hen All-American Girl debuted on ABC in 1994, Asian Americans were delighted at the prospect of their own weekly primetime sitcom. Unfortunately, the show was canceled in its first season, sending Cho into a long downward spiral that led to self-doubt, drugs, alcohol and, apparently, binge eating.
Fourteen years later, Cho is back smaller than ever as the star of a new VH1 weekly show, having recently shed 30 pounds under pressure from VH1. But her comedic repertoire is bigger, as is her fan base. During the past decade she emerged as a comic voice of the gay community while staying firmly and painfully linked to her Korean roots.
In some ways The Cho Show is an edgier, updated version of All-American Girl. It features Cho's real-life parents Seung Hoon and Young Hie and her assistant Selene Luna as regulars. Other regulars include Korean-American comic Bobby Lee, actor Gary Busey, singer Dave Navarro and comedians Joan Rivers and Wanda Sykes.
"It's not a reality show," notes Cho. "It's like a sitcom starring real people."
One real person who has opted out of the show is her husband Gary Ridenour, a performance artist and writer. Ridenour wasn't comfortable with putting his real life out for mass consumption.
Cho compares her show to HBO's irreverent Curb Your Enthusiasm. In its premier episode (Thursday, August 21 at 11 pm) Cho appears in only body paint and a g-string. Future episodes will deal with underbelly-of-life issues like plastic surgery, sex tapes and body-part bleaching which Cho calls "very popular among porn stars and gay men."
At 39 Cho is finally in a position to assert her true comedic voice which, as fans know, can be uncomfortably frank and edgy. She praises VH1 for having allowed her enough creative control to bring that quality across in The Cho Show. It was that quality in her one-woman stage shows that rescucitated her career and Cho isn't about to give it up.
