American television series with Asian leads

American television series with Asian leads/co-leads means a scripted American television series that features an actor of Asian ancestry as the series' leading actor portraying the series' protagonist or a main character. One of the earliest examples dates back to 1951 with Anna May Wong, a classic Hollywood-era movie star, with her TV show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.^[1] Typically, the characters portrayed are Asian American, although the actor or actress may sometimes be Canadian, British, or Australian.

List of television series

Year	Title	Lead	Notes
1951	The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong	Protagonist portrayed by Anna May Wong
1966–69	Star Trek	Ensemble cast with George Takei
1966–67	The Green Hornet	Ensemble cast with Bruce Lee
1967–68	Maya	Co-lead played by Sajid Khan
1968–80	Hawaii Five-O	Ensemble cast with Kam Fong, Gilbert Lani Kauhi
1969–72	The Courtship of Eddie's Father	Main character portrayed by Miyoshi Umeki
1972–75	Kung Fu	Co-leading characters portrayed by Philip Ahn and Keye Luke
1972	The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan	Protagonist portrayed by Keye Luke
1974–84	Happy Days	Ensemble cast with Pat Morita
1975–82	Barney Miller	Ensemble cast with Jack Soo
1976	Mr. T and Tina	Protagonist portrayed by Pat Morita	[2][3]
1976–83	Quincy, M.E.	Ensemble cast with Robert Ito
1982–83	Bring 'Em Back Alive	Ensemble cast with Clyde Kusatsu
1982–88	St. Elsewhere	Ensemble cast with Kavi Raz, Kim Miyori, and France Nuyen
1986–91	Head of the Class	Ensemble cast with Jôher Coleman (credited as Jory Husain) and Ke Huy Quan (credited as Jonathan Ke Quan)	[4]
1986–87	Together We Stand	Ensemble cast with Ke Huy Quan
1986–87	Sidekicks	Protagonist portrayed Ernie Reyes Jr.
1986–87	Gung Ho	Protagonist portrayed by Gedde Watanabe
1987–88	Ohara	Protagonist portrayed by Pat Morita
1987–91	21 Jump Street	Ensemble cast with Dustin Nguyen
1989–93	Saved by the Bell	Protagonist portrayed by Mark-Paul Gosselaar
1989–90	Island Son	Ensemble cast with Clyde Kusatsu
1993	Space Rangers	Ensemble cast with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
1993–95	Mighty Morphin Power Rangers	Ensemble co-lead played by Thuy Trang
1993–97	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Protagonist played by Dean Cain
1994–95	All American Girl	Protagonist portrayed by Margaret Cho	[5][6][7]
1994–2009	ER	Ensemble co-leads played by Ming-Na Wen and Parminder Nagra
1995	Vanishing Son	Protagonist portrayed by Russell Wong
1995–2001	Star Trek: Voyager	Ensemble co-lead played by Garrett Wang
1995–97	The Single Guy	Ensemble cast with Ming-Na Wen
1995–96	Space: Above and Beyond	Ensemble cast with Joel de la Fuente
1996–99	The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo	Protagonist portrayed by Irene Ng
1996–2001	Nash Bridges	Ensemble cast with Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Kelly Hu
1996–97	The Burning Zone	Ensemble co-lead played by Tamlyn Tomita
1997–02	Ally McBeal	Ensemble cast with Lucy Liu
1998–2000	Martial Law	Protagonist portrayed by Sammo Hung	[8]
1998–2002	V.I.P.	Ensemble cast with Dustin Nguyen
1998–99	Mortal Kombat: Conquest	Protagonist portrayed by Paolo Montalban
1999	Crusade	Ensemble cast with Daniel Dae Kim
1999–2002	Relic Hunter	Protagonist portrayed by Tia Carrere
1999–present	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Ensemble cast with BD Wong
