By Ed Diokno

The Thanksgiving episode airing this Monday (Nov 16) on Crazy-Ex Girlfriend, a new musical-comedy on the CW Television Network will feature, for the first time (to my knowledge):

Dinaguan: Yes that tasty pork stew sometimes described as “chocolate meat” to soften the shock of non-Filipinos when they discover that it is pork stewed in pork blood. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Yes that tasty pork stew sometimes described as “chocolate meat” to soften the shock of non-Filipinos when they discover that it is pork stewed in pork blood. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. A FilipinoAmerican family: Yes! There have been Filipino American characters on American TV before but this is the first time that an entire family has been presented to a nationwide audience adding more dimension to the male lead’s character.

The character Josh Chan, played by Filipino American actor Vincent Rodriguez III, is the object of the title character’s scary obsession.

If you haven’t watched the show before, here’s the premise. Rebecca, a successful New York lawyer, in a fit of dissatisfaction follows a former not-quite boyfriend across the country to suburban West Covina, CA, where, not-so-coincidentally, Filipinos make up the largest ethnic group.

Up to now, not much has been known about Josh, but as the series has gone on, we’ve learned that his father is a radiologist and that he confides in his Filipino American priest known as Fr. Brah, played by the writer Rene Gube, who is also a writer for the show.

Does that sound like your typical girl-meets-boy love story? Far from it! That’s what makes this show a delight. It’s edgy and willing to tackle topics that most vapid sitcoms would steer away from (i.e. a father’s love for her daughter “that sounds creepy” musical number on last week’s episode.)

Creating an Asian male to be the object of Rebecca’s unhealthy obsession is such a risk. Having his Filipino American story fill out is exciting for those of us who grew up with similar immigrant families who up to now have been totally absent from the American consciousness. And now we’re about to meet his family. America gets a peek into a slice of our country most of them have never seen.

Even more refreshing, the Filipino angle has not been exploited on Crazy. The inter-racial relationship between Josh and Rebecca (played by creator Rachel Bloom) has not been an issue. The relationship between the would-be romantic leads is between a crazy wannabe (perhaps mentally unbalanced) girlfriend and a hunk.

Mabuhay, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend!

Here’s a trailer followed by another short scene from this ground-breaking episode:







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