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New Girl - The Show You Should Be Watching Or I Will Kill You

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  • WMain00WMain00 Registered User regular
    Heartlash wrote:
    This show was pretty bad. Everything is really forced and literally any moment worth a damn in the ENTIRE pilot episode has been shown in commercials.

    Deschanel is typecast as a girl who's meant to be quirky because she says she's quirky and does goofy dances from time to time. All the characters are paper thin archetypes and the whole thing feels rushed. It's as though a group of marketers formulated the concept and pushed it through production as fast as humanly possible without bothering to spend much time on pesky things like writing.

    Sorry, Jeffe, gotta tell it like it is.

    The problems within the series can all be answered in one easy word:

    FOX

  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    I can't believe this show did the "beautiful girl takes off her glasses, and suddenly everyone realizes she's attractive" moment. That was getting parodied ten years ago, and now it's almost quaint.

    Anyway, it had some cute moments, but that couldn't hide the fact that the show's built upon a bunch of already-tired conceits.

  • poshnialloposhniallo Registered User regular
    El Jeffe is gonna kill us...

    I figure I could take a bear.
  • NeadenNeaden Registered User regular
    I can't believe this show did the "beautiful girl takes off her glasses, and suddenly everyone realizes she's attractive" moment. That was getting parodied ten years ago, and now it's almost quaint.

    Anyway, it had some cute moments, but that couldn't hide the fact that the show's built upon a bunch of already-tired conceits.
    Yeah, I'd say it is pretty solidly mediocre. It had some funny bits, but not enough for me to actively remember when its on and watch it.

  • Centipede DamascusCentipede Damascus Registered User regular
    I like the part in the commercial where she walks out in the dress and all the guys are like "whoa" but then she does a goofy dance and suddenly they don't want to have sex with her anymore.

  • GoslingGosling Looking Up Soccer In Mongolia Right Now, Probably Watertown, WIRegistered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Zooey is not as funny as she thinks she is. She and a couple friends launched this one humor website, HelloGiggles, not too long ago, basically because they figured there wasn't enough girl's humor.

    This is not funny. I'm not sure these are even jokes. And also they make my H-scroll cry out in pain.

    Seriously, Zooey. This. This is what you call humor? Or this? And this is a less-funny version of a joke 30 Rock (a show written by a girl, mind you) already did.

    Gosling on
    I have a new soccer blog The Minnow Tank. Reading it psychically kicks Sepp Blatter in the bean bag.
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    It actually doesn't seem to be a humor website, in spite of the name. Instead it just seems like TheHairpin.com kind of thing where a bunch of bloggers get together and write about whatever they like under a vague banner of "stuff for ladies."

    And Zooey's sketching just seems to be random musings, not jokes.

    Robos A Go Go on
  • devCharlesdevCharles Gainesville, FLRegistered User regular
    I didn't think it was very good. One of my problems is how they present Zooey's character. You know how in 30 Rock, they make a point to try and make Liz Lemon out to be kind of an unattractive mess. Of course, Tina Fey is pretty attractive, so it doesn't always work, but they still successfully sell the premise with the right context. Zooey Deschanel on the other hand is not unattractive in any universe. She's presented as kind of quirky, but that doesn't take away from the fact she is Zooey Deschanel. That and some of her dialog just feels like nerd pandering to some degree.

    All the stuff with the guys seemed like poorly written material from the FX show "The League."

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  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
    devCharles wrote:
    I didn't think it was very good. One of my problems is how they present Zooey's character. You know how in 30 Rock, they make a point to try and make Liz Lemon out to be kind of an unattractive mess. Of course, Tina Fey is pretty attractive, so it doesn't always work, but they still successfully sell the premise with the right context. Zooey Deschanel on the other hand is not unattractive in any universe. She's presented as kind of quirky, but that doesn't take away from the fact she is Zooey Deschanel. That and some of her dialog just feels like nerd pandering to some degree.

    All the stuff with the guys seemed like poorly written material from the FX show "The League."

    This was one of the reasons I didn't like 30 Rock when it first started - it seemed like (during the first season) they were leaning pretty heavily on the "Liz is unattractive" thing, which like you said just doesn't work very much because it's Tina Fey. They were able to refine their usage of it much better by Season 2. Hopefully they'll be able to work Zooey's character into something more than a bagful of tropes; Liz Lemon is funny for the most part because of her unique character, and so far (admittedly it's only been one episode and a pilot at that) there isn't much that defines... Jess? I think that's her name.

