No, not that kind of #selfie. I’m pretty sure the art of selfies is still raging strong, offering us a plethora of duck faces and inside peeks at people’s bathrooms for years to come.
No, what I’m mourning is the loss of ABC’s Selfie which premiered this Fall only to be canceled in early November after harsh reviews and low ratings. Though the rest of the episodes that had been shot up to that point were slowly released on Hulu, I was disappointed to watch the “final episode” which aired on December 30 and frankly didn’t tie up the plot enough at all. [read: They didn’t freaking kiss!!!]
But the thing that bothers me is those awful reviews of Selfie, like people just didn’t get it. I know with a plot that #basic that maybe people totally didn’t understand that the premise of Selfie is literally Pygmalion. And maybe Average America is reading that and going “Pyg-whation?” My Fair Lady, guys. It’s My Fair Lady. Remember, Family Guy did a spoof of it that one time? “Ohhhhh that. Yeah. That was great!” Well so was this.
I hear your complaints.
Was Eliza absolutely over stereotyped and ridiculous in the Pilot? YES. That’s kind of the whole point. She was the walking stereotype for the modern, Internet obsessed, Instagram loving, partying too hard, self absorbed 20 something and she was working it out. I don’t know if people didn’t get that the whole point of the show is Eliza’s character development or if they didn’t enjoy that harsh light of reality shining on their faces when they realized that the show was making fun of them. #sorrynotsorry
But I can’t talk about Selfie without talking about the extraordinary cast. Maybe this is lost on you people with your lack of BBC America but Eliza is played by Karen Gillan. THAT Karen Gillan, you sweet little Whovians. Or THAT one if you are more of a Marvel Comics fan. The point is, this is an actress with range that should blow your mind. Her portraying the character of Eliza Dooley was an extraordinary feat – she was amazing. And even in her character’s most vapid moments, she managed to bring heart to her role and make you root for her.
And John Cho did a stellar Henry Higgins who literally took my breath away a few times. Nerds will remember that Cho starred as Sulu in the Star Trek reboot and was also in the Total Recall remake. Not to mention Harold & Kumar, American Pie and more importantly that time he was the literal saving grace of Matthew Perry’s awful show Go On. I could go on. Cho was a phenomenal straight man to Eliza’s antics and he frequently gave me all the feels.
I was so grateful that Hulu had the good sense to pick up the show’s remaining episodes, even if it meant having to remember to go to Hulu and look for them over the weeks and navigate their terrible website. It was worth it for the weekly fix and being able to thoroughly enjoy the show until it basically just ended at mid-breath and made me go all slanty faced and ranty about it. 
Bottom Line: This show had an incredible cast, the writing was superb and the on screen chemistry had me fangirling all over the place. And now it’s over and I’ll never get my happily ever moment. I know shows get canceled all the time – we geeks have our share of brilliant shows that were canceled too soon (*coughs*firefly*coughs*). But I would be remiss if I didn’t take the time to defend this one and throw my gauntlet down about it.
Critic & Fangirl 