Readers will recall this reviewer's dismay at insipid TV offerings. I often wonder if it's just me, or does the entire U.S. find the programs on the tube lame?
A new series, New Girl, is an exception. This show is a delight!
Never the spoiler, I will refrain from giving away any details, but the picture above says a lot. A single girl joins three guys as a roommate. No big deal, by today's standards. But she's no ordinary girl, and these are not plain old guys.
All four vie for who is the most neurotic, socially awkward, and outrageously goofy.
Remember Three's Company? Or When Harry Met Sally? The theme is similar: Guys and gals try to be friends, try to repress their natural attraction for each other, as they assist each other to survive in a zany world. New Girl does the theme perfectly!
Zooey Deschanel, like Amy Adams, Rachel MacAdams, Ellen Page, and a host of cute starlets, charms her way into our hearts with her tears, laughter, and total social ineptitude. She's the sweet girl next door who can't quite get it together.
Zooey is a great comedienne. She reminds this reviewer of Lucille Ball, or maybe Mary Tyler Moore.
Watch her glimmer and shimmer as the wacky female roommate the guys come to adore!
Great fun. Good humor. Good TV.
I am gradually beginning to LOVE this show. Each one grows on me. You nailed it with, "All four vie for who is the most neurotic, socially awkward, and outrageously goofy." This week's episode (and their pattern) concludes in such a poignant, touching way that stops short of sentimentality and cliche. I see this series really developing as well as giving Zoeey Doe-eyes a platform to hone her comedic skills (love her voice).
ReplyDeleteAs I've recently mentioned in this blog, there are very, very few t.v. shows I watch regularly, intentionally. This is my new one. And, just my good luck, it follows Glee, so I don't have to think about it. (Hope you'll give Glee another chance, David. This week's episode was exceptional. Such quality musical scenes as well as storylines.)
Yes, New Girl is really entertaining! Zooey, with her "doe-eyes," is a comic whiz. Remember her in The Yes Man, with Jim Carrey? She was fantastic as the girlfriend of the guy who learns not to lie! She does zany so well. When she looks left or right, with that sardonic grin, she reminds me of Tina Fey, also a comic talent. As you noted, good comedy must strike a balance between sentimentality/cliche and funny. My concern for the series: the guys. Coach is not well drawn yet as a personality. Will the personalities sustain the humor? How long with one of the guys mourn over the past girlfriend before the theme wears thin? And the playboy-guy needs some enriching to become multi-dimensional. But the series right now is FUN!
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