Being Erica
Being Erica | |
---|---|
![]() season one intertitle | |
Genre | Comedy-drama |
Created by | Jana Sinyor |
Directed by | Holly Dale |
Starring | |
Opening theme | "Being Erica Theme" performed by Lily Frost |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 14 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | David Fortier Ivan Schneeberg Aaron Martin Jana Sinyor[1] |
Production location | Toronto[1] |
Production company | Temple Street Productions |
Original release | |
Network | CBC Television |
Release | January 5, 2009 – present |
Being Erica is a Canadian television comedy-drama series that first aired on January 5, 2009 on CBC Television.[2]
Created by Jana Sinyor, the series was originally announced by the CBC as The Session,[3] but was retitled Being Erica before debuting in 2009. It is produced by Temple Street Productions and distributed internationally by the BBC.
The show stars Erin Karpluk as Erica Strange, a woman who begins seeing a counsellor to deal with regrets in her life, only to discover the counsellor (Michael Riley) has the ability to send her back in time to actually change these events.
In Canada, the second season premiered on 22 September 2009 on CBC Television.[4] Only 12 episodes will be produced for the second season due to budget cuts at the CBC.
Characters
In general, the characters in Being Erica are played by the starring actors, but because the show involves time travel, very young versions of the characters are played at times by different actors. In "Adultescence", for example, a twelve year old Erica Strange is played by a younger actress.
The Stranges
Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) – the protagonist in the series. She is thirty-two, single, Jewish, and well-educated. However, she is an underachiever who has recently been fired from a mindless customer service job (because she is overqualified). She is convinced poor choices made in her past have made her life a failure and seeks Dr. Tom's help to undo many of her mistakes. As the series progresses, she gains confidence in herself and her choices, dates and finds love, and gets promoted to Junior Editor at a Publishing House. She has a master's degree in English literature.
Gary Strange (John Boylan) – Erica's father. Once a hippie and marijuana enthusiast, he is now a rabbi. He was married to Barbara Strange, but they divorced thirteen years ago because he engaged in an affair. With Barbara he had three children: Leo (who died three months before their divorce), Erica, and Sam.
Barbara Strange (Kathleen Laskey) – Erica's mother. Her relationship with Erica has been strained at times. Erica believed her mother was the reason for her parents' divorce, when in reality, it was her father's infidelity, a fact which was kept secret from Erica.
Samantha Strange-McIntosh (Joanna Douglas) – Erica's younger sister, who she usually calls Sam. She is married to Josh, her high school sweetheart. Sam is a doctor.
Leo Strange (Devon Bostick) – Erica's deceased older brother, who died 13 years ago in a barn fire. His death is apparently the biggest regret Erica has.
Josh McIntosh (Adam MacDonald) – Sam's husband and Erica's brother-in-law. Obnoxious and crass, Josh is disliked by Erica, who believes he does not truly love her sister and therefore she could do far better.
Erica's friends
Dr. Tom Wexlar (Michael Riley) – Erica's psychiatrist. His unusual therapy program with Erica involves sending her back in time to events she regrets in hopes of fixing them. His office does not have a physical location; when a "session" is about to begin, Erica will open a door (perhaps to a washroom or a closet) and unexpectedly enter into his office. He also walks in and out of Erica's life, in various disguises, both in the present and the past. He has a habit of uttering famous quotes by others, often to the annoyance of Erica. Instead of helping Erica directly with her problems when they meet in the past, he is often vague and inscrutable, giving clues that relate back to her present-day life. He has a daughter, Sara, but he is estranged from her.
Ethan Wakefield (Tyron Leitso) – Erica's guy friend since her university days. An elementary school teacher, he moves next door to Erica from Montreal after separating from his wife Claire, who engaged in an affair. Erica's growing love for him after fifteen years of "just friends" is a major theme in the series. Near the conclusion of the first season, Ethan divorces Claire and becomes Erica's boyfriend.
Katie Atkins (Sarah Gadon) – Erica's close friend. Despite being attached at the hip since childhood, their friendship takes a downhill turn in high school until they make amends in the episode "Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma". Katie is a successful newspaper columnist, happily married, living in Vancouver; in the first season she returns to Toronto to publish her first book, "The None", at River Rock Publishing where Erica works.
Judith Winters (Vinessa Antoine) – Erica's best friend. Erica and Judith are introduced to one another by Katie when Judith joins them in working together at Casa Loma. Judith is married and gives birth to a son during the first season episode "Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma."
Jenny Zalen (Paula Brancati) – another of Erica's close friends whom Erica has known since high school. Jenny is outgoing and flirty, and is a keen partygoer.
Erica's co-workers at River Rock Publishing
Julianne Giacomelli (Reagan Pasternak) – Head Editor at River Rock Publishing's Non-fiction department, and Erica's boss. At the start, Julianne was antagonistic to Erica. During the first season, Julianne warms up to Erica, mostly because the quality of her work makes Julianne look better to her superiors.
Brent Kennedy (Morgan Kelly) – Julianne's co-worker and former assistant. He is a metrosexual; well-dressed and well-kept. He is friendly to Erica, having been in her shoes before. While he sides with Julianne when there is conflict with her and Erica, he helps Erica impress her boss.
Setting
The show is primarily set in Toronto. As such it features many landmarks and themes related to the city. Some roads are assigned different names than they have in reality.
Production
Temple Street Productions is filming the series in Toronto.
