That sitcom about a Filipina mail-order bride joining an American family that was supposedly greenlighted by NBC has now been cancelled, according to news reports.
Named “Mail-Order Family”, the show was created by Jackie Clarke, who says that the premise was loosely based on her own family, as her father got a Filipina mail-order bride. Jackie is also part of the duo behind Superstore, which featured a character who was an undocumented Filipino immigrant on the show.
According to an NBC spokesperson:
“We purchased the pitch with the understanding that it would tell the creator’s real-life experience of being raised by a strong Filipina stepmother after the loss of her own mother. The writer and producers have taken the sensitivity to the initial concept to heart and have chosen not to move forward with the project at this time.”
The concept was met by strong criticism by the Asian-American community, who felt that the sitcom would have perpetrated negative stereotypes among Asians, and that the show would have trivialized what was human trafficking brought about by social and economic conditions.
Jackie Clarke, meanwhile, has kept mostly silent, but has answered a few comments on her creation, insisting that she intended the Filipino character to have complexity.
@kulturewatchdog @rubenfleischer just an element of the show. Going to create a complex character here.
— jackie (@jackieclarke) September 29, 2016
Gabriela USA also created a petition calling for the cancellation of the show.
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