# Selfie (TV series)
**Selfie** is an American romantic comedy television series that aired on ABC in 2014, created by Emily Kapnek and loosely based on the musical *My Fair Lady*, itself adapted from [George Bernard Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-bernard-shaw)'s play *Pygmalion*. [Karen Gillan](https://www.edgepedia.org/karen-gillan) stars as Eliza Dooley, a self-obsessed social media personality with a large internet following who realizes that virtual friends cannot replace real ones, and [John Cho](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cho) stars as Henry Higgs, a marketing guru who agrees to help her rebrand her reputation and connect with people offline.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) ABC canceled the series on November 7, 2014, after five weeks of low ratings.[2](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | ABC, single season of 13 episodes; series premiere September 30, 2014[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) • [4](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/selfie-sitcom-cancelled-by-abc-34639/) |
| Created by | Emily Kapnek, creator of *Suburgatory*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) |
| Source material | A loose, modernized adaptation of *My Fair Lady* and Shaw's *Pygmalion*[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) • [5](https://time.com/93942/abc-selfie-tv-show/) |
| Stars | Karen Gillan as Eliza Dooley; John Cho as Henry Higgs[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) |
| Ratings | Premiere drew 5.31 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic; the season averaged 4.7 million viewers and a 1.5 rating[4](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/selfie-sitcom-cancelled-by-abc-34639/) • [6](https://time.com/3573082/abc-selfie-cancel/) |
| Cancellation | ABC announced on November 7, 2014 that it would not order episodes beyond the initial 13[2](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/) |
| Critical scores | 59% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (61 reviews); Metascore 57 on Metacritic from 24 critic reviews[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) • [3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) |
## Premise and origins
The series updates the *Pygmalion* story for the social media age. Eliza Dooley, a pharmaceutical company employee with 263,000 followers, realizes she has no real friends and hires her co-worker, the marketing man Henry Higgs, to help her learn to interact with people face to face.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) Creator Emily Kapnek said in an interview that in telling a story about someone trying to wean herself off constant personal technology, "there was inherently a PYGMALION aspect," and that the show's underlying balance is taking what is useful from online life without letting it consume real-world connection.[7](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/selfie-creator-emily-kapnek-takes-on-pygmalion-for-the-tech-age-interview/)
The title leaned on topical vocabulary: "selfie" had been Oxford Dictionaries' 2013 word of the year, and news coverage of the pilot order in May 2014 framed the show as improbably based on *My Fair Lady*.[5](https://time.com/93942/abc-selfie-tv-show/) John Cho said before the premiere that he feared the title itself would keep people from watching, calling the word's bad reputation "a good gag reflex we have as a society," and argued that the show "starts at pop culture, but ultimately it's about these two people who shouldn't like each other but are starting to."[8](https://time.com/3425716/selfie-john-cho-interview/)
## Cast and characters
Karen Gillan, known for *Doctor Who*, played Eliza Dooley, and John Cho played Henry Higgs, a chronically offline marketing executive at the pharmaceutical company where both work; Eliza asks Henry to rebrand her personal image after learning he had rebranded a product.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) • [9](https://www.slashfilm.com/735517/tv-interrupted-how-selfie-actually-slayed/) The supporting ensemble included [Da'Vine Joy Randolph](https://www.edgepedia.org/davine-joy-randolph) as Charmonique, David Harewood as Sam Saperstein, and Allyn Rachel as Bryn.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/)
## Broadcast and cancellation
The series premiered on ABC on September 30, 2014, opening to 5.31 million viewers and a 1.6 rating among adults 18-49.[4](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/selfie-sitcom-cancelled-by-abc-34639/) It was scheduled in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour, and Deadline's Nellie Andreeva wrote that *Selfie* and its companion *Manhattan Love Story* "had the odds stacked against them by being scheduled in the Tuesday 8 p.m. hour — new series with no big marketable stars, no lead-in and little promotion."[2](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/)
