Margaret Cho is back on TV, and this time she's in control

Anyone who has watched Margaret Cho over the years knows that the comedienne has worn many hats: brash funnywoman, passionate activist, and even board member for sex toy company Good Vibrations. Luckily for Cho's fans, her new VH1 reality series, The Cho Show, puts all of her varied talents to ample use every week.

Described as a scripted reality sitcom—whatever the hell that means—the show mirrors Cho's life and stand-up act as it follows her exploits in Hollywood, with her parents, squad of stylists, and 3'10" assistant Selene Luna along for the sometimes wild ride. Cho jokingly calls her new project "gay candy," and with it she threatens to dethrone even Kathy Griffin as television's foremost fag hag.

Cho holds nothing back from the cameras, from bleaching her sphincter to painting her naked body for the red carpet (there's a very good reason it airs at 11 p.m.). The show seems ripe with bits for Joel McHale to sample and ridicule on E!'s The Soup. Cho, no stranger to harsh criticism, will surely take it all in stride and good humor.

Cho rang Radar just before a gig in Tennessee to discuss the finer things in life, namely politics, periods, and pooping your pants.

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RADAR: The Cho Show is good old outrageous fun. Do you feel it has healed the wounds from your '90s sitcom debacle, All-American Girl?
MARGARET CHO: Yes, it's so awesome. I look forward to people seeing it. VH1 gave us so much artistic freedom. It's pretty heavily scripted. We figured this was the right thing to do. A lot of my stand-up is confessional and pulled from real life, so my comedy is already a form of reality TV.

In the first episode, you receive the "Korean of the Year" award. You said you've felt ostracized by your native people in the past.
I've had some difficulty, because at the beginning of my career I talked about sex, queer stuff, weight issues. It was very troubling to older generations of Koreans. When I did my ABC sitcom, they threatened to boycott and picket. I never fit their image of what a Korean American should be.

It was sweet to see your parents beam with pride at the ceremony. That's my favorite bit of the show. It's also great to see how much you all love each other—and to see them in the flesh, especially after years of seeing your spot-on impression of your mom.
She's so funny. It's nice to get to work together, which we've never done.

You and VH1 are paying Mama well, I hope?
She does alright. I'll garnish her wages every now and again. They're fun, they're hard workers, and we all enjoyed it.

It's great to see them interact with Selene Luna, the tiny burlesque queen.
It's so funny. They project any feelings they would have for a grandchild onto Selene, as if she were my daughter. It's adorable.

People assume that you're a lesbian, but I've met your husband, Al, who's a really cool guy and an artist in his own right. Why isn't he on the show? Is he shy?
We want to stay married, okay? That's our life, no one else's. We want that to remain private.

You really lay it all out there in the series. You even went for anal bleaching. How did that work out for your pucker?
It's great, but a slow process. You have to dab a little bit on every day and it gradually whitens, like Crest asshole whitening strips, so I didn't keep up with it.

Who has the goddamn time?
People do it. I actually think it looks very nice, I'm just not that ... anal!

Who cares about what color it is—you don't have to look at it! You also had the "G-shot," where they pump collagen into your G-spot.
That was horrible, actually!

You weren't walking around having orgasms all day long? At Starbucks? On the treadmill?
No! It made me not want to have sex for like four months. My vagina was swollen and painful and gross. It was horrible!

You campaigned tirelessly for gay marriage for a long time—you must be very proud of California.
I'm now a certified wedding minister. I've been working for years for marriage equality, so now to switch gears and perform ceremonies is really profound and gratifying.