Toronto has its own version of The Hills, thanks to Jaclife
If Torontonians ever craved a lower-budget, less glamorous version of The Hills, it has its answer in Jaclife, a new Web series on Slice.ca. The show, which aired on Monday, follows Jaclyn Genovese, owner of the Queen West boutique Jacflash, and her friends as they run the store, stage fashion shows and party—because if TV is missing one thing, it’s shows centred on rich, young, attractive white women.
The episodes are only five minutes, and while short on trips to Pinkberry and aerial shots of Toronto played to Natasha Bedingfield songs (though there is an opening pan of a streetcar), they’re long on inane chatter and pushing around racks of clothes. Episode one (“Meet the Jaclife Family”) is an introduction to the well-groomed group of PYTs with whom Lauren—whoops, we mean Jaclyn—cavorts, her luxury condo, her boutique (where “from 11–7 we dress Toronto’s most fashionable and famous”) and parties where girls literally pour vodka down their throats.
Cynics will have a field day with this, particularly the microsite that gives readers an insight into the Jacflash lingo of such words as “baggayy,” meaning baggy, and “actually factually,” meaning actually. (It’s like they’re speaking Cantonese!) Mindless entertainment to be sure, but we always enjoy a quick splash in a shallow pool.
• Episode 1: Meet the Jaclife Family [Slice]
