Difference between revisions of "Caprice & Ella"

Revision as of 00:25, 9 August 2023

Caprice & Ella
Genre	Reality Comedy
Created by	Ava Zinn
Directed by	Thia Tola Breeanna Sorensen
Starring	Caprice Zinn Ella Zinn (episode 13-present) Breeanna Sorensen (episode 83-present) Karly Jameson Rachael Passalt (season 5-present) Ava Zinn
Narrated by	Karly Jameson
Theme music composer	Randy Edelman
Composer(s)	Stephen Arnold Daniel Caine (season 4-present) Christian Gari (season 1-4) Kevin MacLeod (season 4-present) Mike Post (season 4-present)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	109 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Ava Zinn
Location(s)	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Running time	varies
Production company(s)	Aeverine Zinn Digital Media Group
Broadcast
Original channel	First run syndication
Picture format	1080i HDTV (episodes 1-11) 2160p 4K Ultra HD (episodes 12-present)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	February 27, 2021 (2021-02-27) – present

Caprice & Ella is a YouTuber produced series created by the Ava Zinn. The series usually revolves around Zinn, Caprice and Ella's owner, going through everyday life, but there's a twist that makes her life not so "every day"; Caprice and Ella have the ability to speak to her. Whether it was trying to hold a conversation with Ella, having to confront or simply ignore Caprice's problematic attitude, Ava's pets always had something going on that she has to deal with, whether it be important or not.

The series made its debut on February 27, 2021. The show has been renewed for its fourth through seventh production cycles. In addition a feature film is set to be released.^[1]

Premise

Ava Zinn is a kind transgender woman working for Aeverine Zinn Holdings, which owns Caprice & Ella. Wanting a cat and dog, Ava seeks help from Humane Fort Wayne (then Allen County SPCA), who presents her with a cute 10-month-old female American domestic short hair cat named Caprice. Unbeknownst to Ava, Caprice is a mischievous and incorrigible feline who often causes chaos but also feels put upon. A month later, Ava adopts an 8-week-old female Chihualua puppy, whom she names Ella. Like Caprice, Ella is also mischevious and often causes chaos.

Ava is avid fan of the Indianapolis and Fort Wayne professional sports teams, Ava often wears Colts, Pacers, her high school Alma matter of Mississinewa High School, and Ivy Tech Community College clothing in numerous instances, and many (if not few) plots revolve around the teams or institutions.

Family life is boisterous for Ava, with Caprice and Ella, tormenting twin Ava and Breeanna’s children, Sierra and Lyssa (since the fourth season), all while continually testing and pestering each other. Such play happened especially throughout the first three seasons though frequently with Caprice and Ella when they interacted with community cats Tuxedo Kitty, Grey Poupon, Ragdoll Kitty, and Random Black Kitty.

Themes and style

Caprice & Ella, along with Queen of the Willis, The Souzas, and Quillsville Cold Case, usually have the broadcast versions that are typically rated TV-14, which is usually available on Ava Zinn's YouTube channel and the uncensored version are rated TV-MA, and is generally intended for adult audiences, which are shown on the show's YouTube channel. Caprice, Ella and most other pets as well as human characters like Ava and Breeanna use strong profanity, with only the taboo words being bleeped during a typical broadcast.

Caprice & Ella commonly makes use of carnivalesque and absurdist techniques, numerous running gags, occasional violence, sexual content (especially after the fourth season), offhand pop-cultural references, and satirical portrayal of celebrities.

