Podcast: An Asian American TV pioneer and the San Diego Chicken

Long before Hiro, but not long after Sulu, Nick, Arnold, and Sam, there was Freddie.

Freddie was the Japanese-American member of The Baseball Bunch, an internationally syndicated, emmy-award winning children's television show about baseball that ran for five seasons, premiering in 1981. Played by Eddy Tonai, Freddie was the small, cute member of the bunch, and his Japanese-Americanness was hoped to help sell the show in Japan. Apparently that didn't work, and Tonai wasn't asked to return for the second season. Twenty years later, he got into sketch comedy with Seattle's Pork Filled Players.
 
Listen to PFP Producer and Head Writer Ed Tonai relive his days on The Baseball Bunch on retro pop culture podcast "Just My Show"!  Hear Ed and three other original cast members (including the San Diego Chicken) talk about getting into tv, major league baseball players, and life after childhood television stardom!
 
http://www.justmyshow.com/baseballbunch.html