When ABC canceled *Manhattan Love Story* on October 24, 2014, the first cancellation of the 2014-2015 season, the network scheduled back-to-back original episodes of *Selfie* on Tuesdays starting November 4.[10](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/10/first-series-cancellation-of-the-new-season-is-made-by-abc/) Two fresh episodes that aired the following week each logged a 0.9 rating in 18-49 (Live+same day), and on November 7, 2014 ABC opted not to order more episodes beyond the initial 13.[2](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/) The season averaged 4.7 million viewers and a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49.[6](https://time.com/3573082/abc-selfie-cancel/) It was a hard fall for new romantic-comedy sitcoms: Deadline counted three of the four canceled new sitcoms that season as rom-coms, NBC's *[A to Z](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-to-z-tv-series)* alongside the two ABC series.[2](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus said that "the narcissism of social media is no less annoying on TV than it is on a computer screen or iPhone, but Selfie's leads raise hopes for something more substantial," and the season scored 59% on the Tomatometer with a 77% audience Popcornmeter score.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01) Metacritic gave the season a Metascore of 57, labeled "Mixed or Average," based on 24 critic reviews, while users scored it 7.2, "Generally Favorable."[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) Reviewers singled out the central pairing: the *Philadelphia Daily News* called the show "Suburgatory" creator Emily Kapnek's "Pygmalion"-inspired *Selfie*, "whose pairing of Gillan and Cho is also inspired."[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) The *Boston Globe* review acknowledged that the title and opening minutes nearly ruined a potentially charming show, but noted the tone shifted and gained stronger comic footing after the pilot.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01)
Viewer ratings on IMDb tell a different story from the broadcast numbers: the series holds a 7.2/10 from about 13,000 ratings, with an unweighted mean of 7.6, and per-episode scores rose over the season, from 7.2 for the premiere to 8.6 for episode 10 and 8.1 for the finale.[11](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3549044/ratings/)
## Afterlife and retrospective view
Retrospective coverage has been favorable. A /Film retrospective described the series as one of ABC's "cruelest casualties," praising the casting of Gillan and Cho and the workplace ensemble, and noting that Eliza Dooley thrived as a social media influencer before influencers were really a thing.[9](https://www.slashfilm.com/735517/tv-interrupted-how-selfie-actually-slayed/) A Guardian commentary placed *Selfie* among a new breed of television rom-coms that treat social media as part of everyday life, observing that the show used onscreen graphics of texts and posts in the manner of *Sherlock* while depicting social media more critically than its viewers experienced it.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/oct/22/tv-social-media-selfie-romcom)
The series also figured in a wider 2014 debate about the rom-com sitcom. [The New Republic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-republic)'s review of the premiere described its final scene as straight out of the romantic comedy playbook, and argued that the fall's crop of rom-com sitcoms, *Selfie* among them, showed the limits of high-concept premises that executives green-light for their hooks, Pygmalion as social media satire included.[13](https://newrepublic.com/article/119688/z-selfie-and-rom-com-sitcoms-problems) A TIME retrospective on the 1964 *My Fair Lady* film noted that *Selfie* was the newest version to take up the Pygmalion mantle, with a male marketing executive rebranding a girl who had fouled up her social media presence.[14](https://time.com/3525216/my-fair-lady-1964/)
## References
1. [Selfie: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/selfie/s01)
2. [ABC Series Gets the Ax, TVWeek](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/11/abc-series-gets-the-ax/)
3. [Selfie Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/selfie/)
4. [Selfie TV show canceled by ABC, no season 2, TVSeriesFinale](https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/selfie-sitcom-cancelled-by-abc-34639/)
5. [LOL: There's Going to Be a TV Show Called Selfie, TIME](https://time.com/93942/abc-selfie-tv-show/)
6. [ABC Cancels TV Comedy Selfie, TIME](https://time.com/3573082/abc-selfie-cancel/)
7. [SELFIE creator Emily Kapnek takes on PYGMALION for the tech age, Assignment X](https://www.assignmentx.com/2014/selfie-creator-emily-kapnek-takes-on-pygmalion-for-the-tech-age-interview/)
8. [John Cho: Why Skeptics Should Give Selfie a Chance, TIME](https://time.com/3425716/selfie-john-cho-interview/)
9. [TV, Interrupted: How Selfie Actually Slayed, /Film](https://www.slashfilm.com/735517/tv-interrupted-how-selfie-actually-slayed/)
10. [First Series Cancellation of the New Season Is Made By ABC, TVWeek](https://www.tvweek.com/tvbizwire/2014/10/first-series-cancellation-of-the-new-season-is-made-by-abc/)
11. [Selfie (TV Series 2014) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3549044/ratings/)
12. [It's complicated: Selfie and A to Z reflect TV's uncomfortable relationship with social media, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2014/oct/22/tv-social-media-selfie-romcom)
13. [TV Needs to Stop Trying to Make Rom-Coms Happen, The New Republic](https://newrepublic.com/article/119688/z-selfie-and-rom-com-sitcoms-problems)
14. [50 Years Later: Why My Fair Lady Is Better Than You Remember, TIME](https://time.com/3525216/my-fair-lady-1964/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2010s and later network sitcoms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license