B.J. Fletcher Private Eye

I came across B.J. Fletcher during my regular trolling of the AfterEllen website for decent lesbian content. It is a great example of everything I want to do with my webseries in terms of marketing, and then some. The creator and stars of B.J. Fletcher have made themselves known to the AE crew and get regular viewers and media attention from there, plus they have a website with merchandise and are now able to have a fundraiser for season 2. The production value is very high for a show with no budget which is exactly what I want to accomplish. Once you get in the circle you will have people go to bat for you and it can only lead to good things. The website is a little clunky and I would want my website and intro to have more Flash/Special FX influence because this would make it more polished, but I don't have the technical skills to do that yet so it would either require a lot of my time to learn or a web proficient partner. I think realistically I can have the series up and running by the time I graduate, but I wouldn't want to launch until I had the whole package together so I could really take it and roll with it once it launches.

As for the show, it started out really cheesy and just over the top for me. All the characters were just ridiculous caricatures in the beginning and it was hard to feel for them or get connected to them. I suppose the production value kept me watching. But it evolved into something much more quirky charming instead of quirky cheesy. From about episode 7 on, they finally got the chemistry right between Georgia and Fletch and the introduction of her nemesis Doyle worked as a great counterpoint within this constructed world. What shifted was primarily Georgia's character. She went from being just as hooky as Fletch in an over animated way to being her counterpoint and the still quirky, but subtle brains of the operation. Before it was just 2 bumbling idiots and then it became good chemistry with the oblivious Fletch succeeding largely due to Georgia's keen perceptions. When Georgia buckled Fletch's seatbelt and called her 5, it really felt like this duo was clicking and that they had been friends since childhood just as Georgia's mom talked about. I loved how Georgia was reading that Japanese book she stole from Advertising Guy's house and how little things like "Let's Roll" keep reoccurring. I liked the Google computron quip and the reference to the Scooby gang without the van and the goats (ghosts) and how Georgia changes her hair after the modeling job, presumably because Fletch will like it more or to just signify her change of profession and the self-confidence that comes with it. Great little touch to signify the shift in her character. The end started to draw everything together and really hit its grove in the last episode.

The highlight of the whole series and what sold it for me was Vanessa Dunn playing Jenna Watson. She was the only character who played as a real person and not a caricature and really tied everything together for me. She was captivating and beautiful and believable and I really wanted her and Georgia to get together. This is the first time that I felt truly invested in the emotions and feelings of the characters. Her part was well written too in that it spoke to Georgia's insecurities without being explicit. Georgia became a real person in this scene and I could see her coming into her own as the brains of the operation. Just as we have hope that Georgia will give up on the clueless Fletch for charming Jenna, the next scene Fletch drops an Macbook on her without batting an eye. This juxtaposition at the end was a brilliant twist and made me feel like this show peaked just in time to be over. I finally cared about the characters and become emotionally invested in their story.

What I'd like to understand is if all the elaborate set-up to this finale really made it better or if the extra time at the beginning was just the clunkiness of a new series finding its legs, that could have been eliminated. Is it possible to start with the good, like start at episode 6 or 7 and have the whole show be quality? Or does every new series need time to work the kinks out? What can I learn from B.J. Fletcher about making my series great from the start (like Girltrash)?