TV Review: "New Girl"

Zooey Deschanel stars in the new Fox sitcom "New Girl," the first new show I've seen two full episodes of. She's Jess, a gal who comes home early to find her boyfriend sleeping with another woman. She moves in with three guys she met online and comedy hijincks (hijincs? hijinks? hijinx?) ensue. Or do they?

Deschanel has been around a while, appearing in indie films and big releases (Elf; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). She's sweet and quirky and nothing like her sister Emily, who has the title role in "Bones."

There seems to be a lot of love out there for this show, but I don't know where its coming from. Max Greenfield (who's been kicking around assorted TV shows almost as long as Deschanel has been making movies), Jake M. Johnson and Lamorne Morris (who?) are the roommates. Their characters are stock cutouts: Douche, Sensitive Guy and Jock, respectively. I can't imagine these three as friends in real-life. Damon Wayans, Jr. appeared in the pilot, but his 'real' show on ABC ("Happy Endings") was picked up and he was replaced by Morris, I suppose just to make sure there was a black guy in the mix.

Jess is weird. She makes up songs about herself, is insecure and has no problem sharing a bathroom with three guys (even all at the same time). She makes lame jokes, pouts and mewls incessantly and has a supermodel best friend (Hannah Simone). The roommates don't get her, though they're trying to adjust. IN the second episode, Jess breaks the boys' TV and they force her to go back and reclaim her possessions from her ex, just so they can have a TV again. Haha!

While Deschanel is adorable and knows how to play "Geeky Gal" really well, this show just doesn't do it for me. Greenfield's character is so annoying, I just want to slap him (and if he takes his shirt off to expose his pasty, flat torso one more time, I may barf); Johnson's character is a total cipher and Morris is hardly Wayans. After 2 episodes and not a single laugh, I think I'm done with this one.

Fox is really pushing this show, placing it right after its monster hit "Glee" and before the far superior and actually hilarious "Raising Hope." Maybe they all need some time to figure out what this show is supposed to be, but I've already figured out that I have no interest in spending time with these characters. 1/2* (Half a Star Out of Four).

More, anon.
Prospero

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