Wednesday, April 25, 2012
WHY YOUR MEEKMOUSE DOESN'T IN SPACESHIP: Unlike some others (Spacewoman, Sepinwall), I thought that New Girl was pretty consistently good right out of the gate, with a solid core of Nick/Winston reacting poorly to Jess's manic pixieness, with some virtuoso douchebaggery from Schmidt. With one exception (Schmidt joins a drum circle), I think it's been consistently funny. But kudos to whatever deranged minds created the Nadia character and her response to Schmidt's polite "how do you like America?" conversation-filler. I'm a sucker for people just listing absurd things, but that was a tour-de-force of deadpan lunacy for Rebecca Reid: "Wilma Vawawawa ... Alan. J. Greenspan ... ice skating for fun not for to save life ...." Probably the funniest half-minute of television this season.
And yet, a note of disappointment. I know that, from the pilot itself, the show was planning a Nick-Jess romance. But why? The characters have reached a pretty great dynamic as friends, sweet and tart, and Nick always seems more big-brotherly to Jess than anything else. Plus, with Schmidt partnered off with CeCe and Winston sappily in love, Nick and Jess's separate dating lives have provided a wealth of both stories and outside contact, from well-used guest stars to funny one-scene players. The escalation at the end of the episode seemed abrupt and unnecessary, both from a character and a show standpoint, and threatens to upset the ecosystem that Nick and Winston work so hard to protect. It seems to be a fundamental tenet of the TV writer religion that will-they-or-won't-they-but-really-when-will-they is an essential ingredient of any comedy, but I'm with Tina Fey and Jerry Seinfeld -- I don't see the point of it.
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1. I thought "baby Jess tap dances and sings Cheap Trick" was the best part of a very good episode (and smartly followed up by Jess attempting to use the same technique to solve a problem in the present day).
ReplyDelete2. This marks at least three sitcoms that have done Wilmer Valderama jokes since the start of the year (counting his guest appearance on Suburgatory as one). Renaissance? Coincidence? Sinister plot to control the world?
I agree with you and Seinfeld and Fey (who would want to be on the opposing side of that group in a question of what makes good TV?), but this show is less than a season old and it has already [SPOILER ALERT] given its main characters a cancer scare and a pregnancy scare. I don't think the writers are going to hold back on using a will-they-or-won't-they or any other writing crutch as it would appear that they don't have a deep well of ideas from which to draw. We're just going to have to accept it and trust that they will keep bringing the funny even as they explore well-covered ground.
ReplyDeleteI want a Nadia spin-off.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion point in my home last night: my wife believes that Jess' decision to consciously, actively seek drama to the point of giving up on a healthy relationship makes Jess extremely unlikable. Regardless of positioning for a Jess-Nick romance, that was an unforgivable character motivation in my wife's eyes.
ReplyDeleteI suggested that we have known plenty of women to make similar decisions in real life, and was rewarded with the television all to myself for the rest of the evening.
Still, my wife has no interest in watching next week, and I agree that it was a terrible decision that seemed to come out of nowhere. Perhaps between that and CeCe's decision to let her sex-freak roommate have a go at Schmidt rather than admit her fellings to him, the obvious conclusion is that Women Are Dumb.
Oh, and something about Schmidt's workout video.
No, the obvious conclusion is that Writers Are Lazy. Characters break up all of the time for unnecessary reasons. There are two plot contrivances that drive be insane -- characters broken apart due to a misunderstanding (the plot of most romantic comedies), and when characters break up over a fixable concern (or at least fixable over time).
ReplyDeleteI will hand it to 'Grey's' for its convincing dissolution of relationships.
I don't think attraction to drama is gender-specific, and I also don't think that a lack of passion a few weeks into a relationship is a terrible reason to break up. I think the laziness is in the thought that passion and drama are inextricable. But my chief disagreement with the writers is that both parts of the passion come out of nowhere. Where have we ever seen Nick and Jess appreciate each other in anything other than a friendly or familial way? And where have we ever seen them get explosively mad at each other without any kind of build-up at all? We've seen them argue, but it ratchets up a bit at a time as one or both of them acts unreasonable and both dig in their heels.
