Having aired the first three episodes of New Girl on E4 it’s fair to say that at it’s best it can be the funniest comedy on TV. Zooey Deschanel is one of the cutest and quirkiest actresses in the world right now, and the supporting cast prop her up pretty well to create a new sitcom with a fair bit of potential.
However, at it’s worst it’s cheesy, annoying and stupid, but it’s this flawed reality that makes it more likeable overall than if it were faultless for every second that it aired. It’s like the Eric Cantona of the comedy world and while there’ll be moments where you’ll ask yourself why the hell you’re watching this silly show, there’s others when the sheer class of it overwhelm the negatives.
Set in California, it’s sort of hard to tell how far fetched the story-lines are, but whether they’re too random to be true or they’re pretty close to the mark, the truth is that New Girl is a lot of fun to watch. It doesn’t have the formulaic consistency of other big name US comedies like Friends or Two and a Half Men, but it’s got enough moments of surrealist fun to survive.
The storyline picks up with Jess, who is forced to move in with three guys she’s never met before, thus becoming the eponymous new girl in the group, following a stinking breakup with her long term boyfriend.
Sadly, Coach leaves the show in episode 2 to be replaced by the hands down not-anywhere-near-as good Winston, however, the semi-pathetic mass of Nick and the one man douche bag (literally the stupidest put-down in history) Schmit keep up the brilliance of the pilot episode, which remains the best of the opening three episodes.
There are a few too many wet moments in episode 2, but it’s sort of saved almost entirely by the Curly Sue joke. Episode 3 sees more of a return to form, and while it’s still a bit sappy there’s also a few flecks of darker humour and a brilliant chicken dance climax that finishes off a lot of good situation work.
It’s too early to call really for New Girl, but it’s got a lot of potential and if it can keep coming back to the good bits, the lamer ones won’t matter.
New Girl review: 3.5/5
