic movie Roots received a standing ovation for its 30 year anniversary tribute - and if you can’t stand for Roots I’m not sure what gets you out of your seat…

And no - Sanjaya didn’t win anything - or make a comeback - but he was referred to as that “little boy from India” - how nice huh?

Food TV Network: All white and pasty with no color?

Now don’t get me wrong - I LOVE a lot of the chefs down at the Food TV Network. A lot have worked hard, toiled at their craft and deserve to be where they are - this isn’t about them, but about who they work for - which is the Food TV Network.

The above snapshot is about 1/2 of the hosts and celebrity chefs listed from the Food TV Network’s Web site here. Notice anything? I know the pictures are small, but I’ll break it down for you:

Out of 50 celebrity chefs and hosts they have listed, the following are people of color - all together 11:

• Al Roker
• Bobby Rivers
• Iron Chef Chinese: Chen Kenichi
• Iron Chef Italian: Masahiko Kobe
• Iron Chef Japanese: Masaharu Morimoto
• Iron Chef French: Hiroyuki Sakai
• Iron Chef Japanese: Rokusaburo Michiba
• Ingrid Hoffmann
• Mark Dacascos
• Takeshi Kaga
• Warren Brown

If you take away the crew from Iron Chef except Morimoto - because it’s been relegated to 4:00 AM status for the most part now, and they’ve never really pushed those chefs as personalities - this takes you from a modest 20% of people of color from their listings to a measly 10%.

From there you then have to ask yourself how many are regulars, who has bit parts, and who is really getting promoted as well - and that 10% number even seems to shrink more when compared to how white the network seems as a whole.

Survey Says

We know that Food TV isn’t really that diverse, but we also know there are chefs, cooks, and hosts of color out there that would fit the bill for a personality or a show - so really then - the only question remains is when and IF Food TV Network will start diversifying their lineup - just like their food.

Birthday - American Idol’s Sanjaya Malakar

Happy Birthday Sanjaya,

Now that you’ve turned eighteen you too can can have naked photos of you “leaked” on to the Internet as well where it may, or may not, help your career (even though you already won AZN TV’s best reality star) - and if they somehow contain Paula’s and Simon’s and Randy’s too - I’m sure that will fare even better.

Just make sure to do something new with your hair.