Lowest Rated TV Show Brings Highest Rated Friends

I met my two best friends online. Not so uncommon, right? What if I said we all met because we joined an online fan community about the lowest-rated show on network television? Well, that deserves a bit of story time.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, the CW's beloved musical dramedy, breaks down the trope of the "crazy ex-girlfriend." Antics ensue. Lots of them. To quote the show, "the situation's a lot more nuanced than that," but there's the general premise. At first glance, it's hard not to wonder why anyone would watch a show like this. Musical numbers in a TV show feels unorthodox, but that's the beauty of this show. There are over 100 original songs (and counting) that Golden Globe winner Rachel Bloom and her amazing songwriting team, Jack Dolgen and Adam Schlesinger, have produced for this show. Of course, these musical numbers would be unnecessary without a meaningful plot to inspire them.

The show deconstructs the romantic comedy character that everyone loves to hate: the crazy ex-girlfriend. We meet Rebecca Bunch, a smart, successful lawyer in New York who runs into her ex-boyfriend from high school summer camp, Josh Chan. Josh is moving back home to his hometown of West Covina, California. Rebecca's journey to the town of West Covina begins as a chase for Josh Chan's love, but what she comes to find while she's there is that her journey is more about finding the love of life itself that she's lost. Not only do we see commentary on the stereotypical crazy ex of rom-coms, we also explore themes of mental illness, toxic masculinity, feminism, sexuality, body positivity, and so much more. I don't want to give too much away, but I enjoy talking about this show, so you'll hear more about it in future blog posts!

Simply looking at the viewership numbers according to Nielsen, last fall's third season ranked last in the lineup of network TV shows, clocking in an average of less than 1 million viewers per episode. If you look at those numbers alone, why wouldn't someone pull the plug on a show that isn't bringing in ratings among 18-49 year olds, nor the total viewer numbers compared to other CW shows. The show, even in its conception, was only planned for four seasons, a reasonable investment for the network even if it didn't sell well. In addition, Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB both have critically acclaimed the show, Rotten Tomatoes even giving the show an average 98% rating and certified the first and third seasons as "Fresh." This show doesn't disappoint in terms of critic praise, but to those who know and love it, this show is our hidden gem.

Here comes the fun part. At the end of the third season, one of the major players in the Crazy Ex fan community sent out a Tweet inviting anyone who liked her Tweet to be part of a group chat to talk about the season finale and about the show in general. Of course, I liked it immediately. I was still adjusting to transferring to LSU and needed to make some friends. Little did I know the wonderful people I would find in this thirty person group chat.

Our individual group chat may have started as a way to fangirl incessantly over the chemistry between two of the show's leads, but it's turned into the most beautiful and irreplaceable friendship.

From left to right: Sarah, Ashley, Kayleigh

Meet Sarah and Kayleigh, probably two of the most wonderful women I have ever met. We took this picture when I flew from Louisiana and Kayleigh from Pennsylvania all the way to California to see Sarah last summer. This also marked my first time taking a trip by myself, which was a huge step of growth for me. It might seem strange meeting people online, and my parents obviously had their reservations about it, but I came back after spending five days up there raving about the trip for weeks. I saw San Francisco, I enjoyed being outdoors for once, I tried In 'n Out for the first time, we re-watched A LOT of Crazy Ex, and most importantly, I discovered what true friendship felt like.

True friendship isn't about how long your Snapchat streak is or how many gifts you send to each other. It's about being comfortable in the quiet moments. It's about having deep conversations filled with empathy and care. It's about laughing so hard that your stomach hurts. It's about feeling like your most confident self and never having to hide who you are to stay friends. It's about sharing each other's burdens and being there when things aren't always sunshine and roses. It's about trusting that no matter where in the world we are, we always have each other.

I am grateful every day for these two beautiful girls and their presence in my life. Every day, I'm looking at cheap flights to plan my next trip to see them, and until then, we make the most of the distance, never failing to send each other a "good morning" text or Snapchat or GIF and celebrate Starbucks/Crazy Ex Fridays in our three respective time zones.

Art is a truly wonderful thing. It brings people together in the most unlikely of ways. To my Friendtopia, my #gurlgroup4evah: I am forever indebted to you both. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, you critical darling, brilliantly crafted dark musical comedy, you: you have given me characters to love, songs to belt in my car, and a community I could never trade for anything.