  • NeadenNeaden Registered User regular
    The guys kind of bug me because I'm not sure why they are all friends. Like they never had any moments together that sold me on them being a group of longstanding friends or anything like that. Also, and this is nitpicky, at one point Zoey's character is laying on the couch watching dirty dancing again and someone says they should do something tonight after work. She's supposed to be a teacher. how early was she up that she is watching dirty dancing and why is the bartender already awake at 6 in the morning? Writing this also makes me realize that despite watching the pilot last night I don't know any characters name.

  • BloodySlothBloodySloth Registered User regular
    My girlfriend and I are running with the theory that Zooey Deschanel is without a soul. She has creepy doll eyes, and it always seems like she's trying extra hard to be a human being.

    It prevents me from enjoying her work.

  • MalaysianShrewMalaysianShrew Registered User regular
    I just watched the pilot. This show can be summed up as 3 guys saying this about their female roommate:

    "Oh shit, we forgot to take our female roommate for a shoe shopping."

    And then they come home to find their furniture all torn up.

    *Laugh track*

    Never trust a big butt and a smile.
  • stevemarks44stevemarks44 Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    I'm going to give it a shot. I'll at least watch the pilot. I've heard Deschanel elevates what is pretty elementary material, and hope that the show doesn't rely on me finding her "undesirable" in any way/shape/form.

    EDIT: Expectations met. Zooey makes what is pretty bad material pretty passable. She's charming in a way that the character needs to be, but I honestly see this as more of a decent romantic comedy than a series.

    Deschanel's quirky glasses and Lord of the Rings references don't buy her "nerd" points anymore. Much like the latter interpretation of the Liz Lemon character, the idea that men can't find cute, non-slutty and nerdy girls that like to eat attractive is such a lame thing to revolve an entire show around it is really pretty awful. It reeks of 40-50somethings writing shows about how they think "the young people" think.

    I don't hate the relationship she has with the guys, and though they aren't as strong a group of friends as a believably bonded pair like in The League, I think given the chance the relationship could be dynamic enough to be interesting.

    Essentially, I'd say the pilot is a 5/10, but with a few episodes under their belt, Deschanel's character evolving beyond this horribly dated and unbelievable female stereotype and the guys becoming deeper characters than just "Bros", this could be a pretty solid sitcom.

    stevemarks44 on
  • devCharlesdevCharles Gainesville, FLRegistered User regular
    I don't hate the relationship she has with the guys, and though they aren't as strong a group of friends as a believably bonded pair like in The League, I think given the chance the relationship could be dynamic enough to be interesting.

    I agree. Basically ever male group part in the show is done better by "The League."

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  • stevemarks44stevemarks44 Registered User regular
    devCharles wrote:
    I don't hate the relationship she has with the guys, and though they aren't as strong a group of friends as a believably bonded pair like in The League, I think given the chance the relationship could be dynamic enough to be interesting.

    I agree. Basically ever male group part in the show is done better by "The League."

    And I would even go as far as to say, the shows that don't do it as well as the League still do it better than The New Girl thus far. Ted and Marshall have such a believable and realistically storied history, even from the pilot of How I Met Your Mother. The dynamic of the group in Happy Endings seems to mesh really well and have a believable flow. The Always Sunny gang has awkward social mores and norms, even from the offset, that make them believable.

    The New Girl seemed to take three popular sitcom archetypes and slap them together in one apartment. I got no sense of previous friendship, and thus the conclusion wherein they all decide together to
    rescue Deschanel from that asshole date
    seemed to be really convenient and without any challenge. The episode's climax seemed to mostly hide behind the absurdity and silliness of the situation to mask the fact that emotionally and interpersonally, it was a highly illogical and out of left field progression. In honesty, each of their particular gravitations to Jess seemed to be much more well-developed and warm than any of their relationships with each other. I think the premise of the show may seem more believable if Jess was friends with one the guys and they had two other random guys move in with them to pay rent or something.

    I'm actually liking the show less and less the more that I think about it, and hope that at least by episode 3 there's something for the show to stand on.

