"The Ugliest Girl in Town" as a sitcom would hold its own against any ABC sitcom from the 70s and 80s (well that is a low bar). The premise for each episode is set up in the first few minutes by one of the main characters who speaks to the audience, a la "Call me Kat". Tim and Julie fall in love in the USA, but Julie must return to UK. Through the accidental help of Tim's photographer brother Gene, Tim is offered a modeling job in London (as a girl!) and he takes it to be close to Julie. The three main characters spend most of the episodes in England doing photo shoots and working odd jobs. Tim works as "Timmie" and must hide his true identity. He also has to make money to pay off debts before signing off as the girl model so he and Julie can continue their relationship in public.
The theme song sounds like a mashup of Spanky and Our Gang's "Lazy Days" and "Georgie Girl".
The highpoints of the show are the settings and styles of 1968 which are shown like paging through a style magazine of the era. It's a very nostalgic view of young love in discotheques and on the streets of London and Paris. The camerawork is used to great advantage in these scenes. The other positive aspect is the character development of Tim/Timmie and Peter Kastner's ability to seamlessly exchange character identities when needed. The low points are the silly plots (what would our trans character do in this situation?), and the lack of any of the other characters development, except for the antagonist David Courtney. It might be considered that a show like this would work well with our 2020's focus on LGTBQ and DEI, but Tim makes it clear he is just playing a role to stay with his girl.
All in all, an average sitcom with some positive unique nostalgic aspects of 1968. At least, the pilot and some of the available episodes online are worth viewing if only for the nostalgic potential.
The theme song sounds like a mashup of Spanky and Our Gang's "Lazy Days" and "Georgie Girl".
The highpoints of the show are the settings and styles of 1968 which are shown like paging through a style magazine of the era. It's a very nostalgic view of young love in discotheques and on the streets of London and Paris. The camerawork is used to great advantage in these scenes. The other positive aspect is the character development of Tim/Timmie and Peter Kastner's ability to seamlessly exchange character identities when needed. The low points are the silly plots (what would our trans character do in this situation?), and the lack of any of the other characters development, except for the antagonist David Courtney. It might be considered that a show like this would work well with our 2020's focus on LGTBQ and DEI, but Tim makes it clear he is just playing a role to stay with his girl.
All in all, an average sitcom with some positive unique nostalgic aspects of 1968. At least, the pilot and some of the available episodes online are worth viewing if only for the nostalgic potential.