One episode down, and New Girl is already playing old tricks.
Zooey Deschanel’s new sitcom on Fox has her portraying a loveably dorky girl complete with bangs and oversize eyeglasses. After only a few minutes of screen time, you may be wondering why this sweet, silly girl seems so darn familiar. It’s because we’ve met before, in every role Miss Deschanel has ever assumed. Of course, each character had their own variations and individual quirks—Summer in 500 Days of Summer liked Ringo Starr! Kat in Weeds was wanted for arson!—the concept remains the same: offbeat babe with a vintage bike.
Now before I continue, I’d like to clarify that I’m not lamenting this character archetype. It may have turned into a bit of a shtick, but it’s a shtick that suits Deschanel, and I like it. I eat that shit up every time. I’ve suffered through countless shitty romantic comedies just to see Deschanel do her Manic Pixie Dream Girl routine, and I’ve enjoyed it every time, without shame. Okay- with a minimal amount of shame.
The rest of the cast includes two immigrants from ABC’s sweet and underrated Happy Endings: Damon Wayans, Jr. and Max Greenfield, both tremendously funny men who seem to have a contractual obligation to remove their shirts onscreen as much as possible. Mary Elizabeth Ellis also makes an appearance, known to viewers of FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as The Waitress, playing the ex-girlfriend of Jake Johnson’s character. It’s nice to see her on network TV again after the cancellation of her short lived NBC sitcom Perfect Couples.
This is not the episode to judge the series by. It was messy to say the least, and the dialogue was rather stilted. However, as far as pilots go, it was relatively painfree. Pilots are hard. Just ask Tina Fey.
My final call would be to give it half a season or so, and the quality should improve. It definitely has the potential. All of the ingredient of a hit show are in place: a funny cast, a prime time TV spot, and writers who appeared to have graduated high school. If all else fails, they’ve still got Zooey D, because when push comes to cancellations, cute and quirky saves the day, every time.
