ABC puts a modern-day twist on Pygmalion and My Fair Lady with new series Selfie. Karen Gillan stars as social-media savvy Eliza Dooley, who asks serious straight-arrow Henry (John Cho) to rebrand her for offline interactions. Suburgatory creator Emily Kapnek executive produces the comedy that premieres Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“In short, Selfie, like Eliza, is trying just a bit too hard to please.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety
“But like Eliza's character, the show starts out annoying and then gets less annoying. Gillan, who was Amy Pond on Doctor Who, is winning, even without her Scots accent.”
—Robert Lloyd, LA Times
“There's a good show in here somewhere, and while it's never going to be My Fair Lady, Selfie could still be loverly.”
—Margaret Lyons, Vulture
“Best of all, as on Suburgatory, the writing is a medley of styles suiting each character’s personality. Eliza’s catchy Internet slang, like “panic pudding” or “GIF my way out of this,” recalls Tamara on Awkward.”
—Brandon Nowalk , A.V. Club
“This ancient story has worked as myth, play and musical, but it seems to have a built-in expiration date: He teaches, she learns, and the story ends. Do you want to see the lesson learned, forgotten, and relearned week after week?”
—Robert Bianco, USA Today
