# 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. 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2012–19 | Elementary | Protagonist portrayed by Lucy Liu |
| 2012–16 | Beauty & the Beast | Protagonist portrayed by Kristin Kreuk |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2015–19 | Into the Badlands | Protagonists portrayed by Daniel Wu and Aramis Knight |
| 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 |
| 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 |