  • mxmarksmxmarks Registered User regular
    This is one of the few instances where I, out of principle, will not devote a moment of my time to watching this because I am so sick to death of the commercials.

    I feel like I've seen the whole pilot 20 times now. So. Many. Commercials.

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  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    mxmarks wrote:
    This is one of the few instances where I, out of principle, will not devote a moment of my time to watching this because I am so sick to death of the commercials.

    I feel like I've seen the whole pilot 20 times now. So. Many. Commercials.

    Man, I'm glad I never watch commercials anymore.

    So yeah, went ahead and set the DVR to record it. Better than messing with iTunesamawhatsit. I will report back. Thankfully, this thread has lowered my expectations considerably, which means it's actually more likely I'll enjoy it now. Here's hoping it gets better with future episodes, too.

  • GoslingGosling Looking Up Soccer In Mongolia Right Now, Probably Watertown, WIRegistered User regular
    I have a new soccer blog The Minnow Tank. Reading it psychically kicks Sepp Blatter in the bean bag.
  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    mxmarks wrote:
    This is one of the few instances where I, out of principle, will not devote a moment of my time to watching this because I am so sick to death of the commercials.

    I feel like I've seen the whole pilot 20 times now. So. Many. Commercials.

    I had the same reaction when I had to sit through the advertisements for The Black Donnellys

    Practically drove me up the wall with the annoying VA narrator.

    Godfather on
  • KyouguKyougu Registered User regular
    Watching it right now, and Jess is straddling the line between quirky/adorable and just plain annoying.

    Strangely enough I'm liking the guys. Yeah, they're archetypes but I think the actors are doing a decent job with the material.

  • RocketSauceRocketSauce Registered User regular
    Zooey danced across my web browser earlier this morning to remind me that he show was going to be on tonight. I watched it, it was okay. The editing of the jokes seemed off. I think there's a show in there somewhere, but it really just seemed like a show I'd seen a hundred times before with some new faces to stand in.

  • DeebaserDeebaser on my way to work in a suit and a tie Ahhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered User regular
    Jeffe, what the fuck, man? I just watched that trailer and I'd rather stare at a portal into the future that only shows every bad thing that will happen to me up to and including my death for 23 minutes than watch that show.

  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    Some good moments. Zooey is charming as always. Could be decent.

    But, here's the thing. I had the misfortune of seeing Up All Night. That... that was evil. Not a single laugh, smile, or chuckle.

    I'm pretty sure if I saw "Heil Honey I'm Home", I'd make positive comments about the guy playing Hitler.

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Deebaser wrote:
    Jeffe, what the fuck, man? I just watched that trailer and I'd rather stare at a portal into the future that only shows every bad thing that will happen to me up to and including my death for 23 minutes than watch that show.
    hi5

    *runs away*

  • chiasaur11chiasaur11 Never doubt a raccoon. Do you think it's trademarked?Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote:
    Deebaser wrote:
    Jeffe, what the fuck, man? I just watched that trailer and I'd rather stare at a portal into the future that only shows every bad thing that will happen to me up to and including my death for 23 minutes than watch that show.
    hi5

    *runs away*

    Do you know what that portal shows?

    It shows you watching Up All Night. Because that is SO MUCH WORSE THAN THIS.

  • Kipling217Kipling217 Registered User regular
    Soooo..... Watch this show or die? Watch this show or face the sweet release of death? I can see which I would want.

    This show is like a bad conjunction of Hipster/Manic Pixie Dream Girl at its worst. If I didn't dislike the stereotypes beforehand, this show would turn me against both Hipsters and MPDGs. The only tolerable characters was Coach and he is gone in the next episode.

    The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    Kipling217 wrote:
    This show is like a bad conjunction of Hipster/Manic Pixie Dream Girl at its worst.

    Yes.

    I found myself laughing a couple times. I also felt myself actively not laughing when jokes fell painfully flat. Just...man.

    And yes, the guys are rejects from The League.

    This show is just an MPDG orgy, where the MPDG does three guys at once.

  • Modern ManModern Man Registered User regular
    The premise of this show is kind of an updated version of Dharma & Greg.

    There. I said it.

    Aetian Jupiter - 41 Gunslinger - The Old Republic
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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    See, a lot of my fondness comes with the knowledge that this is a pilot. I honestly don't think I've seen a pilot that wasn't kind of terrible. I enjoyed a lot of this, and the parts I didn't like were mostly pilot-esque incidences of trying too hard, or just the characters not having developed chemistry yet, or the timing being off.

