ABC not recasting Constance Wu’s Fresh Off the Boat character
Just in case you were wondering, it seems as though Constance Wu will be returning to Fresh Off the Boat for the upcoming sixth season. The primary question worth wondering is precisely how it will happen.
Speaking (via TVLine) while at the Upfronts press briefing today, ABC’s programming head Karey Burke made it clear that they are expecting Wu to be back on the comedy, even after she originally reacted with frustration to the thought of her series coming back for another season:
“There have been no thoughts of recasting Constance. We love what she does on the show, and we love the show … I did know that she had another opportunity that, had Fresh Off the Boat not gone forward, she would have pursued. But we never really considered not bringing the show back. It’s just too strong for us.”
Wu issued a statement over the weekend, stating that her frustration over the renewal stemmed from her having to give up another gig because of the show coming back for another season. Trust us when we say that Wu is not the first rising star to be disappointed over a renewal; we just don’t typically hear about them. Sometimes, these actors do find a way to be written off of a show or let out of their contract; meanwhile, on other occasions they stick it out through the initial contract and then leave after that.
We do think that Constance could depart whenever her contract expires, but that is obviously an issue to deal with more when we get around to that point. For now, the show will go on, and unless something changes with her, the producers of Fresh Off the Boat, and ABC, we anticipate that she’s going to be back.
As discussed in our ABC fall schedule piece a little bit earlier today, Fresh Off the Boat is going to remain on Friday nights this fall; however, it will be moving to a new timeslot at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time following American Housewife. It actually has a chance to be more successful than ever this season, mostly because it will not have to worry about competition from comedies over at Fox. Because of wrestling, they’ve moved their lineup away from scripted programming … which could give ABC a little bit more of a window. Of course, this isn’t the sort of thing that we’re going to be watching throughout the first few weeks of the fall.
Do you expect to see Constance Wu return to Fresh Off the Boat for season 3? Be sure to share in the comments, and be sure to check back soon for some more news.