An Iranian-American comedy is coming to TV thanks to Nasim Pedrad

Saturday Night Live alum Nasim Pedrad is bringing something to American television that’s never really existed before: The Iranian-American experience.

Nasim Pedrad is set to star in a new TBS comedy titled Chad, which follows a 14-year-old Iranian boy during high school. Chad, played by Pedrad, has quite the journey ahead of him — navigating through the awkward ups and downs of high school while also figuring out his cultural identity.

10 episodes have been ordered for the show, and Pedrad shared her excitement over this news with an emoji-filled Instagram post.

As for this Iranian American, when I saw Pedrad’s Instagram post and then watched the teaser for Chad that dropped yesterday, I thought I was being played. I couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. And then I thought… where the heck had this show been when I was in high school?

As an Iranian-American woman who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, my craving for any form of representation on the big or small screen was intense. And even now, at 30, I still don’t feel my cultural experience has ever been accurately portrayed to American audiences.

Sure, there have been glimpses of what it’s like to be Middle Eastern in the U.S. through both television and film. But can you name a singular TV show that follows a Middle Eastern family that’s on the same level as Fresh Off the Boat or Black-ish?

When Shahs of Sunset is my best reference and FX’s Tyrant is the second most likely (and that’s about an Arab-American family, mostly set overseas, and with a not-so-positive title) — it is clear there is a big gaping hole where representation in entertainment for Middle Eastern people should be.

We’re slowly getting the progress train going with shows like Mindy Kaling’s upcoming Netflix series, which will follow a modern-day first generation Indian-American girl. But that is also an Indian-American experience.

Middle Easterners shouldn’t have to sit and say “Okay that’s good enough.” We deserve our own storylines.

As I tweeted this morning, I have waited forever to see a sliver of myself represented on mainstream television. While I know this is a comedy about a boy in high school, and we’ll likely see more awkward teen scenarios than anything else, Chad is a teen story with a Middle Eastern perspective. It’s also a show run by an Iranian-American woman. That alone is worth all the praise.

Chad is the start of what will hopefully be a plethora of shows that tell these kinds of stories — stories my family and I can relate to, and that everyone else can laugh and learn from as well.

Watch the official teaser for Chad below.