Cast

Main article: List of Caprice & Ella characters

• Aeverine Frathleen "Ava" Zinn: Ava is the main protagonist of Caprice & Ella, alongside Caprice. She is a semi-retired webmaster and hosted Vote for the Girls from April 28, 2010 to May 23, 2021. Ava loves to hang out in the living room talking to Ella, indirectly bothering Caprice.
• Caprice Haley Zinn: Caprice was adopted by Ava in February 2021 from the Allen County SPCA (now Humane Fort Wayne), which is how Ava got her to be raised since Caprice's youngest years. Caprice grows up with Ava and her dog, Ella, (and later Ava's girlfriend Breeanna) who was the first pet Ava adopted after Caprice. With Ella, Caprice has a love-hate relationship. As a kitten, Caprice was a community cat that Ava was unaware of at first. Her first name is a reference to the Chevrolet Caprice while her middle name is a reference to Haley Rinehart. Most of the time, Caprice seems like a grumpy and cynical cat that only cares about herself and is always trying to get rid of Ella in the house she lives, but sometimes, in a hidden way, shows compassion for Breeanna, Ava and Ella. Caprice likes to eat wet food, her birthday cake, chicken, and tuna. She likes to write in her diary, catnip mixed with wet food, swearing, attack/scare Breeanna as well as other cats and/or kittens, insult Ella and calling her a bitch, tell lies, petting sessions, and being left alone. Caprice dislikes being told what to do by Ava and/or Breeanna, any kind of dry cat food, be grounded from wet cat food and/or catnip, Ella, in the event Ava pets her too fast or from her tail to her head, Ava in general, the vet, the vacuum, be on camera, creepy noises made by Ava. Her fears are Ava getting mad and booming at her; vacuums; the chance of being grounded forever; going back to the pound.
• Gabriella Lauren "Ella" Zinn: Ella was adopted by Ava in March 2021. Ella grows up with Caprice. Her full name is named after Ella Henderson and Lauren Alaina. Ella likes to eat wet food, chicken, and beef steak. She likes to swearing, attack/scare other dogs and/or puppies, insult Caprice and calling her a dick, petting sessions, and being left alone. Ella dislikes being told what to do by Ava and/or Breeanna, any kind of dry dog food, be grounded from wet dog food, the vet, and the vacuum. Her fears are Ava getting mad and booming at her; vacuums; the chance of being grounded forever; going back to the pound.
• Breeanna Reneé Zinn (née Sorensen): Breeanna becomes Ava's girlfriend and significant other in the conclusion of "Breaking Boiling Point". She is a freelance meteorologist and scientist originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Lafayette, Indiana. She likes to hang out with Ava outside the home, yet Caprice and Ella become jealous of Breeanna as she admitted she did one of Ava's assignments as a sexual favor.
• Chelsea "Karly" Jameson (née Ryder): The announcer and narrator of Caprice & Ella who was uncredited until the fifth season. Karly helps out Caprice, Ella, Breeanna, and Ava during the fourth season. Karly is unique as she refers to Ella by her legal first name 'Gabriella' whilst the others would use Ella. She is originally from Speedway, Indiana but has been residing in Fort Wayne since 2019. She mostly hangs out with Ava off-screen as well as Breeanna. Like Breeanna, Karly also made her debut in the conclusion of "Breaking Boiling Point."
• Rachael Valerie Passalt: Secondary announcer and narrator of Caprice & Ella who was uncredited until the fifth season. Rachael helps out Caprice, Ella, Breeanna, and Ava during the fourth season. She is originally from Terre Haute, Indiana and formerly lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota but has been residing in Fort Wayne since 2013 with her wife Traci. Like Karly, Rachael mostly hangs out with Ava off-screen as well as Breeanna. Like Breeanna, Rachael also made her debut in the conclusion of "Breaking Boiling Point."

Recurring

Production

Development

While creating the series Caprice & Ella, Ava Zinn had just finished off her twelve-year run on Vote for the Girls with Ava Zinn & Alexandra Moffitt and was looking for another project. Karly Jameson, Thia Tola, and Rachael Passalt were respectively working as a producer for Queen of the Willis, The Karly Jameson Show, The Souzas, respectively. The four got together to form the basis for Caprice & Ella.^[2]

Filming

The series is filmed on the southeast side of Fort Wayne, Indiana for its first four seasons. From the halfway point of season 4 onwards, it is filmed in various locations around Fort Wayne, yet mostly on the northeast side of the city.^[3] Fort Wayne remained as the setting of the show for the entire duration.

Casting

When the series was in pre-production, Zinn was looking for a suitable animal actor for the lead.^[2] After Caprice's appearance on the Allen County SPCA (now Humane Fort Wayne)'s web site, Caprice auditioned for the part. According to Zinn, every auditioning feline and canine actor/actress "hulked" their way through their audition. When Caprice eventually auditioned for the role, Zinn felt that she gave the character a feline touch which the other felines could not. Zinn believed that Caprice would become one of the new "breakout" stars on American television.^[2]

During production of the fifth season, there were concerns that the style of cursing by two cast members, Ava and Caprice, in the previous four seasons would carry over to the miniseries Breaking Boiling Point 2: A Renter's Revenge and the remainder of the series' run (most notably seen from Ava Zinn in the former's Retail Nightmares and Vote for the Girls). It did not for the most part. Ava's eldest granddaughter (Alisan) said that Ava had only cursed seven times during the production of "Breaking Boiling Point 2: A Renter's Revenge (Part 6)" as well as in later seasons and never at Ava's grandchildren Alisan, Michael II, Leah, or children, Sierra and Lyssa. In the final editing of Breaking Boiling Point 2, Ava and Caprice cursed several times in front of (but not at) Sierra, Lyssa, Alisan, Michael II, and/or Leah. Caprice has cursed the most in the first three seasons while Ava swore the most in the fourth season yet Ella, Breeanna, or the other cast members did not curse as much as Ava and Caprice.