2000	Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue	Ensemble cast with Michael Chaturantabut
2000–05	Jackie Chan Adventures	Protagonist portrayed by James Sie
2000–01	Gideon's Crossing	Ensemble cast with Ravi Kapoor and Rhona Mitra
2001–07	Crossing Jordan	Ensemble cast with Ravi Kapoor
2001–05	Star Trek: Enterprise	Ensemble co-lead played by Linda Park
2001–02	Off Centre	Ensemble cast with John Cho
2002–08	Codename: Kids Next Door	Ensemble cast with Lauren Tom
2003	Black Sash	Protagonist portrayed by Russell Wong
2003–09	My Life as a Teenage Robot	Protagonist portrayed by Janice Kawaye
2003–09	Battlestar Galactica	Ensemble co-lead played by Grace Park
2004–10	Lost	Ensemble co-leads played by Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Naveen Andrews, and Ken Leung
2005–07	American Dragon: Jake Long	Protagonist portrayed by Dante Basco	[9]
2005–08	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Ensemble cast with Dante Basco and Mako
2005–08	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Brenda Song
2005–present	Grey's Anatomy	Ensemble co-lead played by Sandra Oh
2005–06	The Life and Times of Juniper Lee	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Amy Hill
2005	Inconceivable	Protagonist portrayed by Ming-Na Wen
2006	Vanished	Ensemble cast with Ming-Na Wen
2006–10	Heroes	Ensemble co-leads portrayed by Masi Oka and Sendhil Ramamurthy
2007–19	The Big Bang Theory	Ensemble co-lead played by Kunal Nayyar
2007–08	Aliens in America	Ensemble co-Lead portrayed by Adhir Kalyan
2008	Cashmere Mafia	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Lucy Liu
2008–09	Lipstick Jungle	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Lindsay Price
2008	Samurai Girl	Protagonist portrayed by Jamie Chung
2009–10	Aaron Stone	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Tania Gunadi
2009–15	Parks and Recreation	Ensemble cast with Aziz Ansari
2009–15	Glee	Ensemble co-leads portrayed by Jenna Ushkowitz, Harry Shum Jr., and Darren Criss
2009–15	Community	Ensemble cast with Danny Pudi and Ken Jeong
2009	Eastwick	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Lindsay Price
2009–20	Modern Family	co-lead Aubrey Anderson-Emmons
2009–10	FlashForward	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by John Cho
2009–11	Stargate Universe	Ensemble cast with Ming-Na Wen
2010–17	Pretty Little Liars	co-lead Shay Mitchell, Janell Parrish
2010–13	Nikita	Protagonist portrayed by Maggie Q	[10]
2010–13	Pair of Kings	Main role Kelsey Chow
2010–20	Hawaii Five-0	Ensemble cast with Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, and Masi Oka
2010–11	Outsourced	Majority of cast is Asian
2010–22	The Walking Dead	Ensemble cast with Steven Yeun
2010	Marry Me	Protagonist portrayed by Lucy Liu
2011–13	Supah Ninjas	Protagonist portrayed by Ryan Potter	[11]
2011–12	Fairly Legal	Protagonist played by Sarah Shahi
2011–15	Falling Skies	Ensemble cast with Moon Bloodgood and Peter Shinkoda
2011–15	Jessie	Ensemble cast with Karan Brar
2012–14	Sullivan & Son	Protagonist portrayed by Steve Byrne
2012–13	Go On	Ensemble cast with John Cho
2012–17	The Mindy Project	Protagonist portrayed by Mindy Kaling	[12]
2012–19	Elementary	Protagonist portrayed by Lucy Liu
2012–16	Beauty & the Beast	Protagonist portrayed by Kristin Kreuk	[13]
2013–14	Twisted	Protagonist portrayed by Avan Jogia
2013–15	Hemlock Grove	Ensemble cast with Joel de la Fuente
2013–17	Liv and Maddie	Ensemble cast with Tenzing Norgay Trainor
2013–20	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Ensemble co-leads portrayed by Chloe Bennet and Ming-Na Wen
