New Girl:
Zooey Deschanel comes to television to join her sister Emily on FOX’s new comedy “New Girl.” The sitcom follows Deschanel’s character Jess as she suffers an embarrassing breakup and the resulting scramble for new housing. The whole situation lands her (reasonably realistically, considering) in a LA apartment with three guys, played by Jake Johnson, Damon Wayans Jr., and Max Greenfield. Her best friend is played by the refreshingly normal and reasonable Hannah Simone.
A nice change of pace is Jess’ assortment of strange quirks. Mind, it’s not the quirks themselves that break the mold, but rather the surrounding characters, who treat her and her oddities as some sort of mild mental illness. Frankly, they’re not far off. Most frank about his discomfort is Damon Wayans Jr. So great on “Happy Endings,” Wayans will have to leave in the next episode due to that show’s renewal. But since the relationship between the four friends has yet to totally gel, it’s possible they may be able to find someone with even more ensemble chemistry.
Jess is so weighed down with Deschanel’s various affectations that it’s hard to get a feel for whether or not she’ll be strong enough at the center, but Johnson, playing the most obviously human of the three male roommates, is quite good. He strikes an interesting and vaguely familiar note, like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s” Charlie Day on Xanax. Probably the