[EW] ABC’s ‘Fresh off the Boat’ panel gets rather awkward

January 15, 2015
Eddie Huang speaks on stage during the "Fresh Off the Boat" panel at the Disney/ABC Television Group 2015 Winter TCA on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Eddie Huang speaks on stage during the “Fresh Off the Boat” panel at the Disney/ABC Television Group 2015 Winter TCA on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

[ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY]

The first question from a TV reporter is a jaw-dropper. The cast and producers of ABC’s new Asian-American comedy series Fresh off the Boat are gathered on a Pasadena hotel stage to take questions from roughly 200 members of the press. And the first comment to the panel is: “I love the Asian culture. And I was just talking about the chopsticks. And I just love all that. Will I get to see that? Or will it be more Americanized?”

The rest of the assembled reporters — judging by the flurry of chopsticks-related “did that really just happen?” tweets flying out of the ballroom — are rather horrified. The panel tries to have fun with it. “Wait till Episode 5, it’s all about chopsticks,” showrunner Nahnatchka Khan quips. “The original title was Chopsticks,” adds actor Randall Park.

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