Entertainment
5 Years Ago, This 100% Rotten Tomatoes Sitcom Was One of TV’s Best Until Its Ending Ruined Everything
At its best, Kim’s Convenience was one of the most heartfelt sitcoms on television. Ironically, for a show celebrated for representing the Korean Canadian immigrant experience, the series eventually stumbled due to a lack of Asian voices in the writer’s room. The CBC series followed the Kim family — parents Appa (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) and Umma (Jean Yoon), who run a humble corner shop in downtown Toronto. As first-generation immigrants, they frequently come across generational and cultural gaps with both their children and the city’s diverse customers.
Even after closing hours, their responsibilities didn’t end. Their artistic daughter, Janet (Andrea Bang), who also helps at the store, struggles to break away from the family business and find independence. Meanwhile, Appa and Umma attempt to reconnect with their estranged eldest son, Jung (Simu Liu). For a story that’s all about nuance, Kim’s Convenience requires a writer’s room that’s able to capture these different perspectives without undermining a person’s experiences, especially working-class immigrants. Unfortunately, behind all the laughs, Kim’s Convenience ultimately failed because of this one mistake.
Kim’s Convenience Was Unexpectedly Cancelled After 5 Seasons
Despite rave reviews, Kim’s Convenience abruptly ended after five seasons on April 13, 2021. The cancellation followed the departure of co-creators Ins Choi and Kevin White, who left the show to start other projects. The show’s producers, Thunderbird Films, decided that they could not continue with another season without Choi and White, as they could not guarantee the “same heart and quality.” In the aftermath, the show’s leading stars publicly expressed their hurt from the cancellation. While Lee didn’t discuss the behind-the-scenes of what actually happened, he admitted that the show “died from within,” noting that a show as good as Kim’s Convenience would eventually falter if the internal issues aren’t properly resolved.
Meanwhile, Liu shared his side of the story as to what happened. The actor revealed that many producers were white and that the writer’s room lacked East Asian and female representation. Aside from Choi, there were reportedly no Korean writers shaping stories about a Korean Canadian family. Yoon expressed the same sentiment, doubling down on the “lack of Asian female, especially Korean writers in the writers room…” These characteristics became increasingly evident in later seasons. Storylines grew culturally clumsy, including moments such as Umma being mistaken for a server by a white jury member and the “naked Zumba” gag, in which nude-colored shorts made it appear as though she was naked from the waist down.
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The Kim’s Convenience Spin-Off ‘Strays’ Stars the Only White Character from the Original Show
The final nail in the coffin came shortly after the Season 5 finale. About five months after Kim’s Convenience ended, CBC released a spin-off to the original show titled Strays. Instead of featuring the Kim characters, Strays stars Shannon Ross (Nicole Power) as she takes on a new career path as executive director of an animal shelter. Fans may remember Shannon from Kim’s Convenience as the manager of Jung’s workplace, Handy Car Rentals, and also his former girlfriend. Considering the majority of the cast were Asian, the fact that the singular white woman from the original show — rather than the main Korean-Canadian family — got a spin-off does not look good from a representation standpoint.
However, in the producers’ defense, making Shannon the lead character of Strays was not an accidental choice. For context, Kim’s Convenience was initially created by Choi as a play that premiered on July 6, 2011. Shannon is the only character who did not originate from the play and was created specifically for the television series. Following Choi’s departure, the producers still retained the rights to Shannon’s character, giving them the creative liberty to develop a spin-off without Choi’s involvement. Although Shannon’s prominence may come across as non-representational, it is also largely a matter of logistics — and an attempt to keep the Kim’s Convenience universe alive.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Supports Nicole Power, While Simu Liu Comes “Full Cricle” After the Cancellation
Although the disappointment surrounding Kim’s Convenience‘s cancellation still lingered, Lee publicly voiced his support for Power. They first met during the production of Season 1 in 2016, when they shared several scenes. Lee went on to praise her work ethic throughout the series and ultimately expressed his support for the spin-off as well, citing that, “There are super fabulous and talented actors who are part of that cast and I’m also a fan of the writers as I worked with many of them during my time at Kim’s and consider them friends too.”
As for Liu, in a conversation with Collider’s Therese Lacson, he reflected on the cancellation and said he is “currently at a place where he’s just so grateful that it all happened.” While he acknowledged his disappointment, Liu did not deny that his public criticism stemmed from personal frustration as well. “I certainly wasn’t where I wanted to be — and especially when you don’t feel like you’re getting the material that is emblematic or indicative of your skill level,” the actor said, continuing to say, “It’s a very specific trigger that is repeated at many points in my career, that I’m not being seen. When I feel that way, it’s really hard to rein me in.” It’s an understandable response, given that he was only beginning to break through at the time and had yet to become widely known as Marvel’s Shang-Chi or take on his subsequent high-profile projects. Although the cast of Kim’s Convenience has now moved on, it’s hard to deny that the legacy of a great sitcom has ultimately been marred by the way it ended.
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