The pilot episode was shot in November 2007, while the rest of Season One was shot from July through December 2008.[5]
International syndication
The BBC is handling international sales.[6]
Country | TV Networks | Start Date |
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ABC2 | August 28, 2009 |
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Hallmark Channel | September 27, 2009 |
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Hallmark Channel | September 27, 2009 |
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Net 5 | April 7, 2009 |
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Fox Life | August 19, 2009[7] |
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Hallmark Channel | September 27, 2009 |
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Hallmark Channel | September 27, 2009 |
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Hallmark Channel | November 2009[8] |
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Paramount Comedy | September 17, 2009[9] |
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E4 | September 28, 2009[10] |
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Soapnet | February 19, 2009 |
Reception
The pilot episode has an estimated overnight audience of nearly 600,000 viewers, later confirmed by BBM Nielsen Media Research to be 615,000 viewers.[11]
In the Netherlands, Being Erica premiered with 398,000 viewers with a market share of 5.9%. The rest of the season had a market share of 5.5% according to Stichting KijkOnderzoek.[12] Being Erica was pulled off the schedule on Net 5 after the 10th episode to make room for 90210 and Gossip Girl. The airdates of the remaining episodes are unknown.
Ratings
Season 1
# | Episode | Air Date Canada yyyy.mm.dd |
Viewers Canada | Air Date Netherlands yyyy.mm.dd |
Viewers Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Dr. Tom" | 2009.01.05 | 615,000 | 2009.04.07 | 398,000 |
2 | "What I Am is What I Am" | 2009.01.12 | 683,000 | 2009.04.14 | 316,000 |
3 | "Plenty of Fish" | 2009.01.19 | 648,000 | 2009.04.21 | 294,000 |
4 | "The Secret of Now" | 2009.01.26 | 592,000 | 2009.04.28 | 317,000 |
5 | "Adultescence" | 2009.02.02 | 665,000 | 2009.05.05 | 309,000 |
6 | "Til Death" | 2009.02.11 | 545,000 | 2009.05.12 | 340,000 |
7 | "Such a Perfect Day" | 2009.02.18 | 517,000 | 2009.05.19 | 335,000 |
8 | "This Be the Verse" | 2009.02.25 | 462,000 | 2009.05.26 | 376,000 |
9 | "Everything She Wants" | 2009.03.04 | 542,000 | 2009.06.02 | 337,000 |
10 | "Mi Casa, Su Casa Loma" | 2009.03.11 | 577,000 | 2009.06.09 | 305,000 |
11 | "She's Lost Control" | 2009.03.18 | 558,000 | TBA | |
12 | "Erica the Vampire Slayer" | 2009.03.25 | 540,000 | TBA | |
13 | "Leo" | 2009.04.01 | 599,000 | TBA |
Season 2
# | Episode | Air Date Canada yyyy.mm.dd |
Viewers Canada | Air Date Netherlands yyyy.mm.dd |
Viewers Netherlands |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Being Dr. Tom" | 2009.09.22 | ' | ||
2 | "Battle Royale" | 2009.09.29 | ' | ||
3 | "Mama Mia" | 2009.10.06 | 461,000 | ||
4 | "Cultural Revolution" | 2009.10.13 | ' | ||
5 | "TBA" | ' | |||
6 | "TBA" | ' | |||
7 | "TBA" | ' | |||
8 | "TBA" | ' | |||
9 | "TBA" | ' | |||
10 | "TBA" | ' | |||
11 | "TBA" | ' | |||
12 | "TBA" | ' |
Episodes
DVD
The Complete First Season | ||||||
Set details | Special features | |||||
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Episodes | 13 | 13 | 13 | |||
Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | 1.78:1 | |||
Running Time | 585 mins | 585 mins | 585 mins | |||
Audio | Dolby Digital 5.1 | Dolby Digital 5.1 | Dolby Digital 5.1 | |||
Subtitles | English | Nederlands | TBA | |||
No. of Discs | 3 | 4 | 3 | |||
Region(s) | 0 (NTSC) | 2 (PAL) | 4 (PAL) | |||
Rating | M | |||||
Release dates | September 22, 2009[14][15] | June 26, 2009[16] | TBA[17] |
References
- ^ a b "Temple Street Productions and CBC Television Announce the Start of Production on their newest collaboration: Being Erica" (pdf). Holmes Creative Communications for Temple Street Productions. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ^ Harris, Bill (2008-10-28). "It's ladies night every night/CBC unveils new series Wild Roses and Being Erica". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ "Erin Karpluk plucked out of obscurity by CBC CanWest News Service, April 22, 2008.
- ^ "CBC Television - Being Erica Season II". Retrieved 2009-09-05.
- ^ "Vancouver actor set for 13 Sessions". The Province. 2008-04-20. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
- ^ Pender, Tracy Nita (2008-09-30). "Being Erica 'built to compete'". Playback magazine. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ http://www.e4.com/tv/week-commencing/2009/9/23/date/2009/9/28/hour/18/listings.e4
- ^ "CBC comedy Erica off to strong start". Reuters Canada. 2009-01-06.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ www.cbcshop.ca
- ^ amazon.ca
- ^ tvshowsondvd.com
- ^ amazon.co.uk
- ^ ezydvd.com.au
External links
- Being Erica
- Being Erica on SOAPnet.com
- Being Erica at CBC.ca
- Erica Strange on YouTube
- Being Erica at IMDb
- Template:Tv.com
- Being Erica Wiki [5]