Product placement

Products from Indiana-based companies or companies with major Indiana operations have appeared, as Indiana is the home state of series creator Ava Zinn. They have included Pop Weaver Popcorn, which is based in Zinn's hometown of Van Buren, as well as Red Gold Tomatoes based in Elwood, Indiana, and Aunt Millie's Bakery in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Indiana businesses, college and university apparel

Throughout the show, Ava would often wear sweatshirts or T-shirts from various Indiana-based colleges and universities. Because Ava Zinn considered Indiana her home state, the rule was that only Indiana schools and businesses would get the free advertising.^[4] There were a few notable exceptions to the general rule that Ava only supported Indiana educational institutions and businesses on the show.

Theme song

The theme song to Caprice & Ella is a mostly shot by shot spoof of the opening of MacGyver except for the following:

• "Lapsed Lease" (Part 1) - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Top Cops.
• "Fort Wayne Rocks" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Dallas' opening sequence.
• "Runaway Chores" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Hardcastle & McCormick's opening sequence.
• "Ella Gets Microchipped" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Simon & Simon's opening sequence.
• "When the Going Gets Rough, The Tough Get Rough" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Hunter's opening sequence.
• "Without Us" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Remington Steele's opening sequence.
• "Survelliance Kitty" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of T.J. Hooker's opening sequence.
• "Tuxedo Grey's Anatomy" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Sledge Hammer!'s opening sequence.
• "Caprice the Cop" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Knight Rider's opening sequence.
• " What Caprice & Ella Didn't See Coming" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Silk Stalkings' opening sequence.
• "When There's Mating, There's Kittens and Puppies" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Hart to Hart's opening sequence.
• "A Black Cat & Dental Work" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Riptide's opening sequence.
• "The Caprice & Ella College Basketball Special" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Magnum, P.I.'s opening sequence.
• "Breaking Boiling Point"
  • The ending of part 14 parodies Top Cops and Real Stories of the Highway Patrol.
  • The end credits of part 14 is replaced by a parody of the series finale of Magnum, P.I.'s 1988 series finale.
• "Wake Up and Meet New People at Golfview" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Black Sheep Squadron's opening sequence.
• "The Indiana Wheelchair Massacre" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Matlock's opening sequence.
• "What Happens at the Saint Joe Village Kroger Marketplace, Stays at the Saint Joe Village Kroger Marketplace" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Diff'rent Strokes' opening sequence.
• "The Unbearable Clawing of Playing" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Moonlighting's opening sequence.
• "Ava's Got Her Wicked Game On" - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Knots Landing's opening sequence.
• "Addressing Concerns #3" The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Barnaby Jones' opening sequence.
• "The Special Treat from Margaret, Phil, Julia, and Karly, Sr." - The opening sequence is replaced by a parody of Amazing Stories' opening sequence.

Episodes

Main article: List of Caprice & Ella episodes

Several episodes, begin with a cold open, finding Caprice and/or Ella already on a mission. One episode called "Addressing Concerns" is usually aired once per season in which Ava usually reads viewer mail or someone brings an issue to her attention. Starting in the third season as part of the annual February sweeps, the Caprice & Ella March Madness episode's opening sequences are replaced by the opening credits of other shows past and present.

Season one (Spring 2021)

The show began in an unstable scheduling slot with the pilot episode of "Come Out of Hiding" initially broadcast on a Saturday. The show struggled to attract an audience and drew criticism for its profanity by Caprice.

Midway through the first season, with low ratings still, Zinn gave Jackson Steele a private screening of an episode ("Meet Ella") that had not yet aired, and asked him to give the show more time to attract viewers. Steele agreed and put the show on hiatus until a better time slot could be found. After Vote for the Girls ended its 12 year run on May 23, 2021, Zinn revealed that a Monday and Thursday slots would be best.

Seven of the 19 episodes were rated TV-PG and the uncensored version of those episodes are unavailable.

Season two (Fall 2021)

For its second season, Zinn brought in her colleagues from Aeverine Zinn Digital Media Group to refine the show. As the executive producer, Zinn pushed up the violence but softened the main characters fractious relationship with Ava and emphasized the chemistry between Caprice and Ella. Zinn also moved the show's setting out of the back streets and into the more desirable areas of Fort Wayne.

