TCA: Margaret Cho brings television its second all-Asian series

July 9, 2008 | 4:17 pm

Margaret Cho (right) with her mother, Young Hie Cho

Margaret Cho is very happy to be back in prime time.

“Having brought the first Asian American family to TV, I’m very proud to bring the second,” Cho told reporters gathered at the VH1 session of the cable television press tour in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

“I’m actually No. 1 and No. 2,” she joked. But it’s not untrue: The first, of course, was her ill-fated 1994 ABC series “All-American Girl,” best remembered for her public battles over the show’s content with network executives; among her complaints at the time was executives telling her she wasn’t "acting Asian enough" on the show.

This second time around, her semi-scripted comedy “The Cho Show,” is coming to viewers on Cho’s own terms. It will revolve around her real-life parents and 3-foot-10-inch assistant Selene Luna.

“It’s kind of a cross between Madonna’s ‘Truth or Dare,’ ‘Joy Luck Club’ and ‘Little People, Big World,’” she said. In truth, the series follows Cho and her family as they improv their way through scripted situations. During the first episode, Cho tells her parents that a magazine has named her Korean of the Year, and the show follows the family’s trip to San Francisco, where she’ll accept it.

“The Cho Show” premieres on VH1 on Aug. 21.

-- Denise Martin

Photo: Margaret Cho, right, with her mother, Young Hie Cho in 2002. Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times.