New Girl Starring Zooey Deschanel
HOW much you enjoy new US sitcom New Girl – which Channel Ten heavily promoted from late last year until its Sunday premiere – entirely hinges on one thing: where you place Zooey Deschanel on the meter that has ‘‘adorable’’ at one end and ‘‘incredibly irritating’’ at the other.
You know Zooey Deschanel – she’s the indie it-girl who starred in 2009 rom-com (500) Days of Summer, and alongside Jim Carrey in Yes Man, is half of music duo She & Him (with acclaimed folk muso M. Ward) and generally pops up on chat shows and in YouTube videos being all cute and quirky in an array of brightly coloured vintage frocks.
In New Girl, Deschanel plays recently single and emotionally fragile schoolteacher Jess. But really, Deschanel seems to play herself – full of off-beat one-liners, prone to breaking out in song and dance and yes, with a kick-arse vintage wardrobe.
The premise was quickly established in the first episode, when Jess walked in on her boyfriend Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff) with another girl. Newly homeless and boyfriendless, she responds to a ‘‘housemate wanted’’ ad on Craigslist and finds herself living in a veritable bachelor pad with three male roommates, all with their own girl-related issues.
There’s kind-hearted Nick (Jake Johnson), himself also grieving over a recent break-up, wannabe Casanova Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and personal trainer Coach (Damon Wayans Jr), who stole the first episode with his efforts to stop Jess from bawling her eyes out over Dirty Dancing on TV (namely, screaming ‘‘stop’’ in her face). Except this week, Coach is gone. Turns out Wayans Jr was only a guest star for the pilot, seamlessly replaced by Lamorne Morris as former basketballer Winston who’s fresh off the plane from Europe.
Irrespective of cast changes, Deschanel is centre stage. This week, she accidentally smashes the apartment’s TV, promising to remedy the situation by retrieving her own TV from Spencer’s house (after unsuccessfully trying to steal one from a pawn shop in a genuinely funny scene). Only problem is, Jess’ kryptonite (also the episode’s title) is her ex’s flowing blonde locks. So it’s up to her ‘‘boys’’ to bail her out of an awkward and embarrassing situation, just as they did in episode one.
New Girl isn’t a bad sitcom by any stretch. It has a few good gags each week, a cool Triple J-friendly soundtrack and a friendship-slash-relationship focus that should please fans of Friends or How I Met Your Mother. But its success or failure will rest on Deschanel’s shoulders. The film star has such an overbearing presence in the show that it’s impossible to appreciate it without being partial to her cutesy, kooky schtick. Unless you really, really love vintage dresses.
You know Zooey Deschanel – she’s the indie it-girl who starred in 2009 rom-com (500) Days of Summer, and alongside Jim Carrey in Yes Man, is half of music duo She & Him (with acclaimed folk muso M. Ward) and generally pops up on chat shows and in YouTube videos being all cute and quirky in an array of brightly coloured vintage frocks.
In New Girl, Deschanel plays recently single and emotionally fragile schoolteacher Jess. But really, Deschanel seems to play herself – full of off-beat one-liners, prone to breaking out in song and dance and yes, with a kick-arse vintage wardrobe.
The premise was quickly established in the first episode, when Jess walked in on her boyfriend Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff) with another girl. Newly homeless and boyfriendless, she responds to a ‘‘housemate wanted’’ ad on Craigslist and finds herself living in a veritable bachelor pad with three male roommates, all with their own girl-related issues.
There’s kind-hearted Nick (Jake Johnson), himself also grieving over a recent break-up, wannabe Casanova Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and personal trainer Coach (Damon Wayans Jr), who stole the first episode with his efforts to stop Jess from bawling her eyes out over Dirty Dancing on TV (namely, screaming ‘‘stop’’ in her face). Except this week, Coach is gone. Turns out Wayans Jr was only a guest star for the pilot, seamlessly replaced by Lamorne Morris as former basketballer Winston who’s fresh off the plane from Europe.
Irrespective of cast changes, Deschanel is centre stage. This week, she accidentally smashes the apartment’s TV, promising to remedy the situation by retrieving her own TV from Spencer’s house (after unsuccessfully trying to steal one from a pawn shop in a genuinely funny scene). Only problem is, Jess’ kryptonite (also the episode’s title) is her ex’s flowing blonde locks. So it’s up to her ‘‘boys’’ to bail her out of an awkward and embarrassing situation, just as they did in episode one.
New Girl isn’t a bad sitcom by any stretch. It has a few good gags each week, a cool Triple J-friendly soundtrack and a friendship-slash-relationship focus that should please fans of Friends or How I Met Your Mother. But its success or failure will rest on Deschanel’s shoulders. The film star has such an overbearing presence in the show that it’s impossible to appreciate it without being partial to her cutesy, kooky schtick. Unless you really, really love vintage dresses.
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