2013–14	Once Upon a Time in Wonderland	Ensemble cast with Naveen Andrews
2014–20	The 100	Ensemble co-lead portrayed by Bob Morley
2014–19	Silicon Valley	Ensemble cast with Kumail Nanjiani, Jimmy O. Yang
2014–17	The Night Shift	Ensemble cast with Ken Leung
2014	Selfie	Protagonist portrayed by John Cho
2014–18	The Librarians	Ensemble cast with John Harlan Kim
2014–16	Marco Polo	Majority of cast is Asian
2015–19	The Man in the High Castle	Ensemble co-leads played by Joel de la Fuente and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
2015–20	Fresh Off the Boat	Ensemble co-leads played by Hudson Yang, Constance Wu, Randall Park, Forrest Wheeler, and Ian Chen	[14]
2015–21	Good Witch	Protagonist played by Catherine Bell
2015–19	Mr. Robot	series regular BD Wong
2015–present	Bunk'd	Ensemble cast with Karan Brar and Nina Lu
2015–17	Descendants: Wicked World	Ensemble cast with Booboo Stewart and Dianne Doan
2015–18	Quantico	Protagonist portrayed by Priyanka Chopra	[15]
2015–17	Dr. Ken	Protagonist portrayed by Ken Jeong
2015–19	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend	Ensemble co-lead played by Vincent Rodriguez III
2015–21	Master of None	Protagonist portrayed by Aziz Ansari	[16]
2015–19	Into the Badlands	Protagonists portrayed by Daniel Wu and Aramis Knight	[17]
2015–present	Chicago Med	Ensemble co-lead played by Brian Tee
2015–20	The Magicians	Ensemble cast with Arjun Gupta and Summer Bishil
2016–19	Bizaardvark	Protagonists played by Madison Hu and Olivia Rodrigo
2016	The Night Of	Protagonist portrayed by Riz Ahmed
2016–20	The Good Place	Ensemble co-leads played by Manny Jacinto and Jameela Jamil
2016–2017	The Exorcist	Ensemble cast with John Cho
2016	Brown Nation	Majority of the cast	[18]
2017	Powerless	Ensemble co-leads played by Vanessa Hudgens and Danny Pudi
2017–19	Legion	Ensemble cast with Navid Negahban and Lauren Tsai
2017–18	Iron Fist	Ensemble co-lead played by Jessica Henwick
2017–20	13 Reasons Why	main role Ross Butler
2017–19	Andi Mack	Protagonist portrayed by Peyton Elizabeth Lee
2017–22	Claws	Ensemble co-lead played by Karrueche Tran
2017	The Defenders	Ensemble cast with Jessica Henwick and Élodie Yung
2017–present	The Good Doctor	Ensemble co-lead played by Will Yun Lee
2017	Inhumans	Ensemble cast with Ken Leung
2017–19	Runaways	Ensemble co-lead played by Lyrica Okano
2018–present	9-1-1 (TV series)	Ensemble co-lead played by Kenneth Choi
2018	The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story	Ensemble co-lead played by Darren Criss
2018–23	The Resident (TV series)	Ensemble co-lead played by Manish Dayal
2018–21	A.P. Bio	Ensemble cast with Mary Sohn and Aparna Brielle
2018	Here and Now	Ensemble cast with Raymond Lee
2018	Champions	Ensemble co-leads played by Josie Totah and Mouzam Makkar
2018–present	The Terror: Infamy	Majority of cast is Asian
2018	Alex, Inc.	Protagonist portrayed by Tiya Sircar
2018–22	Killing Eve	Protagonist portrayed by Sandra Oh
2018–19	Five Points	Protagonist portrayed by Hayley Kiyoko
2018–present	Yellowstone	main role Kelsey Chow
2018	I Feel Bad	Protagonist portrayed by Sarayu Blue
2018-23	Manifest	Ensemble cast with Parveen Kaur
2018–20	Coop & Cami Ask the World	Ensemble cast with Albert Tsai
2018–23	Titans	Ensemble co-lead played by Ryan Potter
2018	Origin	Protagonist portrayed by Sen Mitsuji
2019–21	PEN15	Protagonist portrayed by Maya Erskine
2019–23	Miracle Workers	Ensemble co-leads played by Geraldine Viswanathan and Karan Soni
