In a positive sign of ABC’s faith in its new romantic comedy Selfie starring John Cho and Karen Gillan, the network has released its pilot on ABC.com and Hulu for free viewing.
Gillan plays Eliza Dooley, a narcissistic single ad sales executive who’s best friends only exist on social media. Cho is Henry, the hotshot marketing expert and Eliza’s co-worker who’s a favorite of his boss for turning around the damaged reputation of their clients.
The pilot gets off to a good start with some witty dialogue and chuckle-filled comedy. Despite Eliza’s big ego, viewer’s sympathies will quickly turn to Eliza who gets herself into an embarrassing situation that’s amplified 100 times on social media.
Eliza is clearly in need of a reputation make over and she turns to Henry for help. Here’s where the pilot was hampered by its half hour format. Henry must agree to become Eliza’s personal public relation’s specialist. He sees Eliza as a hopeless case, but agrees to take her on because of the huge challenge. His decision to work with Eliza alone could have been the focus of the entire half hour. Instead his decision was given a few minutes. It was a major development that should have been flushed out a little more.
But just when I start to think Selfie will have very superficial characters, we learn that Henry, just like Eliza, also has some vulnerabilities. The ending will leave viewers with a smile and should bring them back for a second week.
Selfie officially premiers on ABC September 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Much has been made in the Asian American blogosphere about how significant it is for an Asian American actor to be given a lead role, especially one with romantic overtones. For this show to succeed, the audience must be convinced that the relationship between Henry and Eliza is believable. I, for one, look forward to more.
