Life can be stressful when you’re a city girl running your own business, dealing with crippling migraines, and taking your new cute doctor out on non-date dates at the local McDonalds. At least that’s the premise of City Girl, a rom-com written by Parenthood’s Sarah Ramos in 2003 when she was 12 years old. Rather than look back in embarrassment on her former youthful perspective of adult romance, Ramos actually decided to produce the script. And the results are pretty amazing.
Even as a middle schooler, Ramos had a strong understanding of rom-com tropes. Her heroine Casey Jones has the classic rom-com job of owning her own boutique, there’s a sassy but supportive friend on hand whenever Casey needs someone to talk to (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Dylan Gelula, perpetually in a bathtub), and there’s clear tension keeping her romantic leads apart given that Casey’s love interest is also her new doctor (musician Nick Thorburn). But it’s all beautifully filtered through the worldview of a 12-year-old. For instance, characters are constantly discussing their ages, as in the thought-provoking line, “Trish, I thought you stopped saying ‘yummy’ when you were 24.” And when Ramos wants her romantic leads to banter, they do so in a debate over getting lunch at McDonalds (the kooky, fun option) or Subway (the boring, healthy option).
The production wisely keeps the aesthetic grounded in the early 2000s for maximum authenticity. So far, there have been three episodes released on the Super Deluxe Twitter account, with a new episode dropping every hour. Other guest stars include Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat as the stressed doctor’s assistant, Cougar Town’s Dan Byrd as Casey’s douchey ex-boyfriend, Heathers’ Brendan Scannell as the over-the-top gay nurse, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’s Esther Povitsky as Casey’s emo co-worker. Come for the complicated medical ethics, stay for Casey’s impassioned defense of rap music.