Line #30 WebVideo/EmmaApproved


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/emmaapproved-logo_8527.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Making other people's lives better, one client at a time! [[WinkDing wink]]]]
3
4	->'''Alex''': So, Emma Woodhouse, what's more important to you? Being a great friend, or being a great matchmaker?
5	->'''Emma''': Both.
6
7	''Emma Approved'' is a VlogSeries by the creator and writers behind the incredibly popular [[{{Pun}} Emmy-approved]] webseries ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries''. It follows the same vlog style as its [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual forerunner]], detailing the story of Creator/JaneAusten's ''Literature/{{Emma}}'' in [=YouTube=] videos posted twice a week. The premise? Professional matchmaker and lifestyle coach Emma Woodhouse documenting her rise to Oprah-level fame and success.
8
9	The series opens on Emma tying up loose ends on her twentieth successful match -- her friend Annie Taylor and cupcake company CEO Ryan Weston. When her business partner [[AdaptationNameChange Alex]] Knightley puts his foot down and insists that she gets herself an assistant, Emma hires sweet, gullible Harriet Smith and decides to better Harriet's life by finding her a husband worthy of her -- and who could be worthier than the handsome, recently-single, youngest Californian state senator ever, James Elton? As in the original, HilarityEnsues.
10
11	The first episode premiered on October 7th, 2013, on [[https://www.youtube.com/user/PemberleyDigital Pemberley Digital]].
12
13	In September 2018 the show joined the ranks of [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_ePOdU-b3xeohDlPLbdCy1FZYr1IdeKl shows getting revivals]], as Emma Approved, Inc. prepares to go public and seeks shareholders, who can contribute via [[https://www.patreon.com/EmmaApproved a Patreon page]]. The show also transitioned into a new FramingDevice: a Mockumentary, filmed in a cinema-verité-with-asides style similar to ''Series/TheOfficeUS''. However, the Patreon failed to gain enough supporters, resulting in the revival being CutShort after eight episodes which primarily focus on Emma's attempts to break out of a depression, after a failed attempt at matchmaking between [[Literature/{{Persuasion}} Anne Elliott and Freddie Wentworth]], by taking on a client who recently left the company he founded and is in need of a complete life makeover: Richard "Ricky" Collins of Collins & Collins.
14
15	!!Emma Approved provides examples of:
16	* AdaptedOut: Augusta Hawkins, Mr. Elton's rebound, is completely replaced in favor of CanonWelding.
17	* AdaptationalVillainy: In the book, John Knightley is a good husband who occasionally sneers at his wife who is less intelligent than him, while here he's borderline emotionally abusive to his wife.
18	* AdaptationNameChange:
19	** George Knightley is now named Alex, in order to enforce the OneSteveLimit within TheVerse - ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'' already had "George" and "Georgiana."
20	** Philip Elton is renamed James Elton.
21	** Miss Bates' first name in the novel is Hetty, but is renamed Maddy here.
22	* AgeLift
23	** Alex, who was introduced as a 37-year-old in the book, has been de-aged to around the same age as Emma (mid-twenties).
24	** Emma was almost 21 at the start of the book. Here, she is in her mid-twenties [[http://berniesu.tumblr.com/post/58440939672/answers-to-some-questions-about-emma-approved according to Bernie Su.]]
25	** Harriet was 17-18 in the book, but is 23 here.
26	** Anne Taylor, who was Emma's governess and ParentalSubstitute in the book, is presumably much younger here, as is her husband Ryan Weston (who is now Frank's stepbrother, not father).
27	* AudienceParticipation: After Harriet takes up music, fans are encouraged to make their own versions of her songs, with the sheet music provided.
28	* TheBet: Emma and Alex have a wager early on: If she can get Elton as a client within the day, she has permission to set Alex up on a date. If not, Emma has to lunch with Ms. Bates.
29	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Alex knows Emma's BerserkButton. Better, he is willing to tease her with it. Worse, he actually presses it hard when trying to convince her that she's wrong, and the result isn't exactly funny.
30	** The following sentence comes out of Emma's mouth in Episode 1 of the revival and shows that she has, well and truly, fallen off the deep end on a toboggan that is picking up speed: "Dear Anne Elliot, I, Emma Woodhouse, vow to dedicate my life to see to it that you and Mr Wentworth are happily married - ha ha - You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you do not go through with this. I will stop at ''nothing'' to see you walk down the aisle, '''''even if I have to tie you up and drag you down the alter myself''''' - hmm. I am Emma Woodhouse and I will not fail you. ''Ever''. Do you hear me? Please call me to discuss."
31	* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Episode 70.]]
