Being Erica is a Canadian comedy-drama television series created by Jana Sinyor and starring Erin Karpluk as Erica Strange, a woman who begins seeing a counsellor to deal with regrets in her life, only to discover the counsellor has the ability to send her back in time to actually change these events.
The series aired in Canada on CBC from 5 January, 2009 to 12 December, 2011. There are 49 hour-long episodes in four seasons.
Being Erica premiered in South Africa on DStv's Hallmark channel (which became Universal Channel in 2010) on Thursday 12 November 2009, at 21h00. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 4 premiered on Universal Channel on Tuesday 31 January 2012, at 16h15. New episodes broadcast in a double bill weekly. There are 11 episodes in the fourth and final season.
Season 1
Being Erica is a one-hour dramedy 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.
Season 2
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 warned Erica that she was only to say goodbye, and not to meddle with the course of fate.
But the temptation was too great and Erica defied Dr. Tom's trust, leaving her at a crossroads, unknowing if she will ever see her therapist again.
Season 2 Erica is worldlier, more accountable, and more experienced in the ways of time travel. If Season 1 introduced her to time travel, Season 2 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, while continuing to undergo it to learn more about herself through her life's regrets, will seek out answers to the more complex questions surrounding time travel, Dr. Tom, his brand of therapy, and her place within it.
Season 3
Season three is about transformation.
This year, everything in Erica's life - her job, her love life, even her therapy with Dr. Tom – is starting anew, and getting turned upside down in the process.
Erica is once again thrown back in time by the enigmatic Dr. Tom in an effort to help her deal with her personal and relationship woes.
Now Erica is learning from other people's journeys, and finding that by helping others, she is in fact helping herself.
Erica finds herself having to escape her own personal "Groundhog Day" and familiar faces return to both Erica's and Dr. Tom's lives, causing complications aplenty.
Season 4
In Season 4, Erica has come full circle as she begins the final stage of her therapy as a doctor in training.
Thanks to the guidance of Dr. Tom, Erica has gone through some major life changes, and Season 4 finds her happily in a new relationship, and at the helm of 50/50 Press, the publishing company she started with Julianne.
But this doesn't mean Erica has finished her own journey. Now Erica is learning about herself through how she is helping as a doctor in training.
Universally, there will always be new bumps in the road, new mistakes made, and while paving the way to balance and happiness, the resilient Erica will continue to face obstacles that she must overcome to help both patient and doctor alike.
Crew
Writers
Aaron Martin, James Hurst, Daegan Fryklind, Michael MacLennan
Directors
Holly Dale, Chris Grismer, Jeff Woolnough, Peter Wellington, Kelly Makin
Executive Producers
David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg, Jana Sinyor, Aaron Martin
Seasons
Note: Hallmark became Universal Channel on Wednesday 24 March, 2010
Season 1 (13 episodes)
Channel: Hallmark | Premiere: 12 Nov 2009 | Finale: 24 Dec 2009 | Thursdays, 21h00
Season 2 (12 episodes)
Channel: Universal | Premiere: 22 Apr 2010 | Finale: 27 May 2010 | Thursdays, 21h00
Season 3 (13 episodes)
Channel: Universal | Premiere: 25 Jan 2011 | Finale: 19 Apr 2011 | Tuesdays, 20h00
Season 4 (11 episodes)
Channel: Universal | Premiere: 31 Jan 2012 | Finale: 6 Mar 2012 | Tuesdays, 16h15
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