By Louis Chan

AsAmNews National Correspondent

Randall Park is making a plea to fans to help save Fresh off the Boat.

The video is part of a poll being taken by USA Today which lists 30 comedies and dramas on the bubble.

In the video, Park, perhaps only half in jest, gets down on his knees urging fans to band together to rescue FOTB for a fifth season.

The show was the first focused on an Asian American family since Margaret Cho’s short-lived All American Girl in 1994.

20 years later came Fresh Off the Boat. It was greeted with much enthusiasm with fans holding Twitter parties during each episode.

But by Season 2, those parties were no where to be seen as the initial excitement waned. Was that due to the quality of the show or the fact that the novelty wore off? While FOTB was unique in casting Asian Americans in lead roles, others have followed including WB’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, AMC’s Into the Badlands and Master of None on Netflix.

You may recall at the start of this season, AsAmNews predicted this would be a critical year for Fresh Off the Boat. Getting a fifth season has long been considered a milestone for network television as it usually means the program will be headed to syndication in reruns. While perhaps less important these days due to digital channels such as Netflix and Hulu, it’s still something producers aim to get.

An ominous sign is that ABC has already aired all 19 episodes shot this season. That’s shows a lack of confidence in a program going into the most important rating periods of the season-the May rating book. You’ll recall the same thing happened to Ken Jeong’s Dr. Ken. That show was cancelled.

Fresh off the Boat has also seen a ratings decline, losing 13 percent of its ratings this season in the 18-49 demographic, the demographic most sought after by advertisers.

“Fans really love Fresh off the Boat because it’s a great show. It’s a show with a lot of heart,” said Park in his video.

If you’d like to save the show, tweet a message to ABC at @ABCNetwork. Use the hashtag #SaveFOTB and vote in USA Today‘s poll.



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