32	* BigBrotherInstinct: Big Sibling Instinct: Emma and Alex towards Harriet. Since they are foils, they go radically differently about it. Emma is very condescending and manipulative towards her, and starts a PygmalionPlot (where she helps Harriet become more sophisticated) because she's certain that this is the best for her. She doesn't respect Harriet's choices. Alex thinks Harriet is fine this way. He never tries to change her and seems to just have trouble dealing with her Moe-ness tendencies.
33	* BeneathTheMask: Emma's lack of durable and deep-seated self-confidence (and not the superficial, unstable vanity she shows constantly) is foreshadowed since episode 3 at least.
34	* BothSidesHaveAPoint: In Episode 30, after Emma's plan to reroute her sister's family vacation begins to go awry, they get into a pretty intense debate.
35	-->'''IZZY:''' I did exactly what he does to me. That's called being a hypocrite.\
36	'''EMMA:''' No, that's called fighting fire with fire, and sometimes that's the only way to win![[note]]She's speaking of combating the character listed in the entry for AdaptationalVillainy here, so her motive has the audience's sympathy, even if her method doesn't.[[/note]]\
37	'''IZZY:''' No. I don't want to win. I don't want to ''fight'', at all. Emma, if there is a winner, then there is a loser. And when you have winners and losers in a marriage, ''everyone loses.''
38	* CanonWelding: The fact that ''Emma Approved'' takes place in the same universe as ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'' is made explicit by the identity of Elton's new fiancée: [[spoiler: Caroline Lee]].
39	** TheCameo: [[spoiler:And Bing pops up during his sister's engagement party.]]
40	* CharacterBlog
41	* ChronicHeroSyndrome:
42	** Emma has this, on a very shallow but very genuine level.
43	** On contrast, Alex seems to be more TheFettered or a SmallStepsHero. He doesn't hurt people and has clear ethics but is never shown to get out of his way to meddle and improve their life either.
44	* ClingyJealousGirl: Emma is jealous ''about the camera''. She doesn't like seeing Alex smoulder at her viewers, because the WinkDing is ''her'' privilege!
45	* TheCutie: It's not hard to feel this way about adorable, wide-eyed, pushed-around Harriet.
46	* DeadpanSnarker: Alex.
47	* DieForOurShip: Emma displays this in-universe towards Martin, trying to make Harriet think the worst of him.
48	* ExtremeDoormat:
49	** Harriet begins her assistant work for Emma this way. Although she questions Emma's decisions more than most examples, she's still completely willing to do them with gusto nevertheless.
50	** Izzy can't say no to John, which, given the setting update, is a much bigger deal than in the book.
51	* TheFashionista: Emma wears a new outfit every episode.
52	** [[spoiler: Caroline]] is as well. She even tries to get Emma to go shopping with her
53	* FistPump: Emma does this at the end of Ep. 7, after Annie comes to her and tells her she doesn't actually want to cancel the wedding.
54	* FreudianSlip: Alex refers to Emma's potential next client as her next "victim" in episode 9.
55	* GranolaGirl: Harriet. As she says, "doing good for other people is my life philosophy!"
56	* GratuitousFrench: Episode 24 is titled "Vignt-et-un," French for "twenty-and-one," referring to how [[spoiler: Harriet and Elton would have been Emma's 21st successful match, and Emma's had twenty successful matches and one failed one.]]
57	* HandshakeSubstitute: In episode 23, Emma and Ryan exchange a fist bump at the photo booth. They both finish it off by making sizzling sounds.
58	* HeelRealization: After the (long time in coming) ReasonYouSuckSpeech from Alex [[spoiler: it's made very clear to Emma just how her pretentious and meddling actions make everyone's lives worse not better.]]
59	* HeroicBSOD: Upon finally having it shoved in her face that Elton was always interested in her rather than Harriet, Emma sort of...shuts down for a while. Her first attempt at matchmaking afterward results in an hour of her spilling her guts about the mistake to the quite confused client.
60	** She has an even worse one after [[spoiler: Jane and Alex both chew her out about her actions at the Boxx party and quit. She might have been able to handle either one on its own, but both in quick succession reduce her to InelegantBlubbering as she begs Harriet not to leave her too.]]
61	%% * HiddenDepths: Emma is initially an EntitledBastard [[spoiler: WellIntentionedExtremist StoicWoobie IceQueen StepfordSmiler ManipulativeBastard]] and this is all conveyed by the actress. That makes a lot of layers.
62	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Each episode from 49 onwards (as of the time of this writing, at least) is named after a TV show.
63	* InelegantBlubbering: In Episode 64 [[spoiler:Emma is reduced to it by both Jane and Alex quitting over her behavior at the Boxx party. It's a nasty sight.]]
