Real women in TV can have curves...and intelligence and humor and wit....all at the same time.
Esther Friedman and Jeana Rhinerson are living proof. Both are producers and stars of the hit web series, "Me Myself and Us TV"-- Ms. Friedman is also the writer of the show. Both collectively decided they couldn't wait around for Hollywood to cast them anymore. As working (OK struggling) actresses, with fewer and fewer opportunities for work on television because of the amount of reality shows currently spanning the airwaves, they decided to [literally] take the matter into their own hands. Friedman and Rhinerson started documenting their individual styles and their "art of ridiculous living" here in the city of angels. With the amazing accessibility and popularity of internet sites like myspace and youtube.com, there are new opportunities to promote yourself and your projects in a way that has never before been seen in the history of entertainment. These young ladies are taking full advantage. "We had just watched a horrible movie one evening and were surprisingly inspired, as we realized that we could make this happen ourselves. The next weekend, we called some friends, built a production team and took it from there", said Ms. Friedman.
According to critics and fans of the show, the end result: a cleverly charming version of a cross between "Curb Your Enthusiasm" meets "Sex in the City". One sardonic critic on Will Ferrell's website http://www.funnyordie.com/ said "this is like Seinfeld with a camcorder". However you slice it, internet viewers are raving about this fresh new approach and are asking for more..
At a time when the average viewers of film and television are just about fed up with all of the over-indulgent starlets racing for the most media attention and coverage, these ladies have slipped in under the radar and delivered a truthful dose of reality -- that might just be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Funny comedies of yesteryear like Mary Tyler Moore, I Love Lucy and Murphy Brown may have seemed to be ghosts of the past -- up until now. More and more networks are waking up to the fact that people want to relate to real women on their televisions every week. There are quite a few shows on the lineup for the fall in which women are the stars and it doesn't appear to be just a passing trend.
Me Myself and Us TV has received numerous honors and awards in the four months since it's inception and the accolades keep coming. Voted 'immortal' on the website, http://www.funnyordie.com/, "most linked episode" on http://www.youtube.com/, featuerd as one of their 'selected videos' on myspace.com, selected video for Broadband Emmy Awards and most recently official selection in the Independent Television Festival 2007 in Hollywood......
