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Lately, I’ve been in a very nostalgic and reflective mood. I’m constantly remembering old Disney Channel shows like Even Stevens or Disney Channel Original Movies like Phantom of the Megaplex or Zenon and I’m left wondering where the time has gone. The end of my Disney Channel days, because I sadly chose to “grow up,” occurred at the beginning of Hannah Montana – the story about an undercover pop star who lives a normal life in secret.

With the Hannah Montana gang in mind, I turned to the new comedy on ABC Family, Young & Hungry. This new series features Hannah Montana starlet, Emily Osment. With quick-paced stories and expectedly unexpected situations, I found the show to have the same heart of shows I had grown up with, but with a much more adult sense of humor. I had come for the nostalgia and ultimately stayed for the story.

The series’ executive producer is Ashley Tisdale of Disney’s High School Musical and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Following in suit with nostalgic stars, the show includes Jesse McCartney, Emily Osment, and many others.


Young & Hungry focuses on Gabi (Emily Osment), a lower-middle class girl who aspires to be a chef like Julia Child. She has a small apartment in San Francisco that she shares with her best friend Sofia. To follow her dreams, Gabi applies to a job as a personal chef for a young tech inventor, Josh (Jonathan Sadowski, She’s the Man). Chaos ensues as Gabi is thrown into a whole new social sphere, dealing with housekeepers (Kym Whitley, That’s So Raven), personal assistants (Rex Lee, Zoey 101), and Josh’s snooty fiancé, Caroline.

Falling in and out of confrontations, love, and disastrous situations, Gabi makes the working life seem so easily enjoyable and reminds the audience that growing up isn’t always easy but it sure can be fun.

Is there anything better than having a best friend? Someone who understands your mild breaks in sanity or can always bring up a great, and often embarrassing, story from when you were younger is great to have around.

That’s basically the magic behind the new comedy on USA, “Playing House.” The show was created and written by real life best friends Jessica St. Clair (“Bridesmaids”) and Lennon Parham (“Accidentally on Purpose”), who also star in the show. That gives the show a chemistry unlike any other.

“Playing House” starts off as the story of childhood best friends who grew up and separated because of work. Emma (St Clair) is a powerful businesswoman in China and Maggie (Parham) is an expecting mother who still lives with her cheating husband in her hometown in Connecticut. Emma returns from China, sees the disarray in Maggie’s life, and volunteers to stay and raise the baby with her – just like when they used to “play house” together as kids.

This quick-witted comedy is one of the first to be released on the USA network, which is partly why the show works so well – the network has no specific “comedy viewer” audience. There is now standard to hold the show up to (much like what happens now on ABC – all comedies are held up to the standard of “Modern Family”‘s humor and success).

The reason I champion this show so much is because it reminds me of the awkward, quirky, and real relationship I have with my best friend of almost 20 years. This show features specific moments and instances that are based off of the real friendship of the writers. But through their charm, specific detail, and overwhelming chemistry, the show is relatable to almost anyone who is lucky enough to have a best friend.

Binge-watching TV shows has become more of a lifestyle than a hobby for me because I hate cliffhangers. I am a true millennial in the sense that I’m incredibly impatient and need everything provided for me instantly – especially answers to plot points in television series. That said, I finally rewatched a show I had watched when it was on air a few years back, Ringer and I was so glad I didn’t have to wait through commercials or days until the next episode aired.
Ringer is a concluded TV drama that lasted only one season, which I attribute to being aired on a younger-viewer network. At the time of Ringer’s premiere, the CW was already in talk of ending it’s front-running series Gossip Girl and was looking for a replacement; however, Ringer’s complex drama about murder and deception was not the right fit to replace Gossip Girl’s quick-witted sass and the Upper East Side drama of love affairs. Had Ringer been picked up my a more mature-audience based network, like ABC, it definitely would’ve hit it’s target audience and lasted much longer. This show, though short lived, was thankfully aired in a full order of 22 episodes and also marked the return of the incomparable Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to television.
The story revolves around twin sisters Siobhan and Bridget, both played by Gellar. Siobhan is a New York socialite who well-off, married, and apparently leading a perfect life. Bridget is just reaching her six months in sobriety and is trying to regain her life and mend relationships, including that with her sister. While trying to get out of the bad area she is in, Bridget becomes witness to a murder by a major crime lord and, with the gang trying to silence her witness, she seeks refuge with the police. She and Siobhan plan a sister day where they take a boat out into the ocean to escape the bustle of the city; however, Bridget passes out at sea and wakes up to an empty boat and Siobhan’s wedding ring in a pill bottle. Thinking her sister committed suicide, Bridget decides it’s best to assume her sister’s identity to keep herself safe from the criminals who are after her. She later finds out that her sister, too, had secrets and discovers she may not be any safer as Siobhan than she was as Bridget.
The show deals with a lot of issues from drug use to self-isolation and depression. The characters, setting, and elements added to the well-executed shots in the series make it so enchanting to the eye. What I believe really makes this show so incredibly captivating, aside from the majestic Sarah Michelle Gellar and the complexity of her characters, is the beautiful cinematography. The show uses a lot of mirror shots, which works beautifully with the concepts uses in the series like the idea of appearance vs. reality, multiplicity, and refraction. I find the first episode to be exceptionally stunning.
So, if you’re looking for something to add to your Netflix queue – Ringer Season 1 is available for instant streaming. Trust me, this is one show you won’t want to miss.