ABC's Selfie was a great sitcom that would've worked today
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The romcom starring John Cho and Karen Gillian from creator Emily Kapneck premiered in fall 2014 "to some skepticism, mostly because of its title and premise," says Kayleigh Donaldson. "Like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Cougartown, sometimes the name of the series gives potential viewers the wrong impression. Early trailers made Selfie seem, let’s be honest, a touch insufferable. It’s hard to get people to not feel exhausted by stories of internet fame and influencer narcissism, even if that’s not what the narrative is really focused on. Even by 2014, we were sick of the term ‘selfie’ and all the millennial buzzword cliches that are now beyond parody. Truly, Selfie was just a great romantic comedy smothered by a high concept marketing promise. You look back on those canceled shows and wonder what could have been done differently, but Selfie knew what it was out of the gate and had a kind of consistency that should have made it irresistible. For all of the easy jokes that come to mind with its set-up, Selfie had a remarkably nuanced and empathetic understanding of social media and those who become entwined in its alluring web."
