Based on the successful film of the same name, this short-lived sitcom starred Scott Bakula as Hunt Stevenson (the role Michael Keaton had played in the movie), and Gedde Watanabe as Kaz in a different (but similar) role to the one he played in the film.
The setting was an auto plant in Hadleyville, Pennsylvania, which had been reopened under new ownership and management as part of Assan Motors, a Japanese-owned company.
Kaz was the newly installed plant manager, trying to balance his country’s traditions, the unfamiliar customs of the USA, and the demands of his management back in Japan.
Saito (Sab Shimono) was his conservative Japanese assistant, who didn’t want to adapt at all. Kaz’s wife Umeki (Patti Yasutake), though properly subservient to her husband, sometimes flirted with the freedom accorded American women, while Saito’s wife, Yukiko (Emily Kuroda) was much more conservative.
The comedy stemmed from the culture clash faced by the American workers and the Japanese management.
Kaz Kazuhiro
Gedde Watanabe Hunt Stevenson
Scott Bakula Umeki Kazuhiro
Patti Yasutake Buster
Stephen Lee Googie
Clint Howard Ito
Rodney Kageyama Kenji
Scott Atari Randi
Heidi Lawson Mr Saito
Sab Shimono Yukiko Saito
Emily Kuroda
Video
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