Starting in Fall 2011, a vast variety of new television series are taking over. From the fiction drama Terra Nova to a new game show called Take the Money & Run, tons of shows with different genres are invading cable. However, nothing seems as captivating and full of potential as FOX’s new series New Girl. Starring Zooey Deschanel, the woman best known for her roles in the comedy/drama 500 Days of Summer and Yes Man, New Girl captures Zooey’s full spectrum of dry comedic humor and quirkiness. Deschanel stars as Jessica Day, a teacher in her late 20s and a Lord of the Rings nerd who’s trying to learn about love, life, and herself. The pilot starts with Jess trying to prove her sexiness to her boyfriend by coming home early and dropping her clothes, only to be greeted by him cheating on her with another girl. Heartbroken and newly single, Jess looks for an apartment to live in on Craigslist, finding herself interviewed by three guys she’s never met before. There’s Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), a hermit bartender dealing with his own breakup, Coach (Damon Wayans, Jr.) who is only in the pilot episode and is replaced by Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris), an old roommate and life-long jock and basketball player who’s moved back to town, and Schmidt (Max Greenfield), the stereotypical “d-bag bro” who thinks he’s a ladies man, though he hardly gets any ladies. At first the boys are reluctant to let Jess move in, until Schmidt finds out that Jess has model friends and begs for the guys to let her move in. After settling in, Jess spends her days crying on the couch watching Dirty Dancing until the guys go crazy and step in, taking her out to meet a man. This is where the humor takes its highest leap in the pilot. At the bar, the guys sit back and cringe as Jess makes multiple attempts of attracting men with cheesy pick-up lines, such as “hey there, sailor” while awkwardly leaning against a beam. The guys step in and help her out, and by the end of the night, Jess gets a number and a date with a seemingly nice man for the following night. The next night at her date, something goes awry and the guys prove they’re friendship and how protective they really are of their new roommate, giving her the best night she has had in weeks.
Already one of eight honorees in the Most Exciting New Series category at the Critics’ Choice Television Awards¹, the show has the potential to be a very promising comedy. Overall, Deschanel promises a hit by bringing her adored personality to the show, hooking in viewers by just one episode.
Airs: Tuesday 9/8 central on FOX.
¹ http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/critics-choice-awards-honors-8-new-shows/