Being Erica
Second season premieres Wednesday, January 20, 2010 @ 10pm ET/PT
Erica Being Erica is a one-hour series that explores the life of Erica Strange, a woman who has been given a wonderful gift. Every episode, Erica goes back to relive a regret from her past, in order to come back and make a positive change in her present. In the pilot episode, we learn that Erica is 32 years old, perpetually single, making barely enough money to get by. Her friends are busy getting married, buying their first homes and climbing the corporate ladder. They're moving up and on in their lives and leaving Erica in the dust. Over the course of the first episode, Erica suffers a series of mishaps that ultimately land her in the hospital, where she meets the mysterious Dr. Tom - a therapist who seems to know a lot about her. He issues a bizarre challenge –if she wants to fix her life, he can help her. Desperate, Erica accepts his terms and after a brief and bizarre therapy session, during which she provides him with a list of her life's greatest regrets, she finds herself launched back into her own past to make different choices this time around.
Erica's issues are universal – the trials and tribulations of life that everyone faces. The stories of Erica's life fall into four major streams: family, friends, work, and love. Each episode, Erica faces a crisis in one of these areas of her life. She then returns to a specific moment from her past and, by reliving that event, she is able to resume life in the present with a new perspective.
Time travel is at the core of Erica's therapy – but Being Erica applies a 'low concept' take on it. Erica is not returning to the past to 'fix' it. There is no butterfly effect. Rather, all of the stakes lie in Erica's present life. It's in her present where Erica must apply her new perspective in order to make changes, and ensure a brighter, more fulfilling future. Nearly a year since her therapy began, Erica is enjoying the outcome. Indeed, her life does seem significantly "fixed", having landed a hot new job at River Rock Publishing and the man she calls Mr. Right, her best-friend Ethan. But the boat is about to be rocked. Sent back to her greatest regret - the death of her brother Leo, Dr. Tom warns Erica that she is only to say goodbye, and not to meddle with the course of fate. But the temptation is too great and Erica defies Dr. Tom's trust, leaving her at a crossroads, unknowing if she will ever see her therapist again.
Season two Erica is worldlier, more accountable, and more experienced in the ways of time travel. If season one introduced her to time travel, season two has her questioning and exploring its dynamics. She's no longer the inexperienced patient traveling wide-eyed through time. This Erica is more skilled in the Dr. Tom school of therapy and will seek out answers to the more complex questions surrounding time travel, Dr. Tom, his brand of therapy, and her place within it.
The critically acclaimed series brought over half-a-million new viewers to SOAPnet its first season. The series stars Erin Karpluk (Erica), Dr. Tom (Michael Riley) and Tyron Leitso (Ethan). The one-hour series, created by Emmy-Award winning writer Jana Sinyor, is executive-produced by Sinyor, Aaron Martin, Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier, and is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and BBC Worldwide. Temple Street Productions is a leading independent production company based in Toronto, Canada. A selection of Temple Street's past and present productions include: "Being Erica" (CBC, BBC Worldwide, SOAPnet, E4), "Angel on Campus" (Family Channel, BBC Worldwide), "Canada's Next Top Model" (CTV), "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" (CBC), "Billable Hours" (Global, Showcase), "Queer As Folk" (Showtime, Showcase) and "Darcy's Wild Life" (NBC, Discovery Kids, Family Channel). The series is distributed by BBC Worldwide.