Fresh Off The Boat
Season 2 SABC3 (*193) 19:30 Comedy
The Huang family are under attack in tonight’s episode of biographical sitcom series Fresh Off The Boat. Their business has been secretly reviewed on a website called Phil’s Phaves – and it’s not something the family are used to, explains Eddie Huang, whose life the show is based on. “You’ve got to remember, when the show is set, early ’90s, the internet was this new thing that almost no one had at home. So my dad Louis (Randall Park, Dr Shin in the Aquaman movies) got us a home computer and the internet to save our business.”
Louis’s diner Cattleman’s Ranch has been his idea of “the American Dream” since episode 1 and while his sons don’t always enjoy being there, they won’t let anyone hurt their dad. “In the show we made it a lot tamer than it went down – my dad went out and found this diner critic and things got a little heated,” says Eddie, adding, “My father isn’t a violent man, but he was hurt. For someone to say that the ambiance wasn’t great, that the food was average… that was a low blow. I’m a professional chef. I learnt in the Cattleman’s Ranch kitchens. The food was amazing. To see that hurt in my dad’s eyes was sad.”
The confrontation also brought Eddie closer to his dad, which is important in the show. “We had a lot of arguments and disagreements. More than I care to remember,” explains the 40-year-old Eddie, who’s also a lawyer, musician and social media star. “I wanted to protect my dad from people like this ‘Phil’, who was just out to make people miserable because he was. He also wanted free food. It was a horrible experience – everything he said about our family business was a lie just to get food,” says Eddie. “We wanted to show how cruel people can be, but also that you can overcome any situation as a family.”