By Shelby Powell ~ In September, I wrote a rather harsh critique of an advanced viewing of the Fox television show New Girl.
Zooey Deschanel stars as the titular character, Jess Day. Jess is a quirky young woman who wears thick-framed glasses and sings her way through her daily chores. After a bad breakup, Jess finds herself living with 3 guys who only agreed to this arrangement when they realized that Jess’ best friend was a model.
The series (also starring Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris, and Hannah Simone) follows the group’s wacky shenanigans as they learn to live and love one another.
In short, I didn’t enjoy my first viewing. Deschanel’s portrayal was fundamentally frustrating. She wanted the audience to look past her iridescent blue eyes and thick dark hair, to try and assume that she was a nerd because she wore glasses. To say that Deschanel’s Jess was completely repellant because she was awkward was far-fetched and poorly done. My only enjoyment in the pilot came from the secondary characters. While Jess was a stereotypical archetype, her roommates were clever and refreshing.
At the urging of a friend, I recently took a second look at New Girl and, I must admit, I enjoyed myself. Zooey Deschanel has drastically toned down her supposed gawkiness. Johnson, Greenfield, and Morris have been increasingly featured in each episode. Whether you want to or not, you can identify with any one of the characters. It might be Schmidt’s (Greenfield) taste for the good life, Winston’s (Morris) self-esteem issues, or Nick’s (Johnson) money problems.
New Girl is a light-hearted piece of comedic escapism. I promise you’ll laugh out loud and have fun doing it.
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