Selfie Series Premiere Review: “Pilot” (Season 1, Episode 1)

Selfie is being sold as My Fair Lady for the Facebook generation. The irony of its flashy presentation and familiar story isn’t lost on me; though the writing is sharp and at times almost overly acerbic, Selfie isn’t quite as edgy as it seems to think it is. However, it’s still quite bold and admirable for a primetime network comedy to be so openly critical of the same age demographic it’s trying to attract. Whether viewers will appreciate Selfie‘s condemnation of social media or back away in righteous indignation remains to be seen.

In the pilot, Eliza represents self-obsession taken to an extreme, so the audience may enjoy how brutally she gets slammed. On the other hand, many viewers also view their iPhones as extra appendages and work to build online identities with as much diligence as Eliza, so they could feel that Selfie is laughing at them, rather than the other way around.

Viewers who are able to take a bit of ribbing, however, will likely have fun with Selfie‘s fine crop of actors and culturally savvy writing. Gillan’s protagonist needs more development, which is sure to come in the next few episodes, but the actress is both charismatic and drop-dead gorgeous – in other words, she’s exactly the type of star ABC should want to highlight in its comedies. Some Doctor Who fans may follow Gillan here, but they should be warned that pilot-era Eliza is nowhere near as appealing as that show’s Amy Pond. Hopefully, she’ll become someone audiences can root for, but in the premiere, Eliza is more often the butt of the joke than anything else.

Cho, known for playing an equally sharp-tongued and frustrated character in the Harold & Kumar series, is well-cast as Henry. Though his scenes in the pilot mostly find him firing back at everything from hashtags to a dearth of human interaction in the workplace (sometimes with excessive acidity), Cho just about pulls Henry back from the verge of turning into a ranting, raving loud-mouth. The pilot hints at a backstory for him, but Selfie will likely to take its time in exploring how Henry became so jaded. In the meantime, Cho’s chemistry with Gillan should be strong enough to keep their dynamic fresh (provided the show doesn’t shoehorn in an unneeded will-they-won’t-they angle).