TV Review: New Girl

I used to force myself to come up with more creative titles than the one above, but lo and behold, I suck at it and they usually don't make any sense. As such, this year, it's going to be pretty straight-forward and lame in the title department. I'm sure you're heartbroken.

Anyway... I watched Fox's new pilot New Girl on iTunes the other day even though it doesn't actually premiere until the 20th. If only all shows did this...

New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel as a heartbroken goofball who needs to find a new apartment after finding her boyfriend shacking up with another girl. In typical sitcom fashion, she moves in with an unlikely trio of single guys. Wackiness ensues. There's nothing earth-shattering or innovative about the setup of this comedy, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have potential. It was well-made and competently written, if not awe-inspiring or anything. At the end of the day, however, brass tacks, whether or not you love or hate this show is dependent on one sole factor: whether or not you love or hate Zooey Deschanel (and no, I'm not going to look up her last name to check the spelling). As with any star vehicle, the star is question is the number one variable to consider. Based on the fact that most people seem to think Zooey is just the most adorable actress on the planet, I suspect New Girl will do very well in the ratings department, even if, as I found, the pilot was lacking in several areas.

First and foremost, I should disclose my bias against Zooey. I don't hate her exactly, but I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about. She comes across to me as very one-note and doesn't seem to have the range needed to carry a show. I enjoy a fair bit of quirk to my favorite characters, but hers is an all-consuming flavor that overpowers everything else. Rather than finding her clumsiness, marble-mouthed-iness, social ineptitude, and childlike jejune endearing, I find her to be relentlessly and almost oppressively quirky. As with Sheldon Cooper, that level of consistent idiosyncrasy goes a very, very long way and I'm just not sure I want to see it anchoring a show. She makes up and sings songs for random events, she can't dress herself, she dances like a goofball, she's inelegant and awkward around men, she seems to have no concept of shame, and has an omni-present juvenile innocence that makes her only barely capable of navigating adult social situations. Really, that's a conservative list. It makes for a lot to endure on an ongoing basis. I quite enjoy offbeat elements to characters, but I'm just not sure I can handle every offbeat element ever attributed to anyone since the dawn of time all rolled into one. I have a sinking feeling it'll get real old real fast unless they flesh out her character with some actual depth in the coming episodes. As much as I'd like that to be the case, I fear the writers will be banking on her awkwardness for most of their comic beats. The pilot had some charming moments, but the prospect of watching Zooey be Zooey week-in and week-out is fairly off-putting. Again, if you love her, you'll love this show. If you don't love her, you'll probably fall off the wagon after a few episodes.

The pilot wasn't a disaster by any stretch, but it wasn't a laugh riot either. I actually found myself enjoying the show more and more as it went on, and found Zooey's over-the-top affectations to be less annoying as the pilot progressed, but I don't think I actually laughed even once. I'd place this show in the category of "pleasant" more than anything else. Sure I smiled from time to time and found the supporting cast to be capable and likeable enough to make the pilot successful, but it just didn't have the comedic punch I was hoping for. Indeed, the moments I found the funniest seemed to be afterthoughts and quiet throwaways rather than the writers showing me their A-game. Things like putting a dollar in the "Douchebag Jar" for eye-rollingly tacky comments, listening to the guys serenade Zooey with "I've Had the Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing, and seeing her overflowing with awkwardness at every turn were on the main stage here, but it was the little things thrown in that actually charmed me the most. My two favorite moments were probably missed by 95% of the viewing audience. My favorite line in the pilot was when Zooey (her character's name is Jess, for the record) is being hit on by a buy at the bar as he says, "I like your glasses," to which she responds, "Thanks. They help me see." Not that original, granted, but it worked. It wasn't so much the line itself as Zooey's delivery, which was spot on and restrained for once. Other than that, the best moment for me was, after being kicked out of a restaurant, Zooey grabs the piece of whole wheat bread from the basket, the same piece she had complained about earlier. It was hardly even noticeable on screen, but that was my favorite moment. I'm not sure how the bodes for the show as a whole...

All in all, it was... fine. There wasn't enough good there to rave about and there wasn't enough bad to warrant a rant. It had its charms, and I think over time it could turn into something more substantial, but from the pilot alone, I can't say I'm clamoring for more. I have a very crowded viewing schedule and "it was enjoyable enough I suppose" just doesn't cut it these days. That said, I'll be giving it a few more episodes to find its feet of course. In a perfect world, this show will become much more of an ensemble than the pilot would let on and it won't simply be "The Zooey Show" 24 hours a day. Damon Wayans Jr.'s character had to be recast (this show was in second position to his gig on Happy Endings, which I'm guessing he's pretty pissed got picked up because I have a feeling New Girl might be the new "it show" of the season, whereas Happy Endings barely survived the axe), so the show will look a fair bit different once it's re-shot, I'm guessing. In terms of my enjoyment of the pilot, it was actually supporting player Jake M. Johnson who proved to be the real star of the show for me, adding a much-needed calm and sober presence on a show frothing over with quirky. He struck a much warmer, more engaging, and much nicer balance between zany and real than any of the other characters and left me with the wish that he were the actual star, not just the one in my book. If the show can build up enough of an ensemble like him though, even all the Zooey in the world might be tempered. Might be. I have a feeling they may be positing his character as a potential love interest for Zooey though, so in spite of the fact that he can clearly do better, it will likely make him more of a focus in the future.