Probably the most memorable aspect to the second season was the three-part episode "Ava's Stalking Story", which may have drawn from the cases of Rebecca Schaeffer in 1989 and Christina Grimmie in 2016 that were prominent in the news. A psychopathic Purdue Fort Wayne student named Caleb had been stalking Ava for two years and startled Caprice and Ella on occasion. "Ava's Stalking Story" is one of the most remembered and popular episodes of the series.

Viewers also responded to Zinn's changes, and the show's second season ended with Caprice & Ella continued this progress to become a mainstay of the Monday and Thursday schedule.

Season three (Spring 2022)

The third season, again led by Zinn, added Tuxedo Kitty, Ragdoll Kitty, Grey Poupon, and Random Black Kitty (all community cats), who remained until the following season.

A remembered episode from season three was "Ella Gets Microchipped", which Ella gets microchipped for a deal Ava found too much to resist. Caprice was already microchipped and spayed when the show started. Arielle Cadet guest starred as herself as she was anchoring at WPTA "ABC 21" in Fort Wayne at the time of taping.

Also starting in the third season, the "March Madness" episodes are a series of episodes openings replaced by parodies of opening sequences of various classic television shows. The first, entitled "Fort Wayne Rocks", aired on January 24, 2022 has the opening sequence replaced by a parody of the original run of Dallas, which used the 13th season opening sequence. The episodes contain the Caprice & Ella version of the opening sequence of various television series in the United States.

Season four (Spring 2023)

During production of the fourth season, which began in May 2022, Zinn was slated to begin work on the feature film. However, on June 10, 2022, Zinn learned that her lease at Black Pine Flats would not be renewed and began work on the first Caprice & Ella miniseries "Breaking Boiling Point". The first two episodes of the series' fourth season had been completed prior to the deaths of Ragdoll Kitty and Grey Poupon. Following Ragdoll Kitty and Grey Poupon's deaths, Aeverine Zinn Digital Media Group announced that Caprice & Ella would continue after a hiatus and would incorporate the deaths of Ragdoll Kitty and Grey Poupon. The two episodes that Ragdoll Kitty and Grey Poupon had completed aired as normal. On January 9, 2023 the first episode after their deaths, producer and narrator Karly Jameson paid tribute to Ragdoll Kitty amd Grey Poupon, after a few seconds of silence where the lights on where Caprice & Ella is taped slowly dimmed. That episode, as well as subsequent episodes that aired after Ragdoll Kitty and Grey Poupon's deaths, also included a dedication screen at the end of the credits through the remainder of the season.

The fourth season added Breeanna Sorensen included in the opening credits of the show and becoming one of the show's main stars beginning with the February 6, 2023 episode due to being in a relationship with series creator and executive producer Ava Zinn. Karly Jameson and Rachael Passalt would be added at the start of the following season.

Season five (Fall 2023)

As previously mentioned, Karly Jameson was added to the opening credits of the show. In the previous season's "Breaking Boiling Point" miniseries, Rachael Passalt revealed she would be joining the cast and be added to the opening credits.

Season six (Spring 2024)

A memorable episode of the sixth season is the retelling of four afterschool specials in the episode "The Special Treat from Margaret, Phil, Julia, and Karly, Sr.", in which Julia Passalt (Rachael's father), Phil Sorensen (Breeanna's father), Karly Ryder (Karly's mother), and the late Margaret Zinn (Ava's mother via age-progressed hologram) narrate the episode. It was initially produced as a fourth season episode but moved it to the fifth.

Broadcast history

After a slow start in its first season, Caprice & Ella became a sleeper hit for Aeverine Zinn Digital Media Group in its second season.

Syndication

Broadcast syndication rights to Caprice & Ella were acquired by NoSirGifts in 2022. Episodes further edited for content (which are shown on the aforementioned YouTube channel of series creator Ava Zinn) will begin running in syndication in 2025, and are aired in the United States with the TV-14 rating.

The series is edited to meet FCC regulations for indecency and obscenity, including bleeping and pixelization of profane language (on the broadcast version) and pixelization of nudity, though other censoring does take place. The broadcast/clean version is on Ava Zinn's YouTube channel while the uncensored version is on Caprice & Ella's YouTube channel.

Scheduling issues

MLB's World Series and NCAA Basketball Tournaments are often praised from sports fans yet criticized from non-sports fans for not airing first-run original episodes during March and October. Ava Zinn usually started the respective fall and spring seasons in beginning in August or January, before being put on hiatus until after the World Series and the Final Four.

Film

Main article: Caprice & Ella: The Movie

In an assignment for Ava Zinn's Video & Sound class on April 15, 2022, it was revealed that a Caprice & Ella Movie was in the works to be released on in the summer of 2023.^[1]

See also

References

External links

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