Review: 'New Girl' Season 1

''So, you know in horror movies, when the girl's like 'Oh my god, there's something in the basement, let me just run down there, in my underwear, and see what's going on in the dark' and you're like, 'What is your problem? Call the police!' and she's like 'Okay!' but it's too late because she's already getting murdered? 

Well, my story is kinda like that.''


New Girl is the comedy that just about everyone around me has been talking about and telling me to watch. It's created by Elizabeth Meriweather and stars Zooey Deschanel as the eccentric Jessica Day, a schoolteacher who moves into a loft with three guys after breaking up with boyfriend Spencer. Madness, confusion and hilarity ensues as she gets to know her room mates and tries to move on.

I had heard a ton of great things about New Girl, and ordered the first series from Amazon in a moment of extreme procrastination so as to avoid writing an assignment! Such a good student, not.

The show is refreshing and not ashamed to be a little bit weird, especially with the character of Jess. In fact, she did start to grate on me when I first started watching, as though they were trying too hard to make her funny...but by the end of the series when we get to know her better, I found her really warm and likeable. Zooey Deschanel is gorgeous and brilliant and shows off her skills in physical comedy, as well as pulling off an amazing script each episode with really snappy and imaginative dialogue. 

My favourite character, however, has GOT to be Schmidt. He is played by Max Greenfield, someone I watched years ago in a sorority/fraternity drama called Greek. Schmidt is an utterly cringeworthy, egotistical obsessive-compulsive who is required to donate money to a 'Douchebag Jar' every time he pulls some embarrassing stunt, which is preeetty much all the time. The way Greenfield plays him as completely ridiculous but with a straight face the whole time makes just about everything he says hilarious.

The whole ensemble works really well, because each is so different. Winston is probably the one we know least about and seems to be used more as someone for the other characters' jokes to bounce off, so there is plenty more room for him to be developed. Hannah Simone is also good as the beautiful best friend Cece.

 The best thing about it is the underlying chemistry between Nick (the rather hot Jake Johnson) and Jess. I haven't seen any of the second series so I don't know if anything actually happens with them yet (and am desperately trying to avoid seeing any spoilers!), but there's some really nicely done, emotional moments as well as great comedic moments. It's made all the more interesting in that you don't know for sure if they're going to get together; there's no Rachel-and-Ross on again/off again, which keeps the audience intrigued and waiting for answers.

New Girl is a brilliantly awkward comedy that works hard to win you over, and though I could understand if someone found it a bit irritating, by the end of the series I was totally invested in the characters. It manages to combine classic sitcom while still feeling modern and fresh, and it only took me three days to watch all 24 eps so it's pretty addictive!

A great watch I would definitely recommend getting in to if you like shows such as The Big Bang Theory, etc., and I can't wait to catch up on series 2! Also, once the catchy theme tune is stuck in your head, you cannot get it out.

Rating: 4/5

Are you a New Girl fan?

Thanks for reading!

Sophie.

(pictures are from Google images)