Breaking new ground: Kim's Convenience to be Canada's 1st sitcom led by Asians

Kim's Convenience, originally an acclaimedstage play,is breaking new groundas Canada's first TV sitcom led by Asian actors.

"I'm really excited to have the show being broadcast at this time in history," said InsChoi, the Korean-Canadian actor-playwright who wrote the hit theatre production, about life behind the counter of a corner shop run by Korean immigrants and the family's intergenerational conflict.

The TV show debuts amid discussionabout Hollywood's lack of diversity and dearth of significantroles forminorities.

"I love that we are part of that [discussion]. That this show in a positive, proactive way, with a lot of humour, a lot of heart, kind of an essentially Canadian way we can add to that conversation," Choitold CBC News.

For the show's stars, the change has been a long time comingafter years toiling in theatre and smallroles in TV and film.

I'm Canadian through and through, but a lot of times I'm not allowed to play a Canadian.- Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee

"I've grown up here my entire life,"saidPaulSun-HyungLee, who playsthe lead role of Mr. Kim (also known asAppa, or Daddy in Korean).

"I love hockey.I love the Blue Jays.I drink beer, maple syrup. I'm Canadian through and through, but a lot of times I'm not allowed to play a Canadian. I've got tobe the guy in the background," Lee said, quipping he'splayed a doctor so often he feels he's fulfilled his parents' wish for him to study medicine instead of acting.

Jean Yoon, who plays Mrs. Kim (calledUmma,Korean for Mommy), concurs.

"It's great as an artist of colour to be playing a fully rounded character," she said.

"In my experience, we're coming in to play roles that will further the plot, that would deliver information, that would set the hero up, but in this show we the people of colour get to be the heroes."

From the stage to the small screen

As a child, Choi lived above his uncle'sstore, called Kim's Grocery,inEtobicoke, Ont. He developed Kim's Conveniencehis first playover several years anddebutedit at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival.

It was an immediate hit, prompting a bidding war from several theatre companies.Choi signed with Toronto troupeSoulpepper, which remounted itto rave reviewsand, later,sent it on a national tour.The play will be part of the company'sfirst-ever off-Broadway residency next spring, with Soulpepper also hoping to take itto Korea.

Lee, who also worked in a convenience store growing up, has been involved with Kim's Convenience since the start.

"At the beginning,we knew there was something special," he said. "We just didn't know it would get to these levels."

After spendingthe summer shooting the 13-episodesitcom in Toronto's east end,he's looking forward to bringing the storyto a wider public.

"It's always a bit interesting when we say it's 2016 and the idea of a non-white or Asian actor playing the lead in a television show is considered groundbreaking," he said.

"On one level it's very heartening and it's great that we are finally making these strides. On the other hand, it's kind of frustrating that it took this long to get to this point."

South of the border, Margaret Cho's sitcom All-American Girl lasted just one season 12 years ago. It wasn't until2015when another show about Asian-American life debuted on mainstream TV.

Fresh Off the Boat, based on Eddie Huang's memoir about his Taiwanese family moving to Orlando, debuted on ABC in February 2015. Critically acclaimed, its third season starts on Oct.11.

"When you are used to being invisible in pop culture, seeing yourself reflected back racially is not necessarily just a one-note happy celebratory thing," saidHannah Sung, co-host oftheGlobe and Mailpodcast Colour Code, which explores race in Canada.

"It can be difficult. Youcan feel self-conscious. Because, again, it's all that pressure on those very few characters to try to reveal the fullness of the experience of being Asian-Canadian."

Anaudience for Asian-Canadian stories

At a preview screening of Kim's Conveniencethis week, the first two episodes were met with raucous laughter and applause both from an audience ofKorean-Canadians and non-Asians.

Expectations run high for the series and the excitement of having a potential TVhit was palpable.Will Kim's Convenience be a success like Little Mosque on the Prairie, which depicted Muslims living in small-town Saskatchewan and ran for six seasons on CBC-TV?

"I think it's going to give broadcasters confidence that there's a market for Asian-Canadian stories," said Yoon, who also originated her role with the stage production.

"And also that there's an audience. I really firmly believe that."

Kim's Convenience debuts on CBC-TVon Oct.11at 9 p.m. ET(9:30 NT).