“All-American Girl” debuted on ABC in 1994, though it lasted only 19 episodes.
There were so few Asian American stories emerging — save occasional indie breakouts like “Better Luck Tomorrow” — that the “initial stabs” had to be “be kind of like our best foot forward — putting on our best face, showing them what we can do,” Yu said.
“There was this underlying feeling of ‘Don’t air out our dirty laundry, don’t let them see us fighting,’” he added.
They called it the “rep sweats” — the anxiety they felt any time they watched an Asian American onscreen.
It was a pressure emanating from the fact that those appearances were so few and far between.
Persons:
”, Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, Philip Wang, “, Yang’s, Hudson, Randall, Yu, ” Yu, ’, we’ve
Organizations:
Luck, ABC
Locations:
American, America