Younger vs. Being Erica

Sutton Foster/Hilary Duff/Debbie Mazur from YOUNGER

BEING ERICA star Erin Karpluk

I am a sucker for TV hitman Darren Star. Who didn’t fall in love with Beverly Hills, 90120, Melrose Place and Sex in the City. Yes, I will admit I did watch the BH 90210 reboot, there I am out of the closet. I thought he was genius yet again because I am now hooked on his newest brain child, Younger. Staring 2-time Broady Tony star Sutton Foster along with the amazing Debbie Mazur (aka Debbie M. to you Madonna lovers) and Hillary Duff. Yes, I know Hillary Duff. Trust me she is has truly come into her own with her acting career. She along with the whole cast are all brilliant. Gushing aside, the show just speaks to all I think, men, women and even the young-n’s. 

I am now about 8 episodes into the first season, prepping for 2 second season that starts next week, it finally clicks why I love the premise of the show so much. The premise you ask, a 40 year old mother gets divorced from her husband and has to start from scratch due to her husbands gambling debts and her college age daughters need to be free and expect her parents to pay for everything. The mother has to assume a younger identity, a 40 year old woman pretending to be 26, in order to break back into the publishing world. There she develops new friendships and a relationship, while living her second 40 something life. She explores her 20’s all over again while rebuilding her professional life and dealing with her 40 something on the prowl boss.

8 episodes in and there was just something familiar about the show. Then it finally hit me. It’s like Darren took Canadian Broadcast Company show Being Erica and lifted out the time travel and alternate universe powers away from the title character Erica Strange and hired better writers. Then again, Darren did adapt the show from Pamela Satran novel. So maybe the CBC show was lifted from Satran’s novel and just tweeted with an identity crisis and Syfy twist. Regardless the show is brilliant and Foster makes it even more brilliant. Can’t end this post without praising Miriam Shor and her crazy ability to just play the power woman and deliver over the top and keeping the character real. Sassy and Bitchy are great yin and yang and Miriam portrayal is like a sledge hammer being swung in a Swarovski Crystal Shop! Leaving behind a beautiful field glistening ice. Check it out if you love good writing and light story lines.