Comedy – Situational
Created by: Steven Tsapelas
Starring
Synopsis: Three 20-something college graduates struggle to understand the New York dating scene after each is dumped by their long-term girlfriend.
Review:
We Need Girlfriends (WNG) does everything right for a web series. Bold humour, quality production and relatable themes make for a fun and entertaining watch in this 11-episode series that hits the heart as much as the funny bone.
The series was created and written by Steven Tsapelas, who attended Hofstra University as a Film Studies & Production major where he met the rest of WNG’s creative team: Angel Acevedo (cinematography) and Brian Amyot (director.) The trio formed Ragtag Productions together in 2004 after they graduated.
WNG follows the lives of Tom, Rod and Henry, played by Patrick Cohen, Evan Bass and Seth Kirschner respectively. The three of them have an undeniable chemistry that brings Tsapelas’ words to laugh-out-loud life. They bumble about their shared apartment, ragging on each other and dropping movie references as they each try to find a new girlfriend only to discover the New York dating scene to be full of surprises – some terrible, some wonderful.
The series is funny because life is funny. The humour flows as they pick their way through theme parties, board game nights and awkward living situations. It’s funny because sometimes even the best of friends can’t translate each other. It’s funny because people are awkward and don’t always say the right thing. It’s funny because Tsapelas has a gift for quick wit and the actors have a gift for delivering it.
One of the most impressive aspects of WNG is the structure of the series. Each episode has its own arc, but they all lend to the greater drive of the series itself. Episodes range from 5-10 minutes long, basing their length on content rather than trying to make each episode the same span (I mean, there aren’t any time limits when it comes to the internet, why play like there are?)
As an added bonus, the series resonates quite clearly with audiences today, even though it was released in 2006. At least I, as a 20-something nearing graduation, found it did so.
The team at Ragtag Productions is gearing up to launch a new series on April 1st. My Future Girlfriend promises to be a sci-fi-rom-com blend and describes itself as being equal parts The Terminator and When Harry Met Sally. With Tsapelas at the writing helm, Amyot directing and returning cast members Cohen and Brigitte Hagerman (who played Tom’s love interest, “Lucy”) it’s exciting to see some of the WNG group come together again, but the Ragtag blog has made sure to clarify that this series is entirely unattached to WNG. If I had one wish for WNG it would be that the production value matched the quality of writing and performance. Given that the series was filmed five years ago though, and the developments in not only filming equipment available but in editing tools, I think My Future Girlfriend will be better off in that aspect. I personally can’t wait to check it out.
