Heartwarming Comedy Series On Hulu Brings Big Laughs And Bigger Culture Shock
Despite the litany of new films and television shows landing on streaming services each month, many audiences feel compelled to binge-watch older feel-good sitcoms that just don’t seem to get made anymore. While shows such as Seinfeld, Friends, and How I Met You Mother are each leaders in this field, some more modern series’ have also become go-to binge programming for audiences far and wide, such as Fresh Off The Boat. Fresh Off The Boat ran for 6 seasons on ABC, totaling over 100 episodes, and is currently available to stream in full on Hulu.
Eddie Huang
Fresh Off The Boat is a family-friendly comedy series inspired by the life of television chef and globally recognized restauranteur Eddie Huang, based on his 2013 book of the same title. Shortly after Huang’s autobiography released to the masses, executives at ABC and 20th Century Fox Television took notice, and began attempts to option the narrative of the chef’s life for a television pilot.
American Dad writer and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 creator Nahnatchka Khan joined the production as the creator and showrunner, with Huang himself attached to narrate the series and serve as an executive producer.
Fresh Off The Boat
The plot of Fresh Off The Boat centers on the Huang family as they navigate the culture shock of immigrating to Orlando, Florida from their home country of Taiwan during the mid 1990s.
The family, which includes parents Louis and Jessica, as well as their three children Eddie, Emery, and Evan, spend the majority of the show integrating into American culture while retaining their East Asian roots, and learning to create a harmonious blend of both worlds while growing as a family.
Along the way, Eddie showcases his undying love of hip hop and basketball, as Louis opens a mildly successful Western-themed restaurant called Cattleman’s Ranch.
The Story Continued
The first season of Fresh Off The Boat centered heavily on the character of Eddie, and contained voiceover narration from the real-life chef, similar to the style of Everybody Hates Chris.
Subsequent seasons would drop the narration and expand the show’s focus more broadly on the Huang family and their surrounding community. This included a larger role for Eddie’s grandmother Jenny, who speaks exclusively in Mandarin and has become something of a fan favorite character for her mischievous demeanor.
The Cast
While the series’ writing has been hailed for its comedy and heart, Fresh Off The Boat is best recognized for its stellar cast, which includes Hudson Yang, Randall Park, Constance Wu, Forrest Wheeler, Ian Chen, and Young Rock‘s Chelsey Crisp.
The series has achieved massive critical and audience acclaim, resulting in a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 94 percent. Personally, I find Fresh Off The Boat to be one of the best and most refreshing modern sitcoms on television, offering big laughs, great character dynamics, and a fascinating look into another culture.
Stream It Now
GFR SCORE
Fresh Off The Boat is currently streaming on Hulu in full, for those interested in checking the series out today. It makes for prime binge viewing material, so please remember to pace yourself appropriately.
