Margaret Cho's All-American Second Act

LOS ANGELES - America loves a comeback. Allegedly so does Hollywood, although the town seems to make it fairly difficult for some. Margaret Cho is a terrific example.

Cho was supposed to be a sitcom star, you see...back in the mid-'90s. ABC made her the star of "All-American Girl," which was supposed to be loosely based on her life, albeit starring a thinner version of her life, and with parents the network believed would seem more universally acceptable.

Not only did the show tank (in both its original incarnation and its disastrous "Friends"-style overhaul) but the experience nearly killed Cho. She was forced to lose 30 pounds in an insanely short amount of time, making her kidneys collapse while the series was filming. Criticism from executives made her hate herself, and sent her sinking into substance abuse after her show was canceled. Hollywood forced her into exile.

But she found herself again through stand-up comedy, a bestselling memoir ("I'm the One That I Want") and a steady climb up from nameless background roles into plum cameos and guest starring roles in "Sex and the City" and...well, "'Til Death" certainly was a nice favor for somebody.

Now, at long last, Cho is getting to make the situation comedy that she always envisioned. It just happens to be a reality show for VH1: "The Cho Show."

"I remember attending the TCA 15 years ago and how hard it was for us, how hard it was to represent a show that I had to work on, that I had so many problems with," Cho told critics. "And in this show, I'm so proud and so excited...I'm very proud now to bring the second Asian-American family to television.

"I'm actually #1, and #2," she quipped, "So that's an achievement."

"The Cho Show" is as far from the old ABC's idea of an All-American girl as can be, but it's pure Margaret Cho. She has her team of gay friends, her true-blue pal and assistant Selene Luna (a performer in her own right) and her mom and dad, who seem perpetually amused -- and bemused -- by their daughter's adventures.

Now, if you're fretting that "The Cho Show" forces Margaret to occupy the same navel-gazing territory as "Living Lohan" or "Denise Richards: It's Complicated," don't. Cho's goofy indomitable spirit gives the series an undeniable warmth and sass, and while it's not quite right to call it unlike anything else on television -- Cho herself said it was "a cross between Madonna's 'Truth or Dare' and 'Joy LuckClub and 'Little People, Big World'" -- it's definitely not a showroom of surgically altered bodies and lives.

But what seals the deal are Mr. and Mrs. Cho, figures who often have a place in their daughter's stand-up. Cho's parents sat with her and Luna during the "Cho Show" panel, and gamely smiled and giggled as their child explained their presence in the show by telling a roomful of strangers, "It was this or a home."

Mr. Cho had a sweeter take on his role in the series: "We participated as parental duty
to help you succeed, to tell you the truth...And we were not sure what kind of role we were going to play, and the producers do not tell us what's going to happen...But during the process of making it, one thing was that we wanted to help you in any way we can.

"In other words," he concluded, "we gave viewers, your customers, some values."

"Right," his daughter added, "because Koreans like to work together. Whether it's a liquor store or reality show, it doesn't matter. Koreans work together."

"The Cho Show" premieres August 21 on VH1.