The Daily Star - Stay Tuned
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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 26, 2014 2 By Cassie Dresch TV Media P ucker up and smile pret- ty for the camera! ABC is hashtagging, Insta- gramming and friending its way through the sitcom scene with a new half-hour laugher that's set to take so- cial media from the computer screen to the TV screen. Catch the series premiere of "Selfie," airing Tuesday, Sept. 30, on ABC. Since the advent of Face- book more than 10 years ago, social networking has been taken to new heights. You can now send out mini-messages of 140 characters or less with Twitter, post heavily filtered photos of your goings-on through Instagram and even send 10-second picture mes- sages on Snapchat that dis- appear into the abyss when the timer hits zero. It's a culture of oversharing that continues to grow. Americans are spending more time on social media now than ever before. On personal computers and mo- bile devices, U.S. citizens logged 121.1 billion total minutes in July 2012 com- pared to the 88 billion min- utes spent on social media in July 2011. Even Merriam- Webster is jumping on the tech-centric bandwagon, adding the words "hashtag" and "selfie" to the Collegiate Dictionary to "reflect the growing influence technolo- gy is having on human en- deavor, especially social net- working." So it makes sense that ABC is tackling this trend, and it's doing it with a heavy hit of humor. "Selfie" takes the rampant narcissism that is sometimes bred from social media and blends it with a little bit of "My Fair Lady" (1964) and "Pygmalion" (1938). While I imagine Au- drey Hepburn would be abso- lutely stunning in any and all selfies, "Doctor Who's" Karen Gillan and "Star Trek's" (2009) John Cho add their own twist to the unrefined pupil and uptight tutor roles. Gillan stars as the self-ob- sessed Eliza Dooley, a woman highly focused on herself, her "tweeps" and her image. She has more than 263,000 fol- lowers who cling to her every picture and post on social networking sites, and she thrives on the attention and "instafame." After an unfor- tunate mishap on an air- plane, Eliza realizes she needs a bit (read: a ton!) of help to update her image and get over the cringe-worthy embarrassment. Enter Henry Higenbottam. He's a workaholic, marketing self-image guru who despis- es everything to do with so- cial networking and the peo- ple who rely too much on tech connectivity to live. The character, played by Cho, de- cides to lend his rebranding expertise to Eliza so that she understands there's more to life than just Instagram, Can- dy Crush Saga and Twitter. "'Selfie' holds the most promise out of any half-hour comedy this fall, thanks to some genius casting — John Cho and Karen Gillan are spot on — and of course the writing stylings of 'Suburga- tory's' Emily Kapnek," said "E! Online" TV Scoop review- er Kristin Dos Santos. "It's a premise that should not work," added fellow TV Scoop writer Tierney Bricker, "yet [it] totally does, thanks to Cho and Gillan's chemistry and the writing, with almost every single joke landing." As Bricker mentioned, it seems like "Selfie" shouldn't work as a TV show, especially since it's a storyline that's been done before both on screen and on stage — and with great success. The 1964 movie musical version of "My Fair Lady" starring Audrey Hepburn ("Breakfast at Tiffa- ny's," 1961) and Rex Harrison ("Doctor Dolittle," 1967) took home eight Academy Awards. The 1956 Broadway musical the movie is based on starring Harrison and Julie Andrews ("The Sound of Music," 1965) won six Tony Awards, includ- ing Best Musical. Like both Dos Santos and Bricker stated, however, the writing crew behind "Selfie" is sure to give it a positive, humorous spin that will ulti- mately cement its own sepa- rate identity. Emily Kapnek ("Suburga- tory," "As Told by Ginger") has been writing and produc- ing for television since the late-'90s. Her animated teen comedy "As Told by Ginger" ran for three seasons and netted three Emmy nomina- tions for Outstanding Ani- mated Program (Less than One Hour). The recently can- celed "Suburgatory" was widely well received and brought in an average of 5.5 million viewers for its final season on ABC. Without skip- ping a beat, Kapnek is back with ABC, and it looks like "Selfie" could be yet another success for her. Of course, no show is com- plete without its cast of char- acters, and along with Cho and Gillan, there's a funny bunch at work. Known for Showtime's "Homeland," Da- vid Harewood is stepping into comedy as the intimidating, but loveable, boss of the mar- keting firm. Allyn Rachel ("Million Dollar Arm," 2014) stars as Bryn, Eliza's nerdy neighbor who runs the build- ing book club with Wren (Col- leen Smith, "No, You Shut Up!") and Eyelet (Amanda Jane Cooper, "Smart People," 2008). Da'Vine Joy Randolph ("The Angriest Man in Brook- lyn," 2014) plays the sassy secretary at the office, and she leaves a lasting impression for being on screen so little. ABC is tackling a new com- edy project this fall, and "Selfie" sure looks like it could be a big hit. With the indelible charm and chemis- try between Karen Gillan and John Cho, this modern take on "My Fair Lady" looks to carve out its own place in comedy and become "Insta- famous." Catch the season premiere of "Selfie," airing Tuesday, Sept. 30, on ABC. Christopher's Coins 2 x 2 coverstory Clockwise from left: Allyn Rachel, Colleen Smith and Amanda Jane Cooper as seen in "Selfie" The 'instafame' game ABC's 'Selfi e' puts a comedic spin on social media By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Why have they stopped giving out TV Land Awards? As a senior citizen who has watched televi- sion since its inception, it was always nice to see ac- tors and actresses from the past. A: The network never provided much of a reason, but the "10th Annual TV Land Awards," broadcast in 2012, was the final edition. The network's website, TVLand.com, still has an entry for the TV Land Awards, but it hasn't been updated since the 2012 broadcast. The ceremony was largely an exercise in nostalgia, with awards being given mostly to shows that had long since ceased being made ("Laverne and Shirley" and "Murphy Brown" were among the winners in 2012). Of course that makes sense, since long-canceled TV shows were TV Land's bread-and-butter at the time. Not so much anymore, though, which may explain the decision to end the awards. Just weeks after the most re- cent edition was broadcast, in April 2012, the network underwent a few transformations, including a big push towards original (rather than classic) programming. The network already had a hit with "Hot In Cleveland" at that point, but wanted more. It launched a second night of original programming in June, which included the new "Hot in Cleveland" spinoff "The Soul Man." It also unveiled a new logo and slogan ("Laugh more") at the same time. "It became clear that the overall look and feel of the channel needed to sync up better with our programming lineup," said network president Larry W. Jones. In light of this, the awards show could have seemed out of "sync" with the new TV Land. That's unfortunate, since the TV Land Awards broad- cast did frequently get good buzz for the network, partic- ularly for its tradition of reuniting the casts of classic shows. Stars of shows such as "The Golden Girls," "Home Im- provement" and "Magnum P.I." were reunited on screen, some for the first time since their shows ended. The show scored a big coup for its eighth edition in 2010 when it brought Peter Scolari back together with his former "Bosom Buddies" co-star Tom Hanks, who's had a fair bit of screen success since. Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A