64	* IWarnedYou: Defied in Episode 23 about the failure of Match #21.
65	-->'''Emma''': ...Don't say it.\
66	'''Alex''': I didn't say ''anything''.
67	* InferioritySuperiorityComplex:
68	-->'''Harriet''': [I don't have self-confidence]. \
69	'''Emma''': Fake it.\
70	'''Harriet''': How do you fake it?\
71	'''Emma''': [[BeneathTheMask It starts with shoes]].
72	* JerkassHasAPoint: James Elton [[spoiler: when he rejects Harriet because they run in different circles and have clashing lifestyles]]. He's unnecessarily harsh about it, but he's not ''wrong''.
73	* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Emma sails through life on dreams and blithe confidence. Elton calls her on it when asking if he and his proposed match, [[spoiler:Harriet]], ''actually'' have any real chemistry.
74	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Emma leaves all the boring important stuff to Alex. She's fully devoted into making other people's lives better.
75	* TheMatchmaker: At the start of the series, Emma is working on match #20.
76	* NamedByTheAdaptation: Mr Weston didn't have a first name in the novel. His name is Ryan here.
77	* NemesisAsCustomer: Emma has to organize the engagement party for Senator Elton. They are mad at each other after her disastrous attempt to set him up with her assistant Harriet. Worse, Elton's fiancee is Caroline Lee, now not bothering with [[BitchInSheepsClothing the sheep's clothing]] she wore in ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries''. During the preparations for the party, the happy couple does everything to humiliate Emma and especially Harriet, both of whom have to put up with it somehow.
78	* NervesOfSteel: Alex Knightley really tries not to lose his cool but he also remains Emma's Sanity Chain throughout the story.
79	* NeverASelfMadeWoman: Emma founded her company on her wealthy father's money.
80	* NotSoDifferentRemark: Emma is not amused by Alex drawing comparisons between her and [[spoiler:Caroline]].
81	* ObliviousToLove: Despite being a ''professional matchmaker'', Emma fails to notice [[spoiler:Senator Elton's feelings for her]]: later, with the benefit of hindsight, even she wonders how she didn't see it coming. It also takes a bit of a bombshell before she notices her own feelings for [[spoiler:Alex]].
82	%%* OhCrap: Jane has a delicious one when Frank lets slip that he knows who owns Boxx.%%zce
83	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Alex knows when Emma's upset: she organizes. Or she references [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blass Steve Blass]].
84	-->'''Alex:''' The more you talk sports, the more worried I get.
85	* PluckyGirl:
86	** Emma is absolutely certain that her matchmaking plans ''will'' work, that she ''will'' make it even bigger than Oprah, and that Alex and Annie ''will'' put up with her plan.
87	** Harriet is one as well, as shown in her application video.
88	* PrecisionFStrike: The one piece of profanity in the series comes when [[spoiler:Alex says of Emma's excuses for her nastiness to Maddy at the Boxx party "That's bullshit and you know it."]]
89	* ProductPlacement: Emma gives Alex a Samsung Galaxy product in Episode 20.
90	* RaceLift
91	** Emma is played by an actress of half-Japanese and half-German descent.
92	** Emma's sister Isabella (called "Izzy" here) is played by a Hawaiian actress.
93	** Miss Bates (named "Maddy" here) and Jane Fairfax are played by black actresses.
94	** Frank Churchill is played by a Chinese actor.
95	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: In episode 64, Alex is ''furious'' with Emma for the way she humiliated Maddy, and calls her out for it.
96	* RedOniBlueOni: While being much less level-headed and more plucky than Alex, it's clear that Emma sees him as a team-member, and he doesn't question her goal yet. This is even visually conveyed in Episode 32.
97	* TheReliableOne: Alex is charged with all the boring-but-important stuff.
98	* RichBitch: Played with in Emma. She is mildly interested in fashion and loves her expensive outfits, which she sometimes uses as bribes to ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney effect. She started her company with her father's money and uses it to take control of other people's life, because she feels superior and thinks they don't know what they want. She's also extremely driven and hard-working to the point she gained her own client base after her father's initial input, genuinely wants to help others. It doesn't hurt that she's mostly right and works as a BlitheSpirit ChaoticGood [[TheWonka Wonka Archetype]].
99	* TheOnlyWayTheyWillLearn: Inverted with Emma. She thinks people are not able to see what is good for themselves until ''she'' shows it to them.
100	* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Emma and Alex. Constantly. He seems to out-passive her by a few dozen leagues.
