Mail Order Family
Mail Order Family is a television comedy series by writer-producer Jackie Clarke, director-executive producer Ruben Fleischer and executive producer David Bernad, that was cancelled without an episode being made. The show was pitched to NBC as "a widowed single father who orders a mail-order bride from the Philippines to help raise his two preteen daughters." The story, based on Clarke's real life experiences with her stepmother, was previously a web animated series, which was covered in a segment of the radio show "This American Life". Reception. The announcement resulted in criticism from Asian  American community bloggers and commentators about the show making light of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. A Change.org petition protesting the project produced nearly 10,000 signatures. On September 30, 2016, NBC announced, “We purchased the pitch with the understanding that it would tell the creator’s real-life experience of being raised by a strong Filipina stepmother after the loss of her own mother... The writer and producers have taken the sensitivity to the initial concept to heart and have chosen not to move forward with the project at this time." Dr. E. J. R. David and Dr. Alicia del  Prado, co-chairs of the Asian American Psychological Association's Division on Filipino Americans, wrote a column in "Psychology Today" about what lessons could be learned from the handling of the show. They mentioned how future efforts should collaborate from people from the related community and not "trivialize, make light of, or laugh at serious real-life issues" such as human trafficking or buying human beings.