Selfie. Just the title alone makes you roll your eyes. If that didn’t dig a big enough hole for the show to climb out of, its teaser trailer nearly buried it alive. And yet, miraculously, Selfie claws its way out.
The show revolves around narcissist and social media star — as if there’s really a difference — Eliza Dooley (played by Karan Gillan) as she attempts to overhaul her selfish ways after suffering a truly embarrassing ordeal only made worse by the very thing she loved so much: social media. Her mentor for this regeneration (did I mention Gillan was on Doctor Who?) is her co-worker Henry, played by the always great John Cho.
Selfie makes no qualms about being a modern day My Fair Lady as evidenced by the allusions in the character names. Of course the issue here is that My Fair Lady is a 170 minute movie (I looked it up — it really is that long!) where as Selfie is looking to last quite a bit longer.
Dooley makes great strides over the course of 22-minutes, aside from the inevitable relapse that incites the second-act argument that’s such a staple of romantic comedies. Because of this the pilot feels almost like a mini-movie, which is surprisingly not a bad thing.
What is bad about the show is the first 10 minutes (at least). I went into watching this show expecting to hate it and my feelings were validated as the jokes were broad, predictable and just not funny. However, somewhere along the way those same boring jokes were replaced with genuinely funny character interactions and Disney references. It was almost as though the show made a point to be like its lead character: terrible at the beginning but improving over time. There was also a pretty adorable Lady Gaga cover sequence that easily could have been pulled from a Zooey Deschanel film.
While I still didn’t love Eliza by the end of the show I at least didn’t hate her. I also felt like I understood her more and actually found myself being able to relate. John Cho is just as watchable and fun as Henry as he has been in anything else I’ve seen him in including last season’s failed Go On. The, dare I say, relationship (hint hint) between Henry and Eliza is interesting and even supporting characters like office receptionist Charmonique have something to offer.
Overall I’m more than willing to give Selfie a follow. Though the inevitable ebbs and flows in Eliza’s behavior might prove too much for my patience, I’ll give this lady a fair shake.