After hearing Jaquie's anxieties about her career, the pitfalls of being a minor celebrity, and being recognised by her gynaecologist, Johnstone came up with the idea of Brown playing herself in a sitcom which would parody voice-over narrated female skewed television shows such as 'Sex and the City' and 'Desperate Housewives'.
The first series won best comedy at the Qantas Film and Television Awards [2], was the top NZ show in The Herald's 'Best on the Box'[3] for 2008, and was declared best local comedy or TV show in several publications such as The Listener, Metro magazine and Jaquie Brown was voted one of the New Zealanders of the year in both the NZ Herald[4] and North and South magazine.
The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert called it 'delightfully cringeworthy' and said that it put other major network sitcoms to shame.
The first series was loosely based around many aspects of Brown's life, having just left music station C4, now working as the light-relief on a hard-hitting current affairs show, feeling a little in over her head in the world of journalism and having to deal with the pitfalls of being a C-grade celebrity.
Jaquie is in over her head to begin with, as she bumbles her way through an interview with the Prime Minister, but she manages to regain her footing in the last segment by making a high school principal partake in a pop quiz with a dyslexic student.
Although Jaquie finds herself on the receiving end of the fame and adoration she has always wanted, her conscience, and her useless yet perceptive flatmate Tom get the better of her, and she confesses to her sins.
It is much darker in tone than the first series, and attempts a slightly more complex narrative structure as well as a more significant story arc.
Kim Sharee offers her a chance to get back into the network's good books by taking a slot on one of its umbrella radio stations 'Radio Hautaki' with James Coleman.
She has gone on to become the darling of the network, has a top ten covers album and even has her own sitcom coming out which is dreadful even though it's a hit with audiences and critics alike (A self-deprecating stab at the show's own success).
But when she gets the celebrities lost in the bush, they inadvertently stumble into a Maori militant training camp and are kidnapped and held hostage.
Tom attempts to console Kim Sharee by offering her the chance to represent him and his aspirations to resurrect the sword and sorcery franchise with his script & screen test for 'Deathslayer 5'.
Kim Sharee turns Tom's screen test for 'Deathslayer 5' into a YouTube phenomenon and Jaquie realises what a monumental mistake she's made by taking her for granted.
But Jaquie is unable to enjoy her new celebrity status largely due to the fact that Tom is usurping it with his internet stardom.
While Jaquie is in rehab being treated for her irrational resentment towards Serita, Kim discovers that there is indeed something more sinister about the nation's favourite female presenter.
Kim hides in Serita's attic, and sees a disturbing wall of magazine cut outs, self-affirmations, news articles and mutilated pictures of Jaquie.
At the centre is Jaquie and Tom's own show prop 'Do celebrities have talent', which they had unsuccessfully pitched to Randall earlier in the series.
To date The Jaquie Brown Diaries is the only NZ drama or comedy that utilises both international and New Zealand commercial music.
The theme song for the show is performed by James Milne, frontman for The Reduction Agents and Lawrence Arabia.