'New Girl': 10 Reasons We Loved the First Season
The pilot of "New Girl" charmed us, and then it was followed by some very uneven episodes. But by the middle of its first season, this series really found its footing and became one of the funniest programs on TV. And while the "New Girl" ensemble is the key to its success, the show does have several individual parts that really make it stand out.
The Theme Song
"Hey girl… whatcha doing?" It may seem simple, but it's insanely catchy. While most TV shows now tend to skip theme songs or just use a quick instrumental, this one has given us a vibrant little tune that we find ourselves humming at the oddest times. "Who's that girl? It's Jess!"
The Apartment
The place is an old abandoned school of some sort and has an odd locker room-style bathroom, a huge living space, a roof deck that may or may not crumble underneath its occupants, a broken just-about-everything, and an absolutely terrifying landlord. If we were realtors, we'd spin it as unique. But it makes for plenty of fodder about Nick's lack of handyman skills.
[Photos: The 'New Girl' Gang Made Our List of TV's Best Roommates]
True American
We don't entirely understand the rules for this drinking game, but any party fun that involves chanting out president's names, turning the floor into lava, throwing beer cans around, and responsibly consuming copious amounts of alcohol is a good time by us.
Schmidt & Cece
We were as horrified as anyone at the thought of Schmidt and Cece actually hooking up, but instead of being as awful as we'd feared, their relationship was a surprisingly wonderful turn of events, particularly thanks to her pregnancy scare, which revealed their true feelings (and that Schmidt can be a romantic when it comes to baby names) and also exposed Winston's secret love of showtunes.
The Douchebag Jar
It's an easy go-to when someone is behaving in a douchey manner. Instead of having a whole discussion about it, you just point to the jar. It's come in handy mostly for Schmidt, but given how much he spends on his hair products, he can afford to put some extra cash in the jar.
Julia vs. Jess
While Schmidt gets called out frequently for his socially inappropriate behavior, few people ever say anything to Jess about her quirky personality and lack of understanding of the adult world. But when Julia (Lizzy Caplan) briefly joined the gang as Nick's girlfriend, she gave Jess some much needed tough love. It was a rather refreshing turn of events and nice break from everyone pretending that Jess' love of knitting, cutesy dresses, and all things twee was completely normal.
[Photos: Red Carpet Pics from the 'New Girl' Academy Screening]
Schmidt
There's really been no character this season who we've grown to love more than Schmidt. He's the breakout star of this show and not because he acts like an ass a lot of the time. Rather, it's because he easily goes from douchey behavior to acting halfway decent to being undervalued at work to talking about nothing but sex.
The Guest Stars
In addition to the aforementioned Lizzy Caplan, this show has scored some really great guest stars this season. Our favorites: Martin Starr as a college professor who hooks Nick up with some very young ladies, Dermot Mulroney as Jess's rich older boyfriend, and Justin Long as Jess's nerdy teacher beau who willingly does old-timey radio voices as sex play.
Russell's Daughter Sara
This is why you should never work with children. Russell was great, but his daughter Sara stole every scene she was in. Her crush on Nick was fantastic, and her sense of physical comedy (getting all tangled up in bras) was spot-on. Can we bring her back, even if we don't get more Russell? Maybe Winston can be her nanny if the sportscasting thing doesn't work out.
Bad Dating Advice
On most sitcoms about friends, there are the pals who make bad life choices and the ones who strive to give them solid advice on how to fix their problems. But on "New Girl," it's terrible advice all around, be it regarding sex, dating, or job searches. Each roommate has strong opinions that are most often wrong.
Get a sneak peek at this week's "New Girl" season finale right here:
The season finale of "New Girl" airs Tuesday, 5/8 at 9 PM on Fox.
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