and at Classic-Alice.com, is a dramedy web series created by Kate Hackett.After Alice Rackham (played by Hackett), a college student with a huge drive to succeed, gets a bad grade on an essay because she isn’t emotionally connecting to material, she decides to show up her professor and live her life according to classic novels. Her friend, Andrew Prichard, uses the opportunity to make a vlog-style documentary about the process, and together they create ''Classic Alice’'. The show is also told "transmedia style", all of which can be found here.
Classic Alice takes on tons of books - they start with Crime & Punishment, which seems like a perfectly reasonable book to start on, then venture through Pygmalion, The Butterfly (by Hans Christian Andersen), Macbeth, Rip van Winkle, The Wind in the Willows, A Christmas Carol, Walden, North and South, The Odyssey, Dracula, Silas Marner, and finally Austen's Persuasion. Books 2-7 also have an overarching plot that mirrors themes in Bronte's Villette.
The show began with weekly vlog-style episodes shot in Alice's bedroom; the first six episodes acted as a pilot to gauge fan interest. Beginning with the second book arc, Pygmalion, vlog-style episodes on Tuesdays were followed by short reality TV-style confessional videos that took us beyond "just" Alice. With Walden (and a second crowdfunder), the CA team expanded beyond the traditional "vlog style" camera and played around with a more documentary feel - the characters don't always necessarily know that they are being filmed, which marries the feel of the vlog to a "real" TV show or film.
Because the series follows a ton of stories, it pulls in a ton of different little arcs while playing with its major storyline - that of Alice, her writing, and where Andrew may or may not fit into that picture.
Classic Alice provides examples of:
- Aborted Declaration of Love: Alice and Andrew both struggle throughout the entire series to confess that they like each other romantically. From episode 6's angry fight to episode 17's reassurance that Alice is worth dating. Episodes 31, 33 (Rippy V!), 39-40, and the entire arc of A Christmas Carol revolve around these two idiots struggling.
- Adaptation Name Change: Alice, Andrew, and Cara often take on key roles in storylines - but so do other characters and, often, their names are homages to (or foreshadowing) the novel. For example:
- Alice Lucy Rackham - Lucy for Bronte's Villette character + Rackham, the illustrator of Alice in Wonderland.
- Ewan McBay - Eliza Doolittle + Macbeth.
- John Brodribb - (real name of Henry Irving), character in the Dracula arc.
- Lindsay - Off-camera character throughout The Odyssey, Dracula, Silas, and Persuasion.
- Almost Kiss: Too many to count. From episode 6 onward it was one big tease.
- Anguished Declaration of Love: In the last two episodes of A Christmas Carol, Alice struggles to admit her feelings for Andrew. She finally kisses him, but he does not return it until the final episode.
- Audience Participation: The audience interacts with the characters on Twitter and Tumblr, in YouTube comments, and more.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Alice and Andrew spend pretty much the entire first half of the show denying every feeling they've ever felt.Cara: Just make out with each other's faces!
- The Big Damn Kiss: Between Alice and Ewan in episode 13, the kiss between Cara & Lily in Musica Mundana, and finally the very slow burn kiss between Alice and Andrew in episodes 51 & 53.
- Bookworm: Alice.
- The entire show revolves around Alice wanting to read and identify with books.
- Alice frequently mentions reading "the greats" in order to be a better writer.
- Although Andrew would be remiss to admit it, it seems he's read quite a few of the books on Alice's list.
- Catchphrase:
- Andrew's "Lock your doors!", a common refrain for chastising Alice and Cara's (oddly convenient) lack of security. The other characters repeat it and it becomes a running gag.
- "Top Aces!", a line flub of Kate's that made it into the show. It's a "Valetonian" saying that means "great!"
- "Hodgepodge hodgepodge" and "sneakpodge" was actually a blooper that became a reality in books 8+ of the show. It means "to move" and sneakpodge means "to move sneakily".
- "Uninvolved Participant" is Nathan's (cameraman/Andrew's intern) mantra and reason we never see him on camera.
- Cliffhanger: The production team seems to be fond of this...
- Drama Bomb:
- During Crime & Punishment, Alice and Andrew have a fight about him "white knighting" her that drives a rift between them so large it is unsure if they will continue the show.
- During Pygmalion, Alice starts dating Ewan Mc Bay, her "subject".
- During The Butterfly, Andrew starts seeing a girl named Heather.
- During Macbeth, Ewan dramatically outs Cara and her girlfriend Lily as gay and announces Andrew as the test-thief from book 1.
- During Wind in the Willows, Alice and Reagan are in a terrible car accident that leads to Alice becoming so shaken that she nearly kisses Andrew.
- During The Odyssey, Alice and Andrew ambiguously seem to break up. They have a conversation we cannot hear, then a 4-minute episode with no dialogue.
- Drop-In Character: James Brent Isaacs from Emma Approved appears as Marcus, a stoner friend of Cara's who pops in from time to time.
- Eating the Eye Candy: Alice insists that she does not like Andrew romantically through books 1-6. In book 7, Alice realizes she does, in fact, love her friend and "goes for it".
- Evil Hero: Who saw Ewan being the major villain through books 2-7? And who thought he'd come back in 10 and 11?
- Foreshadowing: Sprinkled throughout the show and on the transmedia elements.
- McBay = Macbeth
- The major fight at the end of book 1 foreshadows a serious fight in North & South, then later Dracula.
- Geek Reference Pool:
- "Get it, got it, good."
- Alice references Harry Potter frequently, and Andrew (and Ewan) call her Hermoine ...and Draco.
- Alice compares the stolen test in book 1 to the "hideous beating heart" in Poe's The Tell Tale Heart.
- Growing Up Sucks: Much of the story revolves around what happens after college; all the characters seem acutely aware of how difficult life is beyond hallowed halls and both fight against and struggle to be accepted by adulthood.
- Mythology Gag:
- The characters' names are often nods to other books, or even the novel Alice is currently living. John Brodribb is the real name of Henry Irving, the supposed inspiration for the character Dracula.
- Northfield Estate is the "north" in North & South.
- Relationship Upgrade: Alice and Andrew go from friendship to coupledom.
- Shipper on Deck: Cara for Alice and Andrew. Also Nathan. So much for "uninvolved participants."
- Significant Wardrobe Shift Alice's and Andrew's clothes change in important ways to reflect what's going on and how they feel about it.
- Silent Credits: When the credits go quiet, bad things are happening.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Alice dresses Ewan just like Andrew when she makes him over.
- Unresolved Sexual Tension: So much, especially throughout books 1-7 - the long looks, the accidental touching, the shoe episode. So much almost kissing.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: "Somewhere in New England" is all we know of Valeton's location. Because of the leak of Alice and Andrew's phone numbers, we do know that he is from somewhere around Long Island and she is from somewhere with a Connecticut area code. We actually know less of Alice's background and family than Andrew or Cara's because (as we learn in Walden) her family is very private and was not open to being included in the videos.
