Comedy Central is working with ascendant multi-hyphenate Awkwafina, as the #1 brand in comedy ordered 10 episodes of her self-titled scripted series, it was announced today by Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, Executive Vice Presidents and Co-Heads of Talent and Development for Comedy Central.
Awkwafina is a half-hour scripted narrative starring writer, actor and rapper Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) as a twenty-something living in Queens, striving for a larger than life existence while living with her father and grandmother. Awkwafina, Karey Dornetto (Portlandia) and Teresa Hsiao (Family Guy) wrote the pilot directed by Lucia Aniello (Rough Night). The cast is rounded out by Bowen Yang as Awkwafina’s more successful cousin, BD Wong as her father, and Lori Tan Chinn as her grandmother. Awkwafina is executive produced by Awkwafina, Dornetto, Aniello, Karey Dornetto, Peter Principato and Itay Reiss of Artists First, and co-executive produced by Hsiao. Monika Zielinska, Adam Londy and Rachel Olson are executives in charge of the show for Comedy Central.
“I’ve been watching Comedy Central since I was old enough to hold a remote, and so many of their shows have defined who I am today,” said Awkwafina. “I am so honored to be given their platform to tell the story of an Asian American girl against the backdrop of the city I was raised.”
“This is a special project. Inspired by Awkwafina’s formative years in Queens, the show is both a personal look into one of comedy’s brightest stars and also a relatable, funny profile of a young hustler’s struggle,” said Larsen and Babineau. “We’re happy to be used as a pawn in Awkwafina’s elaborate, EGOT endgame.”
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