2019–present	What We Do in the Shadows	Protagonist portrayed by Kayvan Novak
2019–23	Warrior	Ensemble co-leads played by Andrew Koji, Olivia Cheng, Jason Tobin, Dianne Doan, Joe Taslim and Hoon Lee
2019–22	Ramy	Ensemble co-leads played by Mohammed Amer, Hiam Abbass, Dave Merheje, May Calamawy, and Laith Nakli
2019–22	Amphibia	Protagonist portrayed by Brenda Song
2019–20	Pandora	Ensemble cast with Banita Sandhu and Akshay Kumar
2019	Wu Assassins	Majority of cast is Asian
2019	Sunnyside	Ensemble co-leads played by Kal Penn, Joel Kim Booster, and Poppy Liu
2019–present	Saturday Night Live	Featured cast member Bowen Yang
2019–23	High School Musical: The Musical: The Series	Protagonist portrayed by Olivia Rodrigo
2020–21	Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist	Ensemble co-leads played by Alice Lee and Kapil Talwalkar
2020–present	Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens	Protagonist portrayed by Awkwafina
2020–23	Star Trek: Picard	co-lead played by Isa Briones
2020–present	Mythic Quest	Ensemble co-leads played by Danny Pudi, Charlotte Nicdao, and Ashly Burch
2020	Devs	Protagonist portrayed by Sonoya Mizuno
2020–23	Never Have I Ever	Protagonist portrayed by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
2020	Dash & Lily	co-lead played by Midori Francis
2020–21	Saved by the Bell	Ensemble cast with Josie Totah
2021	WandaVision	Major starring character portrayed by Randall Park
2021–present	Invincible	Protagonist portrayed by Steven Yeun
2021–23	Kung Fu	Protagonist portrayed by Olivia Liang
2021–22	Rutherford Falls	Ensemble cast with Jesse Leigh
2021–23	Shadow and Bone	Protagonists played by Jessie Mei Li and Amita Suman
2021–22	Kevin Can F**k Himself	Ensemble cast with Raymond Lee
2021–23	Sex/Life	Protagonist portrayed by Sarah Shahi
2021–23	Gossip Girl	Ensemble co-lead played by Evan Mock
2021–23	Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.	Protagonist portrayed by Peyton Elizabeth Lee
2021	Cowboy Bebop	Protagonist portrayed by John Cho
2022–23	Human Resources	Ensemble cast with Randall Park
2022	Moon Knight	Major starring characters portrayed by May Calamawy, F. Murray Abraham
2022	Ms. Marvel	Protagonist portrayed by Iman Vellani
2022–24	Quantum Leap	Protagonist portrayed by Raymond Lee
2022	Blockbuster	Protagonist portrayed by Randall Park
2023	Beef	Protagonists played by Ali Wong and Steven Yeun
2023–present	Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai	Izaac Wang, Ming-Na Wen, BD Wong, James Hong
2023	American Born Chinese	Majority of the cast is Chinese
2023–present	My Adventures with Superman	Lois Lane is voiced by Alice Lee
2023–present	Mech Cadets	Majority of voice cast is Asian
2023–present	Ahsoka	Major starring characters portrayed by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Eman Esfandi
2023–present	One Piece	Ensemble co-lead played by Mackenyu and Taz Skylar
2023–present	Blue Eye Samurai	Protagonist portrayed by Maya Erskine
2024	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Ensemble co-lead played by Maya Erskine
2024–present	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Protagonist portrayed by Gordon Cormier
2024	Shōgun	Majority of the cast is Japanese
2024	Interior Chinatown	Majority of the cast is ethnic Chinese
2025	Deli Boys	Majority of the cast is South Asian

See also

• Asian Americans in Arts and entertainment
• Portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater
• British television programmes with Asian leads