March 22, 2012 • Katie Gerweck, Editor
Filed under Editor Columns, Terrible Television
Critics seem to love the comedy New Girl, a show on the FOX channel. The New York Daily News even called it "one of the new season's potentially best sitcoms." Unfortunately, I just can't see where they're coming from.
Zooey Deschanel is the star of the show, but she also shares screen time with the three men who play her roommates on the show. The lack of focus on just one character is not a good thing, as it detracts from Zooey's story. She is, after all, the 'New Girl,' and the side plots of the roommate characters get distracting. It might be okay if the side plots were good, but they're really not.
The episode I watched was called "One Night Stand." In it, Jess (Deschanel's character) is determined to have a one night stand on Valentine's Day. The other characters point out that this plan has bad idea written all over it, but Jess is determined for reasons that aren't clearly explained.
Schmidt, one of her roommates (played by Max Greenfield), decides to help Jess on her quest. His duty is to make sure that she chooses someone who she doesn't have an emotional attachment to, but this is easier said than done. Eventually, Jess finds a bland man named Oliver to go home with.
The entire episode is full of Jess's awkwardness, which can be very overbearing and distracting. She frequently talked in weird voices, said confusing things, and made random hand motions. Her one night stand ultimately failed, as they were interrupted by Oliver's ex-girlfriend. An incredibly stupid and unfunny scene followed.
The three roommates got some screen time, too, but their time on screen was too short to form an interesting story. Overall, the episode wasn't funny at all and very odd.
