4 Reasons to Watch Imaginary Mary ⋆ Life With Heidi

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4 Reasons to Watch Imaginary Mary

If you are anywhere near my age you remember the good old days of shows like Dharma and Greg and other shows that Jenna Elfman played a very important role in. I thought I was dreaming when I was chosen to go to LA and had the chance to sit down with Jenna Elfman (Alice) and Stephen Schneider (Ben). If that wasn’t exciting enough, we also had the privilege of meeting the show’s executive producers David Guarasico and Doug Robinson. Being in the same room as these four was just like sitting down and chatting among friends, it was truly an amazing experience. But we also had a chance to preview episode “The Mom Seal” which will premiere tonight at 9:30/8:30c on ABC, so be sure you tune in and catch all of the fun.

IMAGINARY MARY – “The Mom Seal” (ABC/Sergei Bachlakov) JENNA ELFMAN, STEPHEN SCHNEIDER

Parenting is Hard

Parenting is hard whether you are the mom, dad, step-mom or step-dad. Kids don’t come with instruction manuals and everywhere you turn there is an expert willing to give you their advice. Everyone gives you there opinion whether you want it or not and you quickly become overwhelmed with the thought of trying to be the “perfect parent”. The struggle is real everyday and each parenting stage is almost like a test, you just hope you studied enough for. You just do the best you can do and hope for the best. But for Mary being a parent isn’t something she is “ready” for, but who is?

Imaginary Mary

Most of us had an imaginary friend and how cool would it be to have someone “on your side”, cheering you on? or maybe causing a little bit of self doubt, the concept of Imaginary Mary is unique and based on a real life experience of David Gurascio. He was a divorced dad with kids, and started dating a lady who was just like Alice. A single career woman who didn’t plan to have a family, but because of his charm he made it work. Then, he had a meeting with an animator named Patrick Osborne who won the Academy Award for a short film called Feast, and he was sort of just doing his victory tour. So while they we were sitting down talking, he said that he had always wanted to do a show about somebody who had an imaginary friend. Patrick Osborne came up with Mary’s design but she had to be love-able looking because she is a very important part of the character. Even though she doesn’t always say the right things, she is a defender of Alice’s independent and feminist side which makes it even better. Imaginary Mary was born and made into a hilarious television show for us to enjoy and Rachel Dratch’s voice makes the perfect Mary to compliment Alice.

Being Able to Do it All

Just like an everyday mom Jenna Elfman told us that there was a huge learning curve in being able to do it all. Alice comes to a place where her “perfect” life might not be so perfect anymore and that is what every parent faces. You have to learn balance and the struggles are real, but everything you do is ultimately for your kids, your family and yourself. So just keep juggling because every family has their struggles, even though they look like they are perfect, there is always more than what meets the eye.

Learn to like What You Can’t Control

The key to the whole show is learning to like what you can’t control and that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Which when you think about it is a lot like parenting, you can’t win every battle, but if you are raising good kids that are respectful, and do their best they are going to turn out to be okay adults. The little things no longer matter and the only thing the kids will remember is if you made time for them, and done your best. Parenting is juggling a career, being a parent and not losing yourself in the process because one day you wake up and they are graduating from high school and on their way to college. Then, you are either left with the I was super mom, or I did my best trying to be a super mom and my kid(s) turned out to be great.

Tune in tonight to watch the Season Premier The Mom Seal

Alice is mom on duty for the first time!!
“The Mom Seal” – When Ben asks Alice to help him with her first mom-like task to pick up Bunny from dance class, Mary quickly discovers the simplest parental tasks are fraught with difficulty. Afterwards, Ben is disappointed when Alice tells him she can’t help with the kids anymore, but things change when Andy enlists Alice’s help to overcome his fear of taking a driving test, on the season premiere of “Imaginary Mary,” TUESDAY, APRIL 4 (9:30–10:00 p.m. EDT), on The ABC Television Network.

“Imaginary Mary” stars Jenna Elfman as Alice, Stephen Schneider as Ben, Rachel Dratch as Mary (VO), Nicholas Coombe as Andy, Matreya Scarrwener as Dora and Erica Tremblay as Bunny.

Guest starring is Diana Bang as Gigi, Dave Peniuk as Doctor, Nathan Jean as Man, Bronwen Smith as Megan, Aaron Hutchinson as Paramedic, Gabriel Vill as Waiter, Bethany Brown as Uninformed Millenial and Roberta Gardoni as Frazzled Mom.

“The Mom Seal” was written by Sarah Haskins & Emily Halpern and directed by Shawn Levy.The live action/CGI hybrid comes from “The Goldbergs” team Adam F. Goldberg (writer/executive producer), David Guarascio (writer/executive producer) and Doug Robinson (executive producer). Mary CG animation is designed by Patrick Osborne (creator of Academy Award-winning animated short, “The Feast”), who is also executive producer. The pilot was directed by Shawn Levy (“Arrival,” “Night at the Museum,” “Cheaper by the Dozen”), who is also executive producer.

The series is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television, Happy Madison and ABC Studios.