Okay, so yesterday (12.22.15) I was pissed off and today (12.23.15) I'm not in such a great mood either (not mad, but I'm not happy either; yanno how it goes), so I'm not quite sure if it's a good idea to write this now. I've wanted to do it because, well, it's incredibly stupid and I want to share that, so here we go! I will hold my really big opinion for the end, but some things could possibly be considered biased. However, the first line is just a fact.
Catha Ledeboer is unoriginal.
In some ways I can understand this. Talia in the Kitchen and Every Witch Way are, after all, American adaptations of Latin American shows. If I choose to see it as nothing but a comparison to their counterparts, everything would be fine – slightly annoying, yes, but fine.
However, she goes beyond that. Talia in the Kitchen (now abbreviated as TITK; I know, I know, it's terrible, but blame Catha) and Every Witch Way (now abbreviated as EWW; again, I know) are nearly identical to each other.
Before we really get down to business on TITK's characters and their EWW (identical) counterparts, let's go over some things:
Both involve magic, and the fact that TITK and EWW had a crossover proves that they exist in the same world.
Both take place in Miami, Florida.
Both have twins.
Both schools have uniforms.
Both have restaurants owned by a character's family. (Credit to my friend Kierra for noticing this one.)
Both follow the same plotlines.
Both have NO CONTINUITY and mainly consist of PLOTHOLES.
Here are some actual, real-life facts:
Both were/are filmed in Miami, Florida.
Both are soap operas.
Both use no laugh tracks.
Both have really bad lighting, let's be real.
Both have good acting – and both have some less than stellar acting.
Congratulations! You've reached the portion in our program in which I analyze and compare the characters! I could literally copy and paste everything and just change a few details to these, and they'd practically be the exact same thing.
DISCLAIMER: I did not see nearly all of EWW season one, so the characters that only show in that season may not have the best descriptions.
First up…
TALIA PARRA
moves to Miami (with sister Julie) to live with grandmother Dolores
both parents died
grandmother owns Lola's
discovers she's a spicemaster
stubborn, rude; wants to be in control
friend-zones Rudy Rosales
likes Tyson Fuccinelli since she first saw him; mutual interest
likes Jayden Grubb (ALSO A SPICEMASTER) when he shows up in 1B
enemies with Debbie Fuccinelli (ALSO A COOK) and Frenchie Fuccinelli – eventually resolved
Debbie likes Jayden too, although it's rarely touched on
best friend Valerie Landry is rather quirky
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: EMMA ALONSO
moves to Miami with father Francisco
mother died
discovers she's a witch – the Chosen One, specifically
shy; unsure at first – stubborn, rude, cocky; wants to be in control later
friend-zones Tony Myers
likes Daniel Miller since she first saw him; mutual interest
likes Jax Novoa (A WIZARD) when he shows up in S2
enemies with Maddie Van Pelt (ALSO A WITCH) – eventually resolved
Maddie likes Daniel too, although it's only in S1 – Mia Black ("new girl" in S3) likes him, though
best friend Andi Cruz is rather quirky
picks Jax over Daniel in S3
Sound familiar? Let's keep going.
TYSON FUCCINELLI
human
Debbie's twin
cousin Frenchie owns Fuccinelli's
likes Talia since he first saw her; mutual interest
best friends with Chris, but he's only in 1A so far
friends with Valerie
"kind of" fights with Rudy at first
jealous of Jayden
"good guy"
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: DANIEL MILLER
human
likes Emma since he first saw her; mutual interest
best friends with Diego
friends with Andi
"kind of" fights with Tony at first
EXTREMELY jealous of Jax
"good guy"
doesn't like Maddie romantically (anymore)
gets rejected by Emma for Jax (S3)
ends up with Mia, a Kanay
ultimately gets sent to alternate universe by Emma
DEBBIE FUCCINELLI
human
Tyson's twin
cousin Frenchie owns Fuccinelli's
immediately becomes enemies with Talia (ALSO A COOK) – eventually resolved
jealous of Talia being a spicemaster
Frenchie eggs her on to make her want to be better than Talia
has one friend (Avery) in her corner, basically for personal use
cocky
pays compliments to Rudy and fell asleep on him once
likes Jayden since she first saw him, although it's rarely touched on
Talia likes Jayden too
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: MADDIE VAN PELT
witch
Immediately becomes enemies with Emma (ALSO A WITCH) – eventually resolved
jealous of Emma being the Chosen One
her mother Ursula eggs her on to make her want to be better than Emma
has two friends (Panthers: Sophie and Katie) in her corner, basically for personal use
cocky
ends up with Diego Rueda, the "nice guy"
dated Daniel on and off, although it was only in S1
Emma likes Daniel too (throughout series)
JAYDEN GRUBB
moves to Miami in 1B
"attractive new guy"
charismatic womanizer
spicemaster
supposed to beat Talia (ALSO A SPICEMASTER) in their Spice Battle
his brother Michael pushes him into the Spice Battle, though he seems to be for it a bit
falls for Talia in the process
jealous of Tyson
doesn't like Debbie romantically
EWW CHARACTER MATCH(ES): JAX NOVOA & MIA BLACK
JAX:
moves to Miami (from Sydney, Australia) in S2
"attractive new guy"
charismatic, cocky womanizer
wizard
supposed to take down Emma (A WITCH) during the Last Light plan
his father Jake pushes him into the Last Light plan
falls for Emma in the process
jealous of Daniel (although he knows he's not competition, courtesy of his cockiness)
MIA:
moves to Miami in S3
"attractive new girl"
"witch-hunter cheerleader"
Kanay
goes behind everyone's backs to destroy Emma (because Torres killed her parents)
uses Daniel for her plan
falls for Daniel in the process
jealous of Emma (although she knows she's not competition, courtesy of her unskilled powers)
VALERIE LANDRY
(Also, to whoever edits the TITK Wikipedia page, Valerie is spelled V-A-L-E-R-I-E, not V-A-L-A-R-I-E. If you're reading this, please stop spelling it that way. Thank you.)
