"Fresh Off the Boat": Shaquille O'Neal to Hold Court in Season 2
by Kimberly Roots
August 27, 2015


"Fresh Off the Boat‘s" latest casting is a slam-dunk: Former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal will guest-star in the ABC comedy’s upcoming sophomore season, TVLine has learned.

Details about the gig are scarce, but we do know that O’Neal — who will film his part in early September — will be part of the season’s third episode, titled 'Shaquille O’Neal Motors'.

"Fresh Off the Boat" returns Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8:30/7:30c.

http://tvline.com/2015/08/27/shaquile-oneal-fresh-off-the-boat-cast-season-2/

Oh boy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEAT!!! He's such a cool, funny guy! I don't normally watch this show, but I will to see him!!!!!


Also a side note, can he possibly come back to the Lakers??? :lol: I know he is too old and already retired from playing , but they did SO GOOD when he was with them! ;) But if he doesn't play anymore , I enjoy seeing him as a commentator or actor , he is a really likable, fun guy! :)

Any word on his characater?

"Fresh Off the Boat" Writer Teases Shaq's Guest Appearance
by Will Robinson
10/6/15


Can you dig it? Former NBA All-Star and four-time champion Shaquille O’Neal is hopping in a time machine and going back to Orlando for this week’s episode of "Fresh Off the Boat".

The third episode of season 2 sees Louis (Randall Park) and Jessica (Constance Wu) celebrating their wedding anniversary in an unconventional setting: a local car dealership called Shaquille O’Neal Motors.





In 1995, the year the show takes place, O’Neal played for the Orlando Magic and was establishing himself as one of the best basketball players in the world. After the 1995–96 season, O’Neal left for the Los Angeles Lakers, which should crush the young in-show Eddie (Hudson Yang) later this season.

Figuring out a way to incorporate Shaq Diesel — a personal favorite of the show’s inspiration, restaurateur Eddie Huang — was not easy, even though the team sought to include him from beginning.

“We had always talked about him and couldn’t figure out a way, exactly, to do it,” Keith Heisler, the episode’s writer, tells EW. “There had been story lines that we had talked about that kind of just didn’t work.”





The writers eventually decided that season 2 was the time for O’Neal, but the rest of the plot still had to be developed.

“Deciding we wanted to use Shaq in this thing was kind of like hamstringing us until we could find the anniversary aspect of it,” Heisler says. Once the story was ironed out, the team conducted tons of research on the past O’Neal.

Well, only one piece: to see if the, um, “iconic” floating sideburns existed.





This still presents a ridiculous situation. Present O’Neal — four years retired, a studio analyst, not in shape — plays a 23-year-old O’Neal, an athletic marvel and hoops monster. Heisler and the crew do, in fact, make knowing nods to the premise.

But: “He’s not just playing ‘Shaq,’ ”Heisler says. “He’s playing ‘Shaq,’ but he’s not playing ‘Basketball Shaq.’”





The Big Aristotle was on set for one day, but his imprint on the cast and production crew was huge. “I can honestly say, and I’m not a big celebrity guy,” Heisler insists, “but he’s probably the coolest person I think I’ve ever met — celebrity, non-celebrity.”

“He’s like a magic man,” he explains. “He just goes makes a corner of this room happy then sees another corner, goes over and makes them happy. Just everyone loved him. He couldn’t have been nicer.”

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/10/06/fresh-boat-shaq-guest-stars