I may not have walked away from this pilot with a newfound appreciation of Zooey Deschanel, but I didn't walk away completely annoyed either. That's progress for me. Overall it was a pleasant, occasionally endearing pilot, if not the most memorable. The opening theme was probably the worst part, which in terms of a show's longevity, is far from the worst that could happen... More than anything for me sadly, the takeaway from this pilot was the dejected realization that I was going to be stuck on "I've Had the Time of My Life" for the next several days. Thanks a lot, show. Hopefully the more irritating elements will fall by the wayside, however, because for as much as I don't love Zooey, I think this show will do well and has some definite potential down the road.

Pilot Grade: B- (or whatever the letter equivalent of "meh" is)

Fox Pilots 2011: Volume 2 (comedies)

I have to give Fox a little credit for continuing to try for new live action comedies, but let's face it. They haven't had a hit in ages. Raising Hope is a fun little show and it does well enough, but it didn't exactly reinvigorate the genre for the network. They have had a lot of success with animation, however, so at least they've got that. Indeed, as part of their new line-up, they have some new animated programming, so expect their Sunday nights to be even more jam-packed than they already are. I don't generally focus on animation in this blog, but if you're interested, their new animated comedies are Allen Gregory and Napoleon Dynamite. There's not a whole lot out there on them at the moment, but I did see trailers. Meh.

Here are the new Fox comedies premiering this fall:

THE NEW GIRL

Description: Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) fronts a cast that includes Damon Wayans Jr. (well, not anymore--Happy Endings got picked up, so this role will have to be recast), Max Greenfield (Veronica Mars), and others.



First Impressions: Sigh. I should probably start by pointing out that I generally can't stand Zooey Deschanel. She's pretty much the blandest actress on the planet. You know, when she's not being completely annoying. I know more than a few guys that just adore her and I don't get it. Same goes for Scarlett Johanssen. Pretty girls, terrible actresses. That said, it's really hard to approach this pilot with anything more than a groan. In terms of concept, it's far from the worst I've seen, but the thought of watching Zooey unconvincingly sob and go into stereotypical "girls are just so emotional!" hysterics doesn't appeal to me at all. My only hope would be that the unstable sad sack shown in the trailer would get her effing act together sooner than later. She's just trying so hard all the time. When you're desperate to be quirky, it doesn't make you interesting or unique, it makes you a dork. And in this instance, it makes her a dork who sings all the time. And dances. I appreciate a good goofball and I love a quirky energy, but with Zooey? It's just annoying. Which, to be fair, seems to be the intent. That's where I'm a little hopeful for this one. If their intention was for her to be an annoying mess at first, but who becomes someone you'd actually want to watch week-to-week, I could get behind that. Sure, I'd want this progression to happen way faster than it probably will, but I'm trying to be optimistic here. When you can't get behind the anchor to the show, it's nearly impossible to care about the show as a whole. If Zooey proves to be way more interesting and considerably funnier than she appeared to be in the trailer, this show could work. Given that all the Damon Wayans Jr. scenes will have to be reshot, the end result will likely be a bit different anyway. With this show, it pretty much boils down to whether you like Zooey or not, because she seems to be the whole show. I'm... not a fan. But, most people seem to think she's just adorkable, so odds are this will be a hit. I'll give it a shot and hope for the best.


I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER

Description: Stars Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), Katie Finneran (Wonderfalls), Chad Coleman (The Wire), and Kevin Rahm (Desperate Housewives).



First Impressions: Well... Zooey's looking better and better? Wow. Um... aside from noting the Glee soundtrack, I hardly know what to say. This looks like a tragic case of a good cast in a bad show. I actually like the actors involved quite a lot, but this looks pretty painful to watch. The base concept doesn't grab me at all. I think there are way too many shows out there teaching girls how to be bitches, thanks, and feeding the perception that young girls are nothing but brain-dead, slutty mean girls who are the bane of everyone's existence always grates on me. I just can't really relate to it at all and find it hard to believe that any parent could be so horrendously that they'd allow their daughters to turn out like this. I realize they're exaggerating for comic effect here, but that doesn't make it seem any more charming. That said, comedies are far and away the most difficult to size up from just a trailer. As ever, I'll give it a shot, but not only do I think it will be pretty unfunny, but I'm pretty sure it won't exactly start a fire in the ratings department. Honestly, if they simply got rid of the daughters, I think the show would look a lot more promising. With any luck, the daughters are simply a device and aren't central to the story at all. Given the number of lines they were granted in the trailer, this could very well be the case. Hopefully that isn't the only comedic device they'll be using though, because that will get real old real fast. Like, by the end of the trailer fast. I'm not sure I even cracked a smile during the trailer, so I'm not holding out a lot of hope for this one. If you're in to stereotypes, however, hop on board!