New Girl

rating: ★★★

Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and her roommates.

This season’s fall comedy line-up is heavy on female talent.

For fans of (500) Days of Summer, like myself, Zooey Deschanel’s character Jess in New Girl isn’t unlike every other character she has ever played. Beyond how unquestionably adorable Deschanel is, there isn’t much substance to her acting. Deschanel is just so gosh darn cute it almost makes up for how cluelessly naive Jess seems to be — naive enough to move into an apartment with three guys she has never met?

New Girl says yes.

Jess’s desperation to move on after a traumatic breakup with her last roommate is understandable but the concept isn’t exactly realistic. Much like Friends, New Girl relies heavily on the four central characters living in close proximity to each other and dealing with colliding personalities. Being unable to escape your roommate’s quirky attributes is a formula that has the potential for hilarity. New Girl starts out strong but expects too much of its characters, overdeveloping their personalities too soon in the program instead of letting them grow at a casual pace.

It’s not that the show isn’t funny — it’s just that the humour isn’t coming naturally yet. Jess’s personality comes across as artificial and forced. She enjoys Lord of the Rings, singing and looping Dirty Dancing on the living room television. Her character doesn’t feel like a grown-up with realistic expectations of the world — which is part of her charm — and it might become hard to watch after a few more episodes.

While the original cast has strong chemistry with Deschanel, this balance is thrown off when a new character, Winston, joins the cast in the second episode and replaces one of the original three roommates, Coach. This happens without a proper explanation as to where Coach lives now and why the roommates advertised on Craigslist when they knew Winston would be moving back to the city.

I didn’t really have any strong desire to see another depiction of a heartbroken girl sitting on the couch post-breakup, watching cheesy romances, crying and feeling sorry for herself, but I can’t deny having genuinely enjoyed New Girl. After the first two episodes I’m already rooting for Nick and Jess to wind up together and hoping Winston and the third roommate, Schmidt, find their footing. I will more than likely be tuning for at least the next few weeks.

2 Broke Girls

rating: ★★★★

Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs).

Like New Girl, 2 Broke Girlsbegins with a break-up and new roommates. But Max (Kat Dennings) doesn’t handle her crisis by crying on the couch. With a mix of sardonic wit, attitude and pointed social commentary, she makes the audience laugh and sympathize with her.

The story takes place in a diner in a rough area of town where Max is responsible for training Caroline as the diner’s new waitress. Kat is a natural in this role, and Beth Behrs manages to play Caroline as more than just a newly-broke, blonde heiress. We learn right away how Caroline’s trained intelligence contrasts with Max’s street smarts and the exchange between these two women is smart and sharp. Best of all, while watching the chemistry between the cast you can tell that they are having fun filming this series.

2 Broke Girls does a good job of introducing the minor characters without overwhelming the audience with too much information. The dynamic within the restaurant is gold. Earl, Bryce and Oleg, three other employees at the diner, aren’t over-emphasized but are a realistic depiction of the personalities one gets used to working with in the food industry.

2 Broke Girls realizes the potential of its leads and the supporting cast supplements the humour while providing ample room for Max and Caroline’s comedic banter. 2 Broke Girls is enjoyable and, unlike many of the other shows starting up this fall, bypasses the initial awkwardness of a new cast and takes off running.

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Images: supplied