Privileged

At first glance, I assumed many people, including myself, thought this series was just one of "super rich girls do anything they want" stories. Fortunately, after watching 5 episodes now, this is certainly not the case. There were actually motives and backgrounds to the characters which I thought was one of the most forgotten aspects on creating this type of series.

It is true that this series is more close to Gilmore Girls than 90210 or Gossip Girl. I thought the dialog are witty and the characters are interesting, especially our main girl, Megan (played effortlessly by JoAnna Garcia). She is quite wise for her age, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have any flaws, in particular regarding her relationship with her sister.

Overall, I hope CW will pick up this series for a whole season, just because the story potential are endless and the characters are interesting. And for those reasons, I think Privileged is one of the best new series this fall.

I see a pattern with those short lived CW series. They start out great, with an interesting premise, and a light tone. Then it becomes overly dramatic, with plots straight out of a telenovela. Hellcats had the same issue. As for Privileged, it was a nice girly show you could watch between episodes of Gossip Girl and 90210. With characters that aren't too annoying at first, and the infamous hip music selection to broadcast new hot artists/CDs. It was made out to be a win for the network. Only, like I said, the story strayed too much from the light tone of the first episodes, and became a glorified soap opera, by the end of its only season. It's a shame it never got a second one, though...

But without any likable characters, quality writing, or anything remotely resembling wit, meaning this is not like Gilmore Girls at all.

I'm three shows in so far and the only thing I can say about the main character is she reminds me of every blonde joke I've ever heard. Yale graduate, huh? Right.

And the two rich, spoiled, and bitchy teenage girls? I'm sorry, but we did rich, spoiled, and bitchy teenage girls the right way on Gilmore Girls and these two girls just come off as lame.

If I appear to be using Gilmore Girls as a standard by which I measure the quality of a show like this, it's because I am. Gilmore Girls had just the right blend of wit, humor, quality storytelling, and an entire cast of likable characters. This show doesn't.

I'm not saying this show is bad. I'm saying it's barely average, mildly entertaining, and you'd probably be better off spending your television time on something else.

The best part about this show are the delicious men.

Sure, the Baker sisters are fairly entertaining albeit inconsistently so, as is Anne Archer in her posh, business Grandma role (she's the senior poster girl for lip gloss). We like Marco (Allan Louis) the in-house gourmet chef for his wit and irony, but Joanna Garcia (Megan) in the lead is just hands down - annoying.

Can she please stop twitching her head every time she says something (which is literally all the time)? Someone else commented on "Privileged" comparing it to "Gilmore Girls". Perhaps I should have read that before I started watching this show. There is no show on this planet more annoying than "Gilmore Girls". Joanna Garcia is not quite as annoying as those Gilmore girls, but she's quickly becoming my pet peeve of this show. Who knows, a few more episodes and she might be running for the gold medal of Most Annoying Protagonist.

So why watch it? Really. Three reasons, plain and simple.

*Charlie (Michael Cassidy) *Jacob (David Giuntoli) *Will (Brian Hallisay)

Yum, yum and yum. I want to marry Charlie.

"Privileged" is based on the book by Zoey Dean by the name "How to teach filthy rich girls" and though the premise is the same, the characters don't have the same depth. What's alluring about the book is not just Megan's struggles to teach the girls but bond with them. After watching the pilot just days after finishing the book I was let down. I won't spoil the book for those who are thinking of reading it, but the back stories it provides are far more interesting then what the pilot provided us with. Yes, its ultimately a story of the wealthy and their drama... but the book is something more... If you were less then impressed with the series I still recommend the book. Seeing the promos prompted me to read it, and it was one of my favorite reads of the year.