Honestly, this is a show that should have failed, and in many respects it does. The camera work is fuzzy, the directing is only adequate, the sound is uneven, and the acting varies wildly between amazing and wooden.
What saves The Cavanaughs from being a complete pass? Heart. The show is clearly a labour of love and every episode leaves you feeling warm inside. For all of their technical merits, many of the high end web series come off soulless at best, so it's at least interesting to see what the inverse looks like.
The characters are all fleshed out thanks to the good writing that carries the show through the rough production. Dialogue is sometimes awkward and clumsy, but the overarching story is rather clever. The web series is based on a failed pilot, but on screen and off, and is about a production company that comes together to recreate it and sell the show again because they believe in the end product.
The show within a show format is there mainly to set up some incredible character interactions, like the actress who gets fired because she's dating the ex-boyfriend of the studio exec who wants to buy the show. Then there's the sorta love triangle of Mark/Sarah/Scott. I say "sorta" because Mark and Sarah are interested in each other at different times, but Scott is also interested in the heterosexual Mark. Serving as den mother for The Cavanaughs is Ginger Snappz as the flambouyant drag queen/transsexual Noreen Cavanaugh.
There is a really good show to be found here, but unfortunately you have to be really forgiving of some very critical flaws in the production, and until they get those issues fixed I really don't feel comfortable recommending The Cavanaughs.
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