As a half-Filipino woman, it’s hard for me to find shows on television that portray the reality of living in America as an Asian. Characters are typically either token minorities (minority characters who are usually one-dimensional stereotypes of how Western culture views them) or completely erased of any cultural identity.

Netflix’s “Master of None,” starring Aziz Ansari of “Parks and Recreation” fame, gets it right.
“Master of None” centers around Dev (Ansari), a struggling B-list actor living in New York whose career seems to have peaked at a successful GoGurt commercial. The series’ ten episodes are loosely connected, each presented as thirty-minute mini movies with their own independent stories, similar to “Seinfeld.” The pilot deals with Dev’s internal struggle of whether or not he wants to be a dad someday, while the second episode centers around his relationship with his immigrant parents (played by Ansari’s real-life parents).

“Master of None” showcases Ansari at his best: honest. Dev’s struggles of always being typecast as just an Indian man, the etiquettes of dating and texting in the era of smartphones, technology-inept parents and the scary unknown of long-term commitment are not portrayed in overhyped, slapstick comedy. His experience as an Asian man in the entertainment industry is funny in itself; it doesn’t need to be exaggerated to be ridiculous.

Like many Netflix originals, “Master of None” boasts a very diverse supporting cast. The second episode, for example, involves a comparison of East and South Asian family dynamics, as opposed to the overused “white character is shocked by Asian culture” trope, when Dev’s family goes to dinner with his Taiwanese friend’s family. Lena Waithe and Eric Wareheim, as Dev’s two friends Denice (an African American lesbian woman portrayed by an actual African American lesbian woman!) and Arnold, provide two wonderful and different foils to Ansari’s quirky optimism.

If anything, “Master of None” is a more realistic alternative to “How I Met Your Mother” in its portrayal of romance in a big city, and is updated for a 2015 audience. Courtship for millennials is different than it was a mere 10 years ago. We use Uber to get around, we hyper-analyze the amount of time it takes to text someone back and we use social media to connect with others. Ansari portrays these nuances of dating in this world without making fun of it or through a judgmental lense. His portrayal is honest, and his comedy is all the better for it.

His comedy also wonderfully — and bluntly — portrays the different hardships faced by women, especially in cities like New York. One particularly well-executed scene cuts back and forth between Dev and Arnold’s walk home from a bar at night and the walk of a young black woman, Diana. Dev and Arnold’s walk is fun and relaxed, as “Be Happy” plays in the background, while Diana’s walk is backed with piano music befitting a horror soundtrack.

Oh, and she’s followed home by an obnoxious creep, who insists she give “nice guys like him” a shot for once.
Turns out Diana and Dev are both working on the same commercial set, and her story prompts Dev to ask new flame Rahel (Noel Wells) and Denice if her situation was normal. The episode, through well-written anecdotes, explores gender dynamics and just how annoying being a woman can be.

Culturally inclusive, progressive, and wonderfully hilarious, “Master of None” looks to be one of the best new comedies of the fall television season. Aziz Ansari and his dynamite cast shine brightly, and one binge-watch of this show will leave anyone with a smile on their face.

_“Master of None’s” first season is available for streaming exclusively on Netflix._