Sunday, December 14, 2014

Why "Selfie" deserved/deserves better (dispite its unfortunate "Cougar Town" like name)



"Selfie" is the latest in a long line of "cancelled too soon" shows. In fact, fans are attempting to convince Hulu to pick up the show for at least another short season. (#SaveSelfie) Currently Hulu is streaming the final remaining episodes of the initial 13 episode run.

Now, you may have never watched the show, and a few clips can't do any series true justice. Still, let's watch 6 clips to catch you up and, hopefully, show you why fans want a bit more of this half-hour comedy.

A word of caution: this show is not high art, it's just a lot of fun. And, come on, it stars Karen Gillan ("Doctor Who," "Guardians of the Galaxy") and John Cho ("Star Trek," "Harold and Kumar, "Sleepy Hollow")


"Selfie" makes not secret of the fact that it is based on Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion" (or, if you will, "My Fair Lady"). After all, the characters are named Eliza Dooly and Henry Higgs. The show starts off with Henry teaching Eliza how to better connect with people -- at Eliza's request.


And hats off to consistency. Every since the pilot, each time Eliza sees Charmonique at the front desk, she starts the conversation with "Good morning. How are you?" No matter how quickly she blurts it out and moves on. Little touches like that matter. They really do.

Eliza is actually somewhat of a broken person. Some of the most interesting characters are (cough, "Community," cough). Her past is rather unhappy.


But Henry is broken, too. He's lost in his job as a marketing executive for a children's pharmaceutical company. All work and no play makes Mr. Higgs a dull boy.


So Henry needs Eliza as well. To help him become less isolated.

Of course, we all see where this is going, right? But let's toss some obstacles in the way. Eliza gets a boyfriend. And Henry seems to have issues with it.


Then Henry gets a girlfiend. And Eliza seems to have issues with it. But not for the reasons you might think.


But still, there's something there. The audience sees the chemistry. Their boss at the the company sees it. But do Eliza and Henry see it?

At the end of a long business-related weekend, after Henry lashes out at Eliza, only to realize his mistake, we get this:


And things just become more complicated after that. Which makes it all more interesting.

If this intrigued you at all, I encourage you to check out the episodes of "Selfie" available on Hulu. There are also enough clips there to help you catch up more than I can do here. If you like the show, tell others, point them here, encourage Hulu to lend a hand, whatevs.

#saveSelfie

I will leave you with this bonus promo clip, just for fun.