101	* RunningGag: Emma coming to a conclusion at the end of the episode, feeling that everything's tied up neatly, and then suddenly remembering the last dangling thread: "Harriet!"
102	* SamaritanSyndrome: After a few episodes, it's clear that Emma doesn't ''need'' to help others. She just ''has to''.
103	* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Alex and Emma.
104	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: In episode 6, Emma sent Frank's assistant Michelle a pair of polarised sunglasses from Valentino's spring line to get a direct line to Frank. It's implied that Michelle posted about them on her social media page.
105	* SecretRelationship: As in the original, ([[spoiler:Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax]]). The {{Race Lift}}s mentioned above result in an incidental TokenMinorityCouple.
106	* ServileSnarker: Alex never fails to get a dig in at his business partner's methods.
107	* SettingUpdate: Events from a RegencyEngland novel are updated to modern-day California.
108	* ShapedLikeItself: Emma's idea of role-playing is to have the people "pretend" to be what they really are.
109	* ShipperOnDeck: Emma for Ryan and Annie, and probably for everyone she has ever match-made. She does genuinely care about them, as shown when she correctly deduced the source of Annie's cold feet about marrying Ryan and took measures to prevent it. Her reasoning is that she could tell Annie really loved him.
110	* SkewedPriorities: At the base level, Emma is not an example. She wants to make others happy and happens to focus on their personal life, she's self-reliant and ambitious and will not give up on her plans. It just happens that she has a terrible superiority complex and is certain that manipulating others into accepting a ''stylish'' life, maybe sacrificing independence and future chances at happiness because ''this will look adorable''.
111	* SmallNameBigEgo: Emma says she's going to be bigger and better than Oprah.
112	-->'''EMMA:''' I AM NOT A NORMAL PERSON, ALEX KNIGHTLEY!\
113	'''ALEX:''' Oh, I know.\
114	'''EMMA:''' Do not doubt me!\
115	'''ALEX:''' I... don't think I'm allowed to!
116	* SpoiledSweet: Emma was born into tremendous wealth, she's doted on by her father and adored by her older sister and family friends. She wants to make other people happy, and she's charming when doing it. She's just not ready to understand what concretely makes them happy, because she's too spoiled and shallow to get into the depths of it.
117	* StepfordSmiler: Emma is a type A. No matter how much Annie's cold feet displeases her and endangers her plans, she steadfastly pretends to be unaffected and to leave her space. Annie isn't fooled. Particularly clear in episode 16, as after Knightley furiously tells her off for convincing Harriet to turn down Martin, her facade is clearly cracked and she spends the last minute of the video struggling to cover it.
118	* UptownGirl: Emma's friend Annie is marrying into the Westons, a sprawling family of old money, and this is part of what causes her cold feet. Since they get married in the first chapter of the book, the wedding being back on is a bit of a ForegoneConclusion.
119	* UnusualEuphemism: Episode 12 is titled "The Rooster Obstacle" and focuses on Martin's being in the way of Emma's projected Match #21. [[spoiler: He's a cockblock.]]
120	* TheVerse: Shares one with ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries''; Pemberley Digital publishes both her videos and Gigi Darcy's. See also the entry for CanonWelding, where the two series are very explicitly linked together.
121	* VitriolicBestBuds: Alex and Emma. She teases him about his clothes. And ruins them to improve his fashion sense. He hits her BerserkButton and takes a burning pot at her self-esteem to stop her casualties.
122	* WhamEpisode:
123	** Episode 23, "Moment of Triumph". The first intimations are dropped that Match #21 is not destined to be, complete with amusing party shenanigans, a photo booth and Alex giving a couple of hilarious {{Aside Glance}}s at the camera. But in TheStinger we see... Emma, tears unshed, in clear confusion about everything. It's the first genuine moment of CharacterDevelopment for her, and it raises the stakes of the show: all the buried flaws that trouble the foundations of Emma-land are not going to stay buried for long...
124	** Episode 64, "Boxx Hill". Emma's self-centeredness is revealed to have gotten the better of her: at the restaurant opening, she publicly humiliated Maddy Bates over her [[RunningGag always-inedible]] homemade jams. This causes ''both'' Jane and Alex to resign in protest. The episode ends with Emma, now with only Harriet to rely on, in total HeroicBSoD.
125	* WhamLine: [[spoiler: "I'm in love with Alex Knightley!"]] Made even better when [[spoiler: ''Alex himself pops up in the background, then quickly turns around and leaves.'']]
126	* WinkDing: Emma's big signature move. When Alex tries to imitate her and eye the camera, she's very offended.
127	* YesMan: Harriet is introduced as being a Yes Woman constantly nodding to Emma.

Context WebVideo / EmmaApproved