HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- The year was 1994. A budding young comedian from San Francisco named Margaret Cho landed the lead in her own show on a major network. The show was called "All-American Girl" and the network was ABC -- it followed a fictional Korean-American teen, loosely based on Margaret herself, as she navigated her complicated family life. And then... everything went wrong.
Margaret's show was not picked up for a second season and the comedian very publicly accused network executives of causing her permanent health problems by forcing her to lose weight for it. She claimed that before the show's premiere, the execs forced her to lose 30 pounds in two weeks, causing her kidneys to collapse. She also claimed the network hired a consultant to make her seem "more Asian" and to promote Asian stereotypes. She detailed the entire crisis in her 2000 comedy tour (and subsequent film), "I'm The One That I Want."
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