Shows I'm following because of the sudden presence of Filipino characters (some played by actual Filipinos that are not pretending to be Latino or another Asian ethnicity):
Las Vegas
One episode a few weeks back featured a Filipino couple down on their luck. The guy was a huge Wayne Newton fan and one of the regular characters got them tickets to a show. Half way through Newton's show, he brings the Pinoy up on stage to sing with him. At first the guy is all shy but seconds later, he's crooning it out - really well! The last scene shows the Pinoy singing in the hotel lobby bar working as a lounge singer. Galeng!
ER
The episode that introduced the influx of Pinay nurses opened with a scene where one of the doctors goes, "Where did all these people come from?" and the guy at the reception desk says, "I haven't seen this many since I was stationed in Manila." Okay, not so cool. But throughout this particular episode one Pinay nurse has one recurring line: "yes, doctor" in an accent so thick you can't deny she's playing a Pinay nurse and not some stupid generic Asian "they're all the same" accent. It was CLEARLY Pinoy. Yehey! The last scene, you see the Nurse/Student Doc Abby walking down the hall and a bunch of Pinay nurses are chatting (not in English) in a corner looking at her as she walks. Abby goes, "I know you're talking about me." As Abby turns the corner, one of the nurses says, "Sungit mo." Heh, super cool.
Starting Over
This I only saw today coz I was off from work (Thanksgiving long weekend). The newest one to enter the house in this women's reality show is a Pinay - most likely Filipino American - who is set to marry a Mexican-American. It's 24 days before her wedding and she is a self-proclaimed control freak. She's also an only child, probably in her mid to later 20s. Her constant smiling really annoyed me coz it reminded me of myself. Not sure if I'm still like that so much. That despite being totally stressed and strung out - around strangers or acquaintences, I always have (had?) a smile on my face. Why is that!? It's so freaking annoying. What are we trying to hide, ha? One scene, she's in tears coz she's pissed about some wedding related stress, and when someone asks how she's doing, she goes "I'm fine." But she CLEARLY is NOT. I was addicted to the show immediately. It brought out all my own (old?) issues. I need to learn how to program my VCR.
Will and Grace
I watch Will & Grace anyway, but when Jack decided to become a nurse weeks ago, I just KNEW a Filipino nurse was not far behind. Of all people, they get one of the Basco brothers. The one who played the homeboy on that Saturday daytime teen show, "City Guys." One W&G, he has this totally thick Pinoy accent. It is so bad, its kinda embarrasing. But its cool that the director clearly wanted a Pinoy in the role to make the fully FilAm Basco brother play the role with the gad-awful interpretation of a Pinoy acccent. I wish they had
Ma-Yi quality actors playing Pinoy roles on TV, don't you? Well, the guy on Las Vegas wasn't so bad.
I wonder if its a coincidence that all these shows are on NBC?
Also, although it's too early for New Years Resolutions, I resolve to attend more community events - i just haven't been my usual maARTe self in long while with school, and now, uh, school again (in a different context). Now that the crazy busy stuff is nearly over with my day job, i want to start going out again - i feel so out of it! Credit for inspiration goes to Miss Thang who seems to be at all the great events going on in the Asian American arts community lately. She gave me an update on happenings when we met up at Longwood last week. I don't want second hand info anymore (as thrilling as yours are, Emmy, hehe) ! Maybe. I'll start - next week?
