OK, so I know I trashed this show pretty badly when it first went on the air, but I've found that I've really warmed up to FOX's New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel. It's sort of a 21st-century Friends, albeit from a more masculine perspective, as Zooey's three loftmates are all guys. Like Friends, you're often left wondering how they can all afford to live there, as one dude's a bartender and another doesn't even have a job, but the cheestastic scenarios of the early episodes (like that whole Dirty Dancing bit) have gotten somewhat less silly as the characters have developed genuine interactions that seem less put-on and more natural, even if they're still pretty crazy sometimes.
Mind you, it seems the producers agreed with me on that Coach character, who was so awful that he got booted after the pilot. His replacement, Winston, is pretty much a typical token black guy who doesn't seem all that distinguishable from the other loveable loser, Nick, aside from his skin colour. His whole bit about being a pro basketball player overseas has largely been abandoned–and it wasn't all that believable to begin with, considering that the actor who plays him is only about 5'9″. But the other characters have been well-developed, with TV veteran Max Greenfield shining as the half-yuppie, half-bro Schmidt. Hmm, perhaps they could've focused on one of those two traits, and given the other to Winston? Mind you, it wouldn't be the same show without Schmidt.
Not that I watch the show for Schmidt (though he is the most relateable character next to the double-cast loveable losers)–or even for Jess (Zooey) for that matter. New Girl's biggest revelation has gotta be Hannah Simone, who, like her character, CeCe, is a half-Indian model. Wouldja believe she got her start as the host of a reality show about video gamers!? (And to think all the posts on its IMDB discussion board are about gaming!) Something tells me we'll be seeing her in Maxim sometime soon. Oh wait, nevermind…
Who's THAT girl? It's CeCe!
Do I think that New Girl will resonate with the first wave of Gen Y the way that Friends did with Gen X? Probably not, seeing as we don't really watch TV anymore. I'm not sure the show truly displays how reliant we've become on technology, and half its characters are TV sitcom retreads, not unique to Generation Me. (Hell, you could even say that Jess is a modern-day Phoebe…) And like I said, this show's geared more towards the guys, sort of a PG Cocktales-meets backwards Three's Company. And between Zooey and Hannah, you've got your own Mary Ann vs. Ginger thing going on. OK, now that was a Gilligan's Island reference…
Wait, did I just refer to an old Baby Boomer TV show? Shit, I'd better quit now while I'm ahead!
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