Fresh Off the Boat season 3: Jeff Chiang recaps episode 8

Every week, the cast and crew of ABC’s Taiwanese American family comedy, Fresh Off the Boat, is taking EW behind the scenes. For each episode, one member is recapping, sharing thoughts on what went down, and walking us through the ins-and-outs of the show. This week writer Jeff Chiang brings us into the eighth episode of season 3, “Where Are the Giggles?”

Hello, I’m Jeff Chiang and I’m a writer on Fresh Off The Boat. Now that we know each other, and dare I say formed a bond, let’s talk about this episode of FOTB. Christmas episodes are always a challenge to write because, well, the movie “Jingle All The Way” exists. How do you even attempt to write a Christmas story when you know it’s already been done perfectly? Yes, Constance Wu and Randall Park are brilliant comedians, but are they Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad (the Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder of the 90’s)? So knowing that we couldn’t top that movie, we decided to use its greatness as an asset. The episode begins with the Huang family going to see Jingle All The Way. Once we made that our inciting incident, the rest of the story just fell into place.

Now let’s say you don’t hold Jingle All The Way in the same esteem as we do. I mean, it’s unlikely, but if so, hopefully you’ll enjoy a couple of the other Christmas movie homages in this episode. The first tribute is to another 90’s classic, Home Alone. It was a privilege to be on set, witnessing the adorable genius of Ian Chen as “Evan,” dealing with the ups and downs of having the entire house to himself. We did a few shot-for-shot parodies of the more iconic scenes from that movie, so be sure to call them out to whomever you’re watching the show with. Chances are they’ll respond with a, “Duh, that’s a super famous scene they’re parodying, why did you feel the need to call that out?” To which you’ll quietly ask yourself, “Why aren’t my loved ones more supportive of my enthusiasm?” It’ll be awesome, definitely do that.

Fresh Off the Boat airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on ABC.