    I think that once the actors sink into their roles and the writers hit a groove, this could be really great. Also: I love Zooey Deschanel, which certainly helps. The pilot basically bought my loyalty for the next, say, three episodes.

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  • CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    I have problems recognizing people by names and faces, particularly actors, so I'm not sure if I've ever seen Zooey Desc..unspellable last name... in anything else. Is that her normal voice or was she trying to reinforce the 'I'm quirky' message by doing something weird with her speech? I only caught about half of the episode, but she weirded me out every time she opened her mouth.

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  • JoshmviiJoshmvii Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    Most sitcom pilots are stupid, and they either get better or they don't. I actually think this show might succeed. It'll rely on Zooey carrying it herself, but people in general really like her. I thought the pilot had a few pretty funny moments, like when she was trying to be sexy with the plant and she's singing "I'll clean that up later..." My wife thought it was funny too.

    It definitely wasn't great, but most sitcom pilots I end up thinking I need to give it more episodes before I decide if I'll stick with it. The League, Modern Family, Louie, and a few other ones are the only recent ones where I clearly knew I was going to like it after one episode.

    Also, I did not realize until last night that the black dude is Damon Wayans kid. He's also on Happy Endings. As soon as I saw the name on the credits I realized his mannerisms are identical to his dad. I guess they're replacing him with a different black dude for episodes 2 and on because Happy Endings was renewed.

    Joshmvii on
  • TehSpectreTehSpectre Registered User regular
    This was... Okay.

    2 broke chicks had superior jokes and they were dirtier.

    So far it is Kat Dennings + 1 and Zooey + 0

    9u72nmv0y64e.jpg
  • Styrofoam SammichStyrofoam Sammich WANT. normal (not weird)Registered User regular
    Holy fuck this show was terrible.

    Like the only good part was the jeggings bit.

    It had zooey deschanel dancing naked and I still couldn't enjoy it.

    wq09t4opzrlc.jpg
  • tsmvengytsmvengy Registered User regular
    This was pretty funny. The douchebag jar was a pretty good joke, but it no doubt will be overused. Coach was funny, too bad he won't be back. Hopefully it stays good and doesn't just devolve into rotating plot lines of the various roommates falling for the girl.

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  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    I laughed when she did that thing with her glasses after seeing a good-looking guy. I think it was a Groucho Marx reference or something.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    I took it as a Looney Toons reference.

    Which could itself be a Marx reference, I dunno.

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  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    It could be an Eric Morecambe reference. Probably not, though.

  • devCharlesdevCharles Gainesville, FLRegistered User regular
    I love Zooey Deschanel, which certainly helps.

    I think this will be what keeps this show alive the best, as you're certainly not alone.

    Personally, even though I liked 500 Days of Summer, and I liked Zooey Deschanel in that role, this show's premise seems to be directly fighting with the fact she's Zooey Deschanel and men would do terrible, terrible things to get with that. But she's a little quirky, so that'll surely drive the men away. 500 Days of Summer embraced it, and was better for it.

    Coach was the best of the guys, as he seemed to actually have something of a personality beyond generic.

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  • Kipling217Kipling217 Registered User regular
    edited September 2011
    So after having considered the show a bit.... Still going with 2 broke girls. I prefer snarky to quirky and Kat to Zoey.

    Thing is, I see what the show was aiming for. A version of Scrubs or Herman's Head with Zoey in the Zach Braff role. BUT it misses in trying to connect Zoey's weird thoughts to reality(for a sitcom reality). When Zach Braff went off on into his imagination, the show knew to cut away to another scene. It separated the crazy thoughts in Zach's head and the reality of rest of the sitcom. In fact the show made fun of it by showing how others saw him when he went of into lala land.

    In this show there is no separation between the crazy in Zoeys head and the reality of rest of the sitcom. The show sufferes for it. It can give the impression that she is a manic-depressive having a nervous breakdown. I know thats not what they where going for, but the it does detract from the show.

    Kipling217 on
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  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    I'll probably watch this to give it a chance. If it doesn't get a whole lot better I won't have to worry about when to stop, because I suspect that decision will be made for me.

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