New Girl
Zooey Deschanel isn't exactly a "new" girl. She's been more of an "it" girl in the realm of indie comedy for a few years now, beloved by many critics as well as the fans who've discovered her quirky films (Our Idiot Brother, Your Highness, (500) Days of Summer, Yes Man, Elf).
But now, with Fox's new sitcom New Girl, Deschanel is introducing herself to a larger, more diverse prime-time audience. And the first impression she's making is decidedly ... mixed.
The word new in New Girl refers to Deschanel's living situation. She plays Jess, a buoyant free spirit who, after breaking up with her boyfriend, begins rooming with a trio of self-absorbed dudes. There's sad sack Nick, a bartender who just went through a breakup of his own; Schmidt, a slimy womanizer; and Winston Bishop, a semipro basketball player who just returned from a stint in Latvia.
The premise seems to owe a lot to long-gone Three's Company—a show that, in its day, was considered fairly racy.
But men and women rooming together is no longer the scandalous situation it once was (and no cross-dressing is required). Thus, New Girl must work hard to up its sex quotient. Schmidt, with his Charlie Harper-level libido in play, does just that. And he gets a lot of help from his roomies, who aren't one bit shy about the subject, obsessing over it with the same sort of fervor that quilters obsess over cross-stitching.
It's a shame, really. Because if you could somehow expunge all the sexual situations, jokes and discussions, New Girl feels—like its star—charming and goofy. (But you would simultaneously shorten the half-hour comedy to a three-minute skit.) There's a certain disarming innocence here—not sexual innocence, obviously, but rather a sense that it's OK to make up your own goofy "funky chicken" dance at a wedding or enjoy, without irony, old Saturday morning cartoons. It suggests that while friendship might not make bad days better, it can at least make them survivable. It tells us that the best things in life—companionship, humor, love—really are free.
It's that braid of childlike innocence and juvenile humor that makes the program so frustrating. Deschanel's warm smile and goofy sensibility make me wish I could welcome this New Girl—without having to deal with the same old raunch.
Episode Reviews
"Wedding"
Jess masquerades as Nick's girlfriend at a wedding. Schmidt asks her to dress provocatively, then jokes, "Who let the dirty slut out of the slut house?" when she appears in a short, shoulder-baring dress.
Meanwhile, Schmidt tries to pick up a beautiful girl who used to get drunk and pass out on his porch. When he learns she's six months sober, he pretends to be a recovering alcoholic too. But he worries he'll wind up with another woman he habitually has sex with after weddings. In a flashback montage, the two passionately make out in closets. And later we see the woman straddle an apparently naked Schmidt. When Schmidt, wearing clip-on earrings, asks if they should go out on a real date, the woman says, "I'm just using you for your body." Winston grinds with (an unwilling) Jess on the dance floor, shocking onlookers and frightening an 8-year-old boy.
Folks make lewd gestures and crass comments. Nick gets very drunk. Schmidt orders wine and asks the bartender to fill a water bottle with vodka. Jess lies to Nick's girlfriend, bragging about all the sex she and Nick are having. Jess cuts off too-tight bike shorts.