Being Erica

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I've been watching the CBC's new show, "Being Erica," since it began in January. And it's REALLY good.

Set in Toronto (you can play "name that Toronto landmark" as they wander around downtown), the show is about Erica Strange, a 32-year-old woman who has made a kajillion mistakes in her life, and wishes she could go back and change them. Poof... one day a man named Dr. Tom pulls her into his office (his office magically appears in various places, and she could walk into a bathroom and it's the interior of his office) and asks her to write down all her regrets. She fills several sheets of paper, but the most important one is that her younger brother didn't die.

And then, he sends her back in time to those moments to try to play them out again, seeing if she can make her current life any happier or more successful. In the first one, she returns to high school in the early 90s to go to her prom and NOT get crazy drunk and fall all over the place and have her boyfriend dump her (the guy she's been pining for ever since). In the second episode, she goes to university to try to get her best friend not to end up with the woman who will eventually break his heart. In each episode, she manages to right the wrong, but then screws up so colossally that she creates a new problem.

The episodes are really well written, the dialogue is sharp and funny, and while it feels very Canadian in some places, in other ways I could see this show being sold internationally and playing around the world, because it focuses on a universal topic: regret. But it's far from a depressing show; it's very funny. In one episode she goes back to a guy's house on the first date who seems like a good prospect, until he shows her his African mask collection on the wall and she sees the "Made in Taiwan" sticker on the back. She decides to overlook it, but when he's making out with her on the couch and she sees his "Dostoevsky for Idiots" guide on his bookshelf, she can't get out of there fast enough.

The most touching moments so far have been her encounters with her brother when she goes back to the past. She always has a longing in her eyes, and reaches out to touch him as if she just wants to hold onto him and not let him go. The actress who plays Erica, Erin Karpluk, is amazing, and is able to play 32 and 18 very easily.

I love this show because it's so realistic. I also love it because she's only a couple of years younger than me, so when she returns to university it's in the same era as my university days were. They play music of the time to trigger memories, and the music playing is the same music that would have been playing when I was that age.

The show has been on Mondays at 9, but has just moved to Wednesdays at 9pm (I know... I know.. blasphemy for Lost viewers) but if you have time-shifting or a PVR, watch Lost and record Being Erica. If you've missed the episodes so far (and live in Canada) go here to watch the first five and catch up. You will not be disappointed.