ReplyDeleteI think they can keep the tension dial between Jess and Nick going from low to high and ride it for awhile, because the show has so many solid characters. The Nadia character needs to be on more, but not too much. Another great line: "I think Nadia's vagina has a right angle."
ReplyDeleteHell, I'm just surprised how much I'm enjoying Jeanne Tripplehorn as Russell's ex. Hell, I'm even more surprised at how much I'm enjoying Dylan McDermott.*
ReplyDelete*Actually Delmot Mulroney, but it amused me that I wrote McDermott first before checking, as nothing in either actor's career has distinguished them to me in a way to I need to remember which is which.
I was just thinking last night, "I like this show a lot. I will keep watching it, right up until the point that Nick and Jess hook up, and then I will turn off the TV, and it will be as dead to me as that show they used to have about the high school singers."
ReplyDeleteIt's like you're in my head.
I should clarify my second-to-last sentence:
ReplyDelete"...the obvious conclusion (that the writers seem to be drawing) is that women are dumb."
Dylan McDermott is much yellier/more indignant than Dermot Mulroney is.
ReplyDeleteTangent: Am I the only person watching Hart of Dixie?
ReplyDeleteNope! There's a small but strong group of us on Twitter! Ok, I think it's just Watts and me, but still. It's cute! Except I'm a little made at Wade right now.
ReplyDeleteI am as well, though I find the ongoing "Rachel Bilson wants to get laid, but cannot" plotline rather implausible.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize "Hart of Dixie" was a sci fi/fantasy, as that storyline must be taking place in some parallel dimension.
ReplyDeleteI used to keep 'em straight by which one was married to Catherine Keener.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that she CAN'T - I think she's just being appropriately choosy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so glad they write her and Lavon Hayes as only friends. It's so nice to see a male/female friendship that has none of the will they/won't they. They're buds, that's all, and it's good.
Except... he's not married to Keener anymore. Let the farce of mistaken identities commence!
ReplyDeleteI think it's clear to everyone that the writers should abandon this plan, and if they continue to execute it, I imagine it will alienate their entire audience. I really hope a Jess-Schmidt relationship is the endgame and that Jess-Nick is just a distraction.
ReplyDeleteWell, if you are anything like my boyfriend, you enjoy Jeanne Tripplehorn in damn near everything.
ReplyDeleteWhy Jess-Schmidt? I don't see that, or Jess-Winston, any more than Jess-Nick. Why does it have to be Jess-roommate at all? Why not just four people who are friends? Anyway, they burned the possibility of Jess-Schmidt when they put Schmidt together with her lifelong best friend.
ReplyDeleteI know, Sara - I've never mourned a Hollywood divorce more.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely opposed to the Jess-with-everyone/anyone plot (a la 'Friends' or 'Gossip Girl' or any show living within a bubble), but I was suprised by Deschanel's chemistry with Greenfield in his birthday episode. I thought these caricatured characters were really humanized at the end of that episode. And as much as I've enjoyed CeCe and Schmidt's humorous loathing toward one another -- and see no reason for it to end, really -- I don't know there's a solid foundation for them as a couple. It'll be interesting to see where the writers go now that their secret is out.
ReplyDeleteNow that I'm thinking about it, Max Greenfield is the saving grace of this show. I might enjoy him in a relationship with a rock.
I still think that Nick's sour face is the consistently funniest thing on the show. I just love his reactions to all the idiocy around him. I prefer plots where he's not the focus because then he can just react the way that I imagine myself reacting.
ReplyDeleteReally, though, George Tucker just needs to get the hell out of Bluebell. Not because he's not a decent, likeable guy, because he is.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, George, although super charming, needs to leave. Also, how lovely is it that they let Lemon be so likeable? And also, can we just acknowledge the episode that featured both Bartlet VPs? I don't have anything intelligent to say about it, I'd just like to like doff my cap in the direction of it's existence.
ReplyDeleteI will now see all Isaac_spaceman posts in my head as if he were Nick and narrated in Nick's voice.
ReplyDelete