Product Description

All-American Girl - The Complete Series

All-American Girl, the groundbreaking comedy series inspired by the life of stand-up star Margaret Cho, brought an Asian-American family to a television series for the first time. Originally broadcast in 1994-1995, the show featured Cho as one very Westernized Margaret Kim, a San Francisco hipster delightfully at odds with her traditional-but-screwy Korean family, and allowed viewers a comic glimpse of the culture clashes that constantly ensued.

Cast (in alphabetical order):

Margaret Cho ..... Margaret Kim
Maddie Corman ..... Ruthie
Judy Gold ..... Gloria
Amy Hill ..... Grandma
Ashley Johnson ..... Casey Emmerson
Clyde Kusatsu ..... Benny Kim
Jodi Long ..... Katherine Kim
J.B. Quon ..... Eric
Sam Seder..... Phil
B.D. Wong ..... Stuart

Disc 1
Mom, Dad, This Is Kyle
Commentary with Margaret Cho
Submission: Impossible
Who’s The Boss?
Yung At Heart

Disc 2
Redesigning Women
Booktopus Submission: Impossible
Take My Family, Please
Commentary with Margaret Cho and Amy Hill
Exile On Market Street

Disc 3
Ratting On Ruthie
Educating Margaret
Loveless In San Francisco
Malpractice Makes Perfect
The Apartment
Commentary with Margaret Cho and Amy Hill

Disc 4
Notes From The Underground
Venus de Margaret
A Night At The Oprah
Pulp Sitcom
Commentary with Margaret Cho
Young Americans

Special Features:

Commentaries by Margaret Cho and Amy Hill on selected episodes

All-American Girl: A Look Back With Margaret Cho And Amy Hill featuring new interviews

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24347 in DVD
• Brand: UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP DISTRIBUTION
• Released on: 2006-01-31
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .65 pounds
• Running time: 450 minutes

Amazon.com
A dimly remembered 1994 series that lasted a scant 19 episodes may not seem like a good candidate for DVD release, but All-American Girl deserves a second look. For Margaret Cho fans, this was the series that helped the diva of the disenfranchised find her comedic voice. For sitcom buffs, this series' tumultuous history is a textbook cautionary tale. And for actual fans of the show, it will be fun to be reunited with the wisecracking, TV-addicted Grandma (Amy Hill), the series' breakout character. All-American Girl was created as a showcase for stand-up comedian Cho, and was the first primetime series to feature a Korean family. But network interference took its toll on Cho's health (she recalls in one of the episode commentaries that she was compelled to crash-diet after being informed by execs that "I was too fat to play myself") and the show's creative direction, dulling Cho's cutting edge.

Set in San Francisco, All-American Girl is a culture clash/generation gap comedy. Cho's free-spirited Valley Girlish Margaret works at a department store and lives with her tradition-bound bookseller parents (Clyde Kusatsu, Jodi Long); her Grandma; brother Stuart (B.D. Wong), a successful doctor; and her younger, assimilated brother, Eric (J.B. Quon). Margaret's relationship with her imperious mother is particularly adversarial. The show seemed to be finding its footing when it was canceled, and some episodes offer a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been had the show's creators been left alone. "Pulp Sitcom" is a clever homage to Pulp Fiction, complete with a guest-star appearance by Quentin Tarantino as a purveyor of bootleg videos. "The Apartment" spoofs MTV's The Real World as Margaret shares an apartment with her two co-workers, one of whom (comedian Judy Gold) has a penchant for walking around nude. The show took a fleeting Seinfeld-ian turn with "Take My Family, Please," in which Margaret performs a stand-up routine about her family, who are in the audience and are not amused. In solo episode commentaries and in an on-camera conversation with Amy Hill, Cho thoughtfully reflects on where All-American Girl succeeded and why it ultimately failed. But her through-the-Hollywood-looking-glass experience inspired her breakout performance piece, the highly recommended I'm the One That I Want, in which she chronicles the series' demise much more candidly and graphically. This is the unexpurgated Margaret we know and love. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

A Great Series Arrives on DVD
Margaret Cho got her start in the late 1980's on the stand-up comedy circuit. In the early 90's she broke ground with her series All-American Girl which is now available on DVD for the first time. All-American Girl was the first prime time series about a Asian-American family. The show debuted in the fall of 1994. Cho starred in the series Margaret Kim. Margaret lives at home with her very colorful family. Margaret, the character, is a fun loving young women who enjoys life. Her mother very much wants Margaret to follow Korean customs and date Korean men. Margaret's brother Stuart (portrayed by B.D. Wong Law & Order, Oz), dates Korean women and is in medical school. Margaret finds support from her grandmother (Amy Hill), father, and younger brother Eric (J.B. Quon.) All-American Girl was a great situation comedy with potential to have a lasting run, but sadly ABC pulled the plug on the series after just one season.

All-American Girl was a really funny show. The grandmother stole every scene she was in. The character of the mother was a bit over the top with her strong believes and seemingly bad attitude, but that is the way her character was written. It was a really great ensemble cast and was just as enjoyable as an Everyone Loves Raymond or a Family Matters.

To understand All-American Girl you must check out the special feature All-American Girl: A Look Back With Margaret Cho. Margaret went through so much with the network when it came to the production of the show. She is joined in this feature with Amy Hill who starred as the grandmother in the series. This was the first time that Asian-American's were seen on prime television as a family just living their lives and there were conflicts with the casting and the show was not without controversy as some Asian-Americans complained that all of the actors in the show were not Korean. On top of that in the feature Margaret discloses many strife's that occurred with the production and even details how once world politics came into conversation when it came to the series. This feature shines so much light on the series and Amy Hill even gets back into her grandma get up at the end!

If you missed All-American Girl during it's original run, do pick it up on DVD. The complete series is available in a four disc box set. It's a really funny show and it's a shame it didn't last longer.

This was great ;-)
This is a fantastic series. I was so upset when they cancelled it, because I thought it was funny as anything. Margaret Cho had the best lines and the whole dysfunctional family were hillarious. This is a must see. You'll laugh until you cry. She was so snappy and quick and sarcastic, and just wait till you see the Grandma. All she cares about is her tv shows. She's hilarious.
The funniest episode is the Pulp Sitcom with Quentin Tarentino. Especially if you are a fan of Pulp Fiction you will see so many takes on it. From the clean up scene, the story of the watch, the diner and the car. It's quite cool and was probably really hip back then.
This dvd set is a must for all Margaret Cho fans and fans of the show. It was and still is quite funny.

Like Cosby's Show for Korean
"All American Girl" was the first sitcomedy to focus on Asian family in USA. And it starred the funny Korean comedian Margaret Cho. The show didn't last for many seasons, but it was very funny. Especially the old-world Grandma. The show was warm and clever and presented the Asian experience in a way everyone could understand and enjoy. I'll be ordering the set so my grandchildren in USA can laugh and think about what it means to be Korean-American.