BLOGS

Jane By Design: ABC Family Hearts the '80s

From the fashion to the lingo to the logo (and, let's face it, the title itself), this show is so hilariously stuck in the '80s that I actually had to look it up to make sure that it wasn't meant to be set thirty years prior. I would have still questioned it, had it not been for the use of smartphones -- well played, Jane By Design. I guess this just leaves one question as far as this inevitably short-lived series goes: Do the writers know less about being a high school student or about working in the fashion industry?

In all seriousness, nothing makes the vaguest amount of sense in Jane By Design, which is so painfully a rip-off of The Devil Wears Prada that I really want to call it The Devil Wears a Prada Backpack. Jane (Erica Dasher) is visually a poor teenager's Anne Hathaway who, after a wacky mix-up, assumes the role of the executive assistant of a high-brow fashion hot shot, Gray Chandler Murray (Andie MacDowell -- talk about the '80s, seriously), in order to rake in some much-needed cash. This leads to all kinds of drama and what is essentially the inverse of Drew Barrymore-starring Never Been Kissed, right down to the jobless brother (David Rogers) who was cool in high school and played on the baseball team. Jane gets by with the help of mohawk-donning bestie, Billy (Nick Roux), who is secretly hooking up with the most popular girl in school, Lulu (Meagan Tandy), natch. Jane also has to deal with India Jourdain (India De Beaufort), a sneaky villain who's gunning for Gray's job... but who Gray can't just fire for some unexplained reason. Oh, and yes, Gray does look a whole lot like Jane, who happens to have a long-lost mother. I'm sure that won't come into play by the time the show gets cancelled.

While I kind of loved the Jane By Design pilot in a so-bad-it's-amazing kind of way (let's face it, Hart of Dixie's days are numbered, and I need something ridiculously campy and teenybopper to watch at all times), thanks to actual good teen series like Pretty Little Liars and MTV's Awkward. and all-out batshit insane ones like Secret Life of the American Teenager, the ante has been upped for what young'ins and adults expect to see on ABC Family these days. You've got to go big or go home if you have a series in which the protagonist makes inexplicably horrible decisions like borrowing the boss' car and trying on all of her designer clothes (I mean, you call that a montage?!), so for there to be no consequences whatsoever for Jane's terrible choices may be the show's ultimate flaw (spoiler alert: it only gets worse in the second episode). As it is, viewers have no idea what is a really bad decision that will lead to jail time (like, you know, forging legal documents so that a teen can have a demanding job) and what's just a low-stakes wacky decision. But I'm pretty sure that if Andy was caught wearing Runway editor Miranda Priestly's lipstick and unveiling her hideous bug-brooch fall collection without her permission, she would have gotten her ass handed to her.

Think you're a TV or movie expert? Prove it! Play Trivia Without Pity, our new online trivia game with over 2,000 questions about the shows and films you love -- and love to hate.

What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!

11 Comments

January 4, 2012 8:03 AM
kitty
Reply

WHY exactly would Hart of Dixie's days be numbered??
I very much prefer watching that than any of the ABC Family crap.

January 4, 2012 9:47 AM
Nicole
Reply

The premise of this article is that this show is a knockoff of other movies yet no mention of Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead? Maybe the author is too young to remember it. Seems to happen a lot these days on TWOP.

January 4, 2012 10:04 AM
Mara
Reply

I'm right on top of that, Rose!

January 4, 2012 11:16 AM
Craig
Reply

Is there anyone on the planet who actually "loves" Andie MacDowell? I'm reasonably certain her own family dodges that question.

January 4, 2012 11:56 AM
Tee
Reply

I ended up watching this because I had the tv on for Switched at Birth anyway, even though the promos didn't look too good. But yeah, that was even worse than my not-great expectations.

January 4, 2012 4:06 PM
Stephanie
Reply

This sounds exactly like Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead! Love that movie.

January 4, 2012 5:45 PM
Brittany
Reply

Putting it on the same night as Switched at Birth was a truly bad idea...

January 4, 2012 6:39 PM
jj
Reply
replied to comment from Craig

what do you have against andie mcdowell? did she pee on your sandwich or something?

January 4, 2012 7:26 PM
erika
Reply

There was also a huge does of Pretty in Pink in there too.

January 5, 2012 8:54 AM
allisan
Reply
replied to comment from Nicole

There's another rip-off of Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead on Nickelodeon, too.

January 28, 2012 1:06 PM
bing Suggest Ripper
Reply

hmm what them is that? selfmade?

Loading...

Add a comment

TWoP Toolbar

BLOG ARCHIVES

The Telefile

May 2012

48 Entries

April 2012

71 Entries

March 2012

68 Entries

February 2012

64 Entries

January 2012

78 Entries

December 2011

49 Entries

November 2011

56 Entries

October 2011

74 Entries

September 2011

77 Entries

August 2011

61 Entries

July 2011

56 Entries

June 2011

57 Entries

May 2011

57 Entries

April 2011

78 Entries

March 2011

73 Entries

February 2011

57 Entries

January 2011

65 Entries

December 2010

39 Entries

November 2010

45 Entries

October 2010

46 Entries

September 2010

62 Entries

August 2010

55 Entries

July 2010

53 Entries

June 2010

65 Entries

May 2010

59 Entries

April 2010

57 Entries

March 2010

67 Entries

February 2010

53 Entries

January 2010

59 Entries

December 2009

32 Entries

November 2009

47 Entries

October 2009

65 Entries

September 2009

66 Entries

August 2009

58 Entries

July 2009

72 Entries

June 2009

71 Entries

May 2009

50 Entries

April 2009

57 Entries

March 2009

66 Entries

February 2009

52 Entries

January 2009

56 Entries

December 2008

51 Entries

November 2008

71 Entries

October 2008

88 Entries

September 2008

86 Entries

August 2008

120 Entries

July 2008

115 Entries

June 2008

90 Entries

May 2008

44 Entries

April 2008

30 Entries

March 2008

26 Entries

February 2008

30 Entries

January 2008

44 Entries

December 2007

31 Entries

November 2007

66 Entries