Image Credit: Richard Cartwright/CBS
After the chock-full-of-surprises season premiere of How I Met Your Mother and the hyped debut of Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men, CBS rolled out its brand-new Monday night sitcom, 2 Broke Girls, an odd couple tale as old as time… with a young, hip twist.
The influence of creators Michael Patrick King (Sex and the City) and Whitney Cummings (Whitney) was felt throughout last night’s show, in which a sassy Brooklyn waitress named Max (Kat Dennings, channeling her sassy New York-savvy Nick and Norah character) meets a prissy socialite named Caroline (Beth Behrs) who has fallen on hard times and begins working at her restaurant (and subsequently becomes her roommate).
The pilot for the series, which was named one of the EW’s most anticipated Fall TV shows, managed to both feel comfortably familiar (mismatched pals living and working in New York, quirky supporting characters like Earl the cashier and Ryce the manager, that laugh track) and boundary-pushing. (Thanks to King and Cummings’ touch, jokes about questionable white stains on clothing and the line “That’s the sound of my vagina drying up” made the final cut.)
The show, however, doesn’t seem sure sure of what it wants to be just yet. Even its representation of New York City felt uneven. While it accurately portrayed young urban dwellers in the Big Apple who work multiple jobs to stay in their crummy apartments, it still reinforced old NYC stereotypes: Who in the city ever worries anymore that you’re going to get tasered and robbed wherever you go? Still, 2 Broke Girls has some serious potential, thanks largely in part to Dennings, who can play jaded and quick-witted like the best of them, and Behrs, who could have made her character come off as a whiny brat, but instead turned her into a likable and equally-down-on-her-luck gal. (When Max’s hot, but scummy, boyfriend hits on Caroline, she turns him down in a most excellent way in one particularly good scene from the pilot.)
My tip for the waitress-centric show: 2 Broke Girls will do pretty well for itself if it relies more on the chemistry between Dennings and Behrs, rather than serving up predictable sitcom clichés.
What did you think of 2 Broke Girls, PopWatchers? Were you hoping for less of a standard sitcom set-up or did it feel young and fresh to you? Did Dennings draw you on or do you want to see where Behr’s storyline goes? Share in the comments section below.
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Kat Dennings is voluptuous, gorgeous, sexy and beautiful. I love her. She’s amazing. That woman is incredible. She’s a very talented actress. It’s an exquisite performance by her, just wonderful.
favorite joke has to be dennings when she’s asked about the russian waitress (who was having sex in the store) and she hears a loud final moan she’s like “she’s coming [cumming]” loool enjoyed that one
VERY SEXIST AND AGIST JOKES. I EXPECTED BETTER FROM KAT DENNINGS.
Barely watchable. For some reason critics have been loving this show. The only reason I can think of is that Kat Dennings and the irrelevant blonde are charming to watch. Perhaps they want to believe this is a smart mix of old school family style sitcoms for the modern day working woman. But just because you say edgy things and bring some adult humor to the table on a family friendly network doesn’t mean it’s automatically of quality, regardless of how different or out of the box it is. The concept could have worked, but instead feels completely out of context and out of character. The characters have no substance. There’s nothing to hold on to. 2 Broke Girls is only made tolerable by its two leads, but otherwise is completely bankrupt.
Agreed on all counts.
Agreed. I watched it out of curiosity (the previews didn’t peak my interest, even with an enjoyment of Kat) and was mildly amused but mostly put off by the stereotypes and bad jokes (i.e. the rape joke).
The only one on the show that I liked was the elderly cashier.
Also. An “accurate” portrayal or NYC? Are you kidding? That apartment is gigantic. Most people working two jobs of equal value to Kat Denning’s character are probably living in a space a fourth of that size.
^ Not referring to this review, but others I read.
The thing that struck me with both the apartment and the Diner was how ugly they were.
Reminds me of how the HIMYM guys wanted to give Ted a really small apartment like they had but were told you just can’t have a small space like that for a TV sitcom with cameras and such. Kind of a TV tradition, characters living in spaces so much bigger.
And since when do apartments in NYC have a back yard? Really?!?
They are in Brooklyn. There are small back yards in a lot of the places there.
also, that whole “you can’t wear an expensive leather jacket like that in this neighborhood.” what neighborhood is that? Isn’t the diner in Williamsburg? Last I checked Williamsburg was the home of overpriced leather jackets. Also, no one walks around Williamsburg or Greenpoint with a taser – it would clash with their plaid shirts, organic hemp sweaters and designer shoes.
Kat Dennings made it work. Will it be a hit? Maybe so, maybe no.
I never liked the Mary Tyler Moore show or Rhoda — the crazy side characters got on my nerves. So until Caroline dropped into the scene, I wanted to take a bat to the Bruno (?) guy and wondered how vagina and eating a sandwich could possibly go together. Ooooof! So. The matchup of/relationship between the 2 girls is what will bring me back and I’ll mute Bruno-guy. (Seriously he got old by his 2nd line of dialog.)
Nothing says hip, cutting and edgy like a Temple Grandin joke!
The set ups for all the jokes were so long and obvious you could predict the punchline 3 sentences in advance.
Nothing new or fun here. Not watching this one again.
Canned laughter and zippy one-liners……zzzzzzzzzzzzz
It’ll probably perform wonderfully. Why? Beats me. It seems the sitcom was never really dead, was it?
It wasn’t canned laughter,I thought that was fairly obvious by the actors responses and late lines.
Exactly. And can people please stop their elitist nagging about “traditional” sitcoms and the supposed laugh track. These kind of shows have been on our screens since the 50s so what is it that makes our generation “too good” for this genre? Some of the greates shows in television were traditional sitcomes. I don´t get people.
agreed. i’m all for single camera comedies (30 rock and cougar town are my absolute favorite shows on the air and arrested development is unquestionably a classic) but i have a soft spot in my heart for old school, laugh-track comedies. it drives me crazy that people are constantly $h!tting on the form. a lot of classic sitcoms of the past two decades have been laugh track (seinfeld, friends, raymond, etc.).
@bob and Lisa….just be aware that “laugh track” and “live studio audience” are two different things. Not all sitcoms during which you hear people laughing actually use a “laugh track.” Many of those shows are essentially putting on a play for an audience and recording the results. I also have a soft spot for certain shows that involve built-in laughing, so I like to be sure that the distinction is made between the two methods.
Seinfeld and Friends didn’t have laugh tracks. They had REAL live audiences that were REALLY laughing. Good sitcoms are great. Loving the genre is no excuse for a bad show. Kat is wonderful; lose the cliches and the stereotypes, lose the fake laugh track, and this could be great.
I just watched it and thought it was hilarious! Both girls were funny and likable. Looking forward to more.
Ditto
It was a pilot that wasn’t too piloty, I think the cupcake business idea is a good plot point (and wouldn’t be surprised to find out the sisters of D.C. Cupcakes are the consultants) and would keep it from just being kitchy in the diner. You know, because there is a clear plan for them to get out of there.
Cuz thats what NY needs, another cupcake cake shop.
I liked this show, it made me laugh out loud a few times although I did find some of the jokes a little off colour. As a mother of twins I too classified my children as the “good” one and the “bad” one, much like the mother on the show that Max nannied for. I liked Oleg (the cook that kept coming on to Max). It will be fun to watch as their savings accumulate and discover if the show will have them opening a bakery in the next few seasons.
Is this a joke? I hope so.
Any one notice how they came dangerous close to showing pubic hair when the boyfriend whipped off his shirt to wipe up the spilled wash water? Those jeans couldn’t have been any lower with out the censors pixelating it out.
Maybe he’s a smoothie.
whats funny is that i thought kat dennings was the weaker of the two. i feel like she needs to get more into the groove of it. also, are cupcakes really $7 in NYC? cause that is ridiculous!
Why is everyone so obsessed with Kat Dennings? Her personality is so grating and flat, and she only knows how to play one character. A character that isn’t even that good.
She has huge.. tracks of land.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail, WIN.
Because every man in the Northeast loves snarky, cynical women… I know, because I’m one of them! I love Kat Dennings… and I promise that her gigantic breasts only account for a small percentage of that interest.
I was disappointed to learn there would be canned laughter in this. I was also surprised that the “Where’s my waitress” (loud sex moan) “She’s coming” line made it past the censors. Interesting plot device of the $$$ earned at the end of the episode. CBS seems to have a knack for attracting talent and putting them in a tv show that plays down to their acting levels, but i’ll give it a few more episodes before i completely write it off. Hell, I gave “Mad Love” a half season…
It’s a show that’s aimed at a young hip crowd but the jokes felt like leftovers from Two and Half Men, (which is not a complement). Not sure who this show is for. Comedy Nerds who I suppose arguably overlap with the so-called hipster crowd will dismiss this show as typical CBS cheese. While the older crowd might be put off by all the vag jokes. Seems like a lose lose situation to me.
i agree that a lot of the lewd jokes were derivative and just crass for crass sake (ie: “she’s coming,” “makes my vagina dry up”). however, i don’t think it was nearly as bad as 2 1/2, which is irredeemably bad. i thought the commentary on hipsters was spot on (although, i don’t think hipsters are in to coldplay anymore, but whatev), the mother of the twins was over-the-top and scene stealing, the line about the secret had me giggling, and the repartee between dennings and behr bodes well for the future. those qualities more than made up for a few bad “adult” jokes (which ftr can be done well, but just weren’t on last nights episode).