ABC is working with Rick & Morty’s Jessica Gao on a brand new comedy project.
According to Variety, ABC has given a script commitment to a brand new comedy series from the mind of Jessica Gao.
Gao will serve as executive producer and writer of the new series. Others set to produce alongside her include Brian Grazer, Francia Calfo, and Samie Kim Falvey.
The new series is currently without a title, but will feature a first generation Chinese-American woman in the leading role.
The main character’s name is Janet Zhao, a woman who struggles with the concept of setting healthy boundaries between herself and her family. Setting those boundaries is about to get even harder for Janet, who suddenly finds herself the sole inheritor of her wealthy grandma’s estate.
When her grandma passes and Janet inherits everything, she suddenly and unwillingly finds herself assuming the new role of the family matriarch. Now, keeping them at arm’s length — something she’s been striving to do her whole life — will be way harder than it used to be.
News of Gao’s new series is another great step forward in the recent push for more Asian representation in Hollywood.
Crazy Rich Asians, which continues to dominate at the box office, served as a phenomenal catalyst for the push, and it’s clear Hollywood has heard audiences around the world who are gunning for more Asian representation in mainstream media loud and clear.
Following the success of Crazy Rich Asians, we’ve heard of a few other projects coming down the pipeline set to feature Asian actors at the forefront.
Notably, we learned back in August that WB and New Line have greenlit an upcoming rom com set in China around the country’s annual Singles Day celebration.
As exciting as it is to hear that we’ll be seeing more diverse movies hit the big screen in the coming years, it’s great to see the push for diversity bleeding into the small screen as well.
We’ll be looking forward to keeping tabs on Gad’s upcoming series as it moves further and further into production over at ABC.