I don’t need an excuse to apply for tickets for a live taping of The Social. Now that they’re in season two, I decided to go back. On my way to the taping, I stopped at Starbucks across the street from the studio. I was delighted to see Jess Allen in line. I spotted her immediately and she was very friendly.
Chloe Bent, The Social’s audience coordinator was as friendly as I remembered. She ensured that everyone was excited to join the live audience and encouraged us to cheer by telling us that the biggest fans would receive gift bags with makeup products. One fan was visiting from San Francisco, so she took home a special prize. According to Chloe, the easiest way to look good on TV is to simply nod and smile, without looking like a cheerleader.
The last episode of Parenthood airs in a few hours and I wish there was a way to postpone the series finale. It is one of my favourite shows and I’m sad that it’s ending.
As an only child, I enjoy watching shows with large families that don’t resemble my own family whatsoever. That’s why it was so appealing to watch Party of Five on Netflix during the summer.
The characters were always generous with each other and quick to rescue anyone in a crisis situation. Zeek and Camille raised their offspring to be kind and forgiving, which are key qualities. I liked when Zeek gave Drew the blue Pontiac, insisting that the grand gesture was meant to reward Drew for packing up the old Braverman home.
It has been a treat to watch the Bravermans grow up on Parenthood. They graduated, married and changed a lot over six years. From Haddie’s teary send-off to Cornell to Victor’s joyous adoption ceremony, viewers witnessed several big moments.
The show tackled many serious issues including special needs education and post-traumatic stress disorder. The plot has been a rollercoaster and that’s what kept it interesting. Parenthood’s scripts are unparalleled and I challenge the cast to find such good projects in the future.
I had the pleasure of attending the world premiere of CBC’s new series called Schitt’s Creek. Word on the street is that it’s a story about what would happen if the Kardashian family went broke; however, I think that description might be too generic. I think we’re at a point where referencing the Kardashians is almost a cliche.
The scripts for Schitt’s Creek have an uncanny resemblance to those of 2 Broke Girls, as they have a similar tone and sense of humour. Funny lines like “you have dandruff in your eyebrow,” demonstrate the cast and crew’s ability to create a show with excellent comedic timing.
When I heard the name of the show, I immediately thought about Dawson’s Creek. I’ve always been obsessed with that series. In addition to 2 Broke Girls, I also think it’s worth comparing Schitt’s Creek to Gilmore Girls, the beloved series that’s now available on Netflix. Gilmore Girls is my favourite series, so it sets a high standard for all future shows in my opinion.
Catherine O’Hara’s character Moira Rose embodies a few of the same traits as Emily Gilmore. Imagine how Emily would react if her husband’s insurance business went south out of the blue. Well, the difference is that Emily has way more class than Moira. Emily has better manners.
Compared to the parents, I prefered watching the younger characters in Schitt’s Creek, David and Alexis, played by Dan Levy and Annie Murphy respectively. No matter who you are or where you live, I know you’ll be able to draw parallels between them and people in your social network.
When my sister from another mister, the one and only Jessi Cruickshank, introduced the show at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, she proudly said, “Dan and I were rescued by MTV.” Thank goodness MTV selected the two to co-host The Hills After Show! How else would we know so much about Lauren Conrad’s clique?
As someone who misses the CBC show Being Erica, I’m glad that they’ve found a new way to develop content that will attract younger audiences. More importantly, let’s congratulate the team behind because Schitt’s Creek has already been renewed for a second season!
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Many top brands were eager to help consumers ring in the new year. Overall, I noticed that brands posted more GIFs and short videos this year, which signals progress. Last year’s round up included only three posts and this year’s list includes three categories to help marketers with content development on Instagram.
I hope you’ll bookmark this for future reference and maybe even print it in colour to discuss at your next brainstorm meeting!
Inspiration for Small Businesses
While evaluating posts in my feed, I looked for simple posts that small business owners can learn from and treat as templates for future holiday posts. With the right stock photo and some text overlay in a program like Adobe Photoshop, a post that looks like this one from Aroma is fairly easy to create.
Instead of spending time at one company or school, I had a choose-your-own-adventure style ‘gap year’ that echoed the name of Neil Patrick Harris’ autobiography. After studying personal branding, career development and digital marketing, I crammed several unique experiences into a challenging year that changed my perspective of the global economy. The ‘work hard, play hard’ mantra came to life and thankfully I reaped rewards along the way.
