Cho's potent but subtle sexual and cultural activism was always part of what made her important as a comedian. But it was her personal stories of familial and romantic woe, delivered in the sassy, colloquial style of a whip-smart best friend recounting a recent humiliation, that made her so funny.

This August, as Cho returns to Nashville for a two-night stand at Zanies, she is also making her return to television. Fourteen years ago, the clever and groundbreaking All-American Girl, the first sitcom featuring an Asian American family, was cancelled. At the time, Cho was not shy about publicly slamming the networks for their trademark meddling—first they told her she was too Asian, then not Asian enough. Amazingly, since the show's demise, another Asian American family has yet to fill the void on American TV.

Until now. Later this month, The Cho Show premieres on VH1. It's another entrant in the nascent field of scripted reality—a tricky little genre that blurs the lines between truth and fiction, like Cho's best routines. As such, it should provide the perfect vehicle for the bawdy comedian and her entourage.

When the Scene caught up with Cho, she was home in Los Angeles, finishing up some press for the upcoming premiere. Though she cultivates a vivacious public persona, Cho was surprisingly subdued on the phone—sweet and soft-spoken as she emphasized how proud she is of her upcoming project.

Scene: I guess I have a pretty bleak view of the feminist cause right now. Hollywood still seems a tough place for smart, opinionated women like yourself. Do you feel like that's changed over the past few years?

Margaret Cho: I think it's hard, but I think that it's always been hard for women. It's gotten a little bit better now that we're allowed to have more of a voice and have more vehicles out in the media.

Scene: Being a minority female in Hollywood, you kind of have the double whammy.

Cho: It is. If you're a person of color, it's tough. You're just fighting Hollywood's non-inclusion.

Scene: How did the VH1 show come about and how is it different from doing a scripted show? Are you designing situations for the reality to happen in?

Cho: It is somewhat scripted. A lot of the storylines are pulled out of my stand-up and we scripted it to a point—situations are scripted but it's not a scripted show. But it's not exactly reality either, because it's manipulated. I think it's a new genre. I'm really proud of it.

Scene: So you get to say when the cameras are on or off?

Cho: Exactly.

Scene: Your impressions of your mother have always been a big part of your work. How do you think people will react to the real deal?

Cho: Everyone is going to fall in love with her. She's just so charming and funny.

Scene: Who are the other "characters," if you can call them that?

Cho: It's my mother and my father. And then my assistant, Selene Luna, who's very special to me. She's a little person, so she looks a bit different than everybody else. And then I have my wonderful gay glam squad, who do hair and makeup and style.

Scene: I've read that this new stand-up show, Beautiful, goes back to more personal material. Was that a conscious decision?

Cho: Yeah, I wanted to do something more personal, something that was more back to my stand-up roots. So the material I'm doing is less political and topical.

Scene: For a show that lasted only one season, it seems that All-American Girl has a place in the cultural zeitgeist as one of the classic examples of how fucked-up the networks are. Does that surprise you?

Cho: Yeah. But I think it's really great—really great—that it had such a long life. I think it had a really great impact on people because it was the first Asian American family on TV and that's a huge, big deal. And I hope that people are able to watch The Cho Show because now they'll be watching the second Asian American family on TV. So I was proud to bring the first family and then the second family.

Scene: It's funny looking at the VH1 TV lineup: You have Brooke Hogan, Bret Michaels, and then you.

Cho: It's pretty different!

Scene: Why should people tune in?

Cho: It's really funny. And it's like candy—it's totally addictive and really fun to watch.