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ABC picks up a new comedy called ‘Selfie’ about a social media addict

Selfie-ABC
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Covered by Deadline’s wrap-up of ABC’s upcoming Fall 2014 shows, the broadcast network has ordered up a comedy series that’s about a self-obsessed social media addict that slowly discovers her virtual social life isn’t a substitute for her real life. Played by Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan, the concept for the show is molded around the story featured within the Broadway musical My Fair Lady. The Dr. Doolittle counterpart within the show is played by John Cho of the Harold & Kumar series of films. It’s Cho’s job to teach Gillan how to become interact with people in real life, not just on social media networks like Instagram and Twitter.

ABC representatives officially describe the premise as “After suffering a very public and humiliating breakup, she becomes the subject of a viral video and suddenly has more social media ‘followers’ than she ever imagined — but for all the wrong reasons. She enlists the help of a marketing expert at her company to help repair her tarnished image.” 

According to Spoiler.TV, one of the plot lines within the show features Gillan playing Candy Crush on her smartphone at a wedding with the volume cranked up. It’s likely that the majority of the episodes will attempt to integrate different jokes about social networks as well as other mobile applications. However, Instagram and other photo related social networks will likely be at the forefront due to the show’s name. 

Of course, the length of time that the show will exist on ABC will be dependent on the viewership. It’s likely that ABC will attempt to utilize a variety of social marketing tools to promote the show such as hashtags and an Instagram account for the show’s main character. Gillan already has an Instagram account of her own which has about one percent of the followers that her character will have on the show. However, Gillan does seem well versed in Twitter with nearly half a million followers already.

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Mike Flacy
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
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