Jane by Design, an ABC Family original television show, caught my attention back in November. I was excited to see a debut date, Tuesday, January 3rd, over the break and I made sure to record it. In a nutshell, the story had depth and yet the characters were shallow, the plot was predictable and yet the actors were not. Over all, though, Jane and her friends did not impress me with anything out of the ordinary.
Jane, a relatively shy and unpopular high school girl, finds herself in a fashion company’s lobby applying for an internship after she finds her family experiencing financial problems. In an obvious twist, her application is mistaken for that of another Jane applying for a job as an executive assistant. And thus begins the antics of mixing high school and high fashion.
Her best friend, Billy, helps her coordinate between her two very different lives, while he has his own storyline going on. He is secretly involved with the most popular girl in school, Lulu. Jane’s brother Ben is looking for work, and also has his own completely different story. While I appreciate various parts of the show, too many ideas can be distracting.
While ABC Family has a pretty good record with their original TV shows, Jane by Design may have disappointed me a bit. I’ve already made room for other ABC Family series like Switched at Birth and Make it or Break it, in addition to a myriad of other programs I try to keep track of over the week, so I am very pressed for time as far as TV is concerned. And, in reality, that is what it comes down to. Is this new show good enough that I would choose it over a show to which I am already dedicated? While the concept is imaginative, the execution of said concept is not. Competing with several other shows for my limited attention, Jane by Design is not a show that would beat those other ones out of my mind, and so, with a heavy heart, I denounce Jane and her shenanigans as something I simply cannot fit into my schedule. A mediocre cast in a mediocre show with a mediocre plot is not something I would recommend, even though it managed to impress my twelve-year-old sister.
