Kim’s Convenience is a family-oriented show that spreads awareness on racism, transphobia, and other social injustices while giving the watchers a good laugh.

Kim’s Convenience follows the Kim family as they run their convenience store in Toronto, Canada. Throughout the show, they learn about the world around them and cope with their evolving family dynamic.  

The family consists of the parents who immigrated from Korea, a delinquent son who has a strained relationship with his father, and a daughter in college studying photography. With a wide range of customers coming into their store, the family is quickly educated on topics such as what it means to be transgender, to live as a drag queen, what it means to be gay, and a plethera of other topics. Racism is a big topic as well in the show, from different perspectives we see how the Kim family deals with racism, along with racism in the workplace, and many other common situations.  

“I wasn’t seeing Asians on stage, I wasn’t seeing Asian stories,” Ins Choi, the creator of the show said in an interview with NPR. It was important for Choi to see real stories about his culture and how they really lived, along with spreading awareness about real issues in the world. 

“I read the first two scenes, and my heart — it exploded because that was my appa (dad),” Lee, who plays the main character, said in the same interview. The fact that Lee had that emotional connection with his character made it important for him to be a part of the show, and help spread awareness of the social injustices and how his culture really is.

When the show first aired on Netflix in 2016, the cast was shocked at the positive feedback from the audience.  Andrea Bang, who plays Janet, the photography major, had no acting experience prior to Kim’s convenience and was surprised to see the influence the show had in a short time after it aired.

There are 4 seasons currently available to watch with the fifth season coming out in April 2021 and a sixth season coming out on an unknown date.

This show has a lot of comedic influences and is very informational about different cultures, and anyone who finds these topics interesting should look into watching it

Trailer for Kim’s Convenience: