Before I choose my first television show to episodically review, I wanted to write about another show I just recently finished re-watching on Netflix.
Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, New Girl aired on Fox from 2011-2018 and ran for seven seasons. The show centers around middle school teacher Jessica Day (Zooey Deschanel), a quirky and offbeat woman in her late twenties who breaks up with her boyfriend after discovering that he’d been cheating on her, and moves into a loft in Los Angeles with three other single men. Sounds like the beginning of a porno, doesn’t it? Hilarity ensues when her cheery and optimistic attitude are thrown in with the stubborn and sarcastic Nick Miller (Jake Johnson), the neurotic and over-confident Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and the good-hearted but completely oblivious Winston Bishop (Lamorne Morris). Along with Jess’s childhood best friend, Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone), and the loft’s former fourth roommate, Coach (Damon Wayons Jr.), we experience the lives of these thirty-somethings as they navigate friendship, love, career choices, and the occasional drinking game that’s far too complicated to comprehend.
I watched New Girl during its original run and it wasn’t until a few months ago, after the show had been off the air for nearly 5 years, that I finally decided to give the series another viewing. I remember loving the show when I first watched it every week, and the show is still just as funny now as it was when it first premiered. In fact, I feel like I was able to appreciate it more the second time around. It also helped that I was able to watch the show at my own pace instead of waiting a week for each episode.
Before I go any further, I will always do my best to avoid any spoilers but do read at your own risk if this is a show you haven’t seen and don’t want to be spoiled. If that isn’t an issue for you, then great! But, you’ve been warned.
Perhaps one of the strongest qualities in New Girl is its writing. This is a sitcom. More specifically, a buddy sitcom in which the main characters all live together. This is where a lot of the comedy originates. The dialogue is very stupid and ridiculous but it works for the characters and overall tone of the show. It’s very clear that the actors had a lot of respect for the source material but were also given the freedom to improvise dialogue, which the actors did in several episodes. The show also has multiple mini flashbacks or “cut-aways” seen throughout. It’s a similar technique used in shows like 30 Rock or Family Guy, and is implemented masterfully by the creators. Their comedic timing is impeccable.
Like most sitcoms, even though the majority of the stories are comedic in nature, there are plenty of emotionally charged scenes that add depth and resonance to the show. There’s a scene (I forget which season) where Schmidt is pouring his heart and soul out to the woman he loves and he knows that what he’s saying isn’t going to make a difference or change the outcome but he does it anyways. Scenes like this are what keep the show grounded and allows the audience to empathize with the characters in a meaningful and relatable way.
Speaking of characters, the cast is incredible. You can tell immediately that the ensemble between all the actors seems effortless. Clearly, they respect each other as artists and it shows when they’re onscreen together. New Girl has some of the best chemistry in a sitcom that I have ever seen. That kind of thing doesn’t always come naturally and collaboration is so important when making a TV show, especially if you want to be on the air for several seasons. Even the minor characters who pop up every once in awhile are hilarious. “Outside Dave”, played by Steve Agee, is a homeless character who lives outside of the loft and has numerous run-ins with the main cast. His dialogue is so ridiculous that I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers just told him to say whatever he wanted.
The acting is superb. All of the main characters were perfectly cast, including the supporting roles that don’t appear onscreen as often. Everyone is hilarious. No notes.
New Girl took a lot of narrative risks that most shows try to avoid. When Zooey Deschanel was pregnant at the beginning of season 5, instead of forcefully writing the pregnancy into the story to keep the actor onscreen, they gave Jess jury duty on a high profile case in which she had to be sequestered for several weeks. This allowed the writers to continue the story they wanted to tell without Zooey Deschanel on set. I thought this was a brilliant choice instead of just making the character pregnant or fat. Personally, I think that’s lazy writing. It’s definitely a risk when the star of your show has to miss several episodes and have to rely on the other main characters of the show to carry it while she’s away. You would think that the rhythm and pacing would change without the main character; however, that was not the case in this situation. The other actors really held their own and never missed a beat. During this time, they even introduced a new character: Reagan. Played by Megan Fox, Reagan moves into the loft while Jess is away at jury duty. She actually becomes an integral part of the overall plot moving forward and appears in several episodes.
I wanted to write about New Girl because it’s one of the few shows I can relate to on a personal level. Back in 2011, when the show first premiered, I was also making a major life decision to move to another city. As I watched the show, I found myself relating to Nick Miller a lot. His mannerisms and personality are very similar to my own. However, when I re-watched the series a few months ago, I found myself relating a lot more to Jess, mostly due to some of the life choices she was experiencing. But as I continued the series, I was actually able to relate to all of the characters. It’s interesting watching this show at two very different points in my life. What I took away the first time was far different than the second.
Seriously, if you’re a millennial and have never watched this TV show, then I highly recommend it. In my opinion, it is one of the best examples of what life is like in your thirties, especially if you’re from my generation. I mean, there are four people living together in a loft for crying out loud. It couldn’t get much more millennial than that. But the stories that unfold as you go through the series are something that we can draw comparisons with our own lives. All of the main characters go through some sort of career change throughout the series, and the show elegantly captures the stress and anxiety we all experience when making such a major life change.
My only complaint about New Girl is that the final season was only eight episodes. The season itself was fine. I just wish it was a full season like the previous six. But there could be plenty of reasons why it was so short. Maybe the creators thought they weren’t going to get another season, similar to the situation Scrubs had back when it was on the air. Whatever the reason, the season ultimately delivered a satisfying end to the show, albeit a short one.
New Girl is no longer available to stream on Netflix but it has a new home on Hulu so if you want to check it out, I highly recommend it.
Rating: 6/7
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OMG I have ALWAYS associated you with Nick Miller, hahah. Or, that actor in general. His voice is nearly identical to yours!
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