Talia's best friend
lives down the street from Talia
human
rather quirky
has most answers, as she takes many classes at the community center
no love interest (YET)
friends with Tyson and Rudy
finds Jayden suspicious – rightfully so
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: ANDI CRUZ
Emma's best friend
lives down the street from Emma
human
rather quirky
has most answers, albeit they're a little violent because of her chainsaw
hacked a video game to make Phillip (former zombie) her boyfriend – S2 & S3, end of both
friends with Daniel and Diego
finds Jax suspicious – rightfully so, although their conflict is eventually resolved
RUDY ROSALES
human
mainly used for comic relief
likes Talia, despite being deep in the friend zone
"kind of" fights with Tyson over Talia at first
signs of developing feelings for Debbie
friends with Valerie
doesn't give much notice to Jayden
"ACTUAL good guy"
EWW CHARACTER MATCH(ES): DIEGO RUEDA & TONY MYERS
DIEGO:
Kanay, even though his parents and sister aren't
Gigi's twin
parents own The 7 and The Beachside 7
best friends with Daniel (Mac Davis in S1)
mainly used for comic relief
ends up with Maddie, despite her initial reluctance
friends with Andi
has a mancrush on Jax
"ACTUAL good guy"
TONY:
human
likes Emma, despite being deep in the friend zone
"kind of" fights with Daniel over Emma
friends with Diego, Mac, and Andi (also Daniel)
leaves after S1
FRENCHIE FUCCINELLI
human
gay, right?
single
enemies with Talia
Debbie and Tyson's cousin
eggs Debbie on to be better than Talia
cocky for no real reason; makes others uncomfortable; doesn't like most people
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: URSULA VAN PELT
powerless witch (so basically human, for you noobs)
divorced, and vies for Francisco's attention (although they are endgame)
Maddie's mother
eggs Maddie on to be better than Emma
cocky for no real reason; makes others uncomfortable; doesn't like most people
DOLORES PARRA
human
Talia and Julie's grandmother
resides in Miami
owns Lola's (her late husband called her Lola)
son and daughter-in-law died
knows about the magical spices
doesn't necessarily like Tyson
prefers Rudy for Talia
kind of weird, but very loving
doesn't get along with Frenchie, or the Fuccinellis much for that matter – or Michael
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: FRANCISCO ALONSO
human
Emma's father
moves to Miami for IHS teaching job – ends up principal
wife Maria died
doesn't know about magic, or that Maria was a witch
hates Daniel
prefers Jax for Emma
kind of weird, but very loving
scared of Ursula and her advances (although they are endgame)
MICHAEL GRUBB
human, even though his brother's a spicemaster
single
Jayden's brother
pushes Jayden into the Spice Battle with Talia
doesn't get along with anyone; kind of unloving
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: JAKE NOVOA
wizard
widower (until S4, but that's basically not cannon, okay)
Jax's father
pushes Jax into the Last Light plan
doesn't get along with anyone; VERY unloving, if at all
JULIE PARRA
human, even though her sister and father are/were spicemasters
Talia's sister and Dolores' niece
grandmother owns Lola's
both parents died
child genius
best friends with Rocky Palroso (is he a crush?)
very curious about spices until let in on their magic
doesn't like the Grubb brothers or the Fuccinellis very much
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: GIGI RUEDA
human, even though her brother's a Kanay
Diego's twin
parents own The 7 and The Beachside 7
IHS' school gossip "Miss Information"
best friends with Sebastian the Camera Guy (are they actually friends?)
very curious about magic until exposed to it multiple times, only to have memory erased
fawns over Jax at first (S2), but soon seems to dislike him (S3)
fawns over Daniel (S3 and onward)
ROCKY PALROSO
human
knows about the spices' magic
best friends with Julie (I definitely think he has a crush on her)
claims he "knows a guy"
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: SEBASTIAN THE CAMERA GUY
(This match is mainly because Julie = Gigi. We don't know much about Sebastian.)
human
IHS' main cameraman for "Miss Information"
best friends with Gigi (are they actually friends?)
gets turned into a rat by Jax once and is never shown onscreen being turned back (he is, though)
scared of Daniel (S3, when he's Darko Daniel)
AVERY
human
Debbie's best friend, usually for personal use
rather emotionless
honestly, her character is unneeded
EWW CHARACTER MATCH(ES): SOPHIE JOHNSON & KATIE RICE
human
Maddie's best friends, usually for personal use
Sophie: airhead; Katie: arrogant
honestly, BOTH their characters are unneeded
WILL
spicemaster
seemingly harmless, but he's the main antagonist (in 1A, a little in 1B)
defeated by Talia
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: PRINCIPAL TORRES
witch; former Chosen One
seemingly harmless, but she's the main antagonist (in S1; flashback in S3; partial at end of S4)
defeated by Emma and Maddie
CHRIS
human
Tyson's best friend
only seen in 1A so far
EWW CHARACTER MATCH: MAC DAVIS
(This is mainly because I didn't add in Mac, but these characters don't have big parts.)
human
Diego's best friend
leaves after S1
While writing all the character analyses, I grew very embarrassed for Catha at how many parallels there were. I'm sure there's more, don't get me wrong.
What I am going to go over now are some EPISODE comparisons. Here, everything is up for grabs. As previously mentioned, I didn't see most of EWW S1 – in fact, I didn't pay totally attention to the second half of TITK 1A! – so there has got to be WAY more parallels. (Also I am way too lazy to re-watch all the episodes and look for comparisons, so yeah.) If you think of any that aren't mentioned, put them in your review for me!
A few of these comparisons were brought to my attention by my sister and my good friend Kierra, just so you guys know I'm not the only one to credit for them.
EWW (comparison first) = TITK (comparison second)
101 Discovery (powers, but not understood) = 101 And Spice Makes Nice (spices found)
101 (Maddie's smoothie spills) = 101 (Talia dumps smoothies on Debbie's head)
407 Lunch at Lola's (crossover) = 107 Every Witch Lola's (crossover)
216 Stormageddon (Jemma's stuck) = 138 Cooking it Cool (Jaylia's stuck)
224 Emma vs. Emma (Jax sees Demma hug so he goes through with the plan) = 138 (Jayden sees Tylia hug so he goes through with the battle
· 301 The Beachside 7 (Mia fakes drowning to get Daniel to kiss her, and Emma hates it) = 140 Escape to Spice Island (Jayden fakes drowning to get Talia to kiss him, and Ty flips out)
· 320 New Witch Order (Jemma/Demma – alternate – pool kiss) = 140 (Tylia pool kiss)
· 402 Road Trip (title) = 139-40 Spice Island/ (road trip included)
If you don't see how these two shows by Catha Ledeboer are nearly identical, then there's a simple explanation for that: you're blind. No, seriously, you'd have to be legally blind.
The solution here would be to move TITK (as EWW, sadly, has already ended with Catha as the writer) to TeenNick, where Jaylia would be allowed more sexual tension, swearing could be included, and Frenchie would come out of the closet. He could just be EXTREMELY flamboyant, but that doesn't seem to be the case. That would all be permitted IF – and only if – Catha was booted off the show. I don't care if she co-created any of the original shows; she should still get kicked off. I pray to God, kick. Her. Off.
Now as for my opinion – this is way pathetic. There is next to no continuity (come on, she's a grown woman and writing is what she does professionally – she shouldn't have that problem), she changes characters out of the blue and totally deteriorates development. All the little kids who watch these shows won't notice a thing, and maybe that's why she feels like she can get away with it, but no. There are older people watching this show. I may just be fourteen, but there are eighteen-year-olds watching this show. Obviously I can't speak for them all, but I know my sister got pissed by this shit.
Because of Catha's sucky writing I've grown to dislike many things about EWW, and, subsequently, TITK. That could be a good thing, though, because EWW was a big obsession of mine and it was kinda unhealthy to be honest.
Thank you for reading my long comparison/rant, and I hope I've drawn you to the light. Remember to drop me a review, and if I missed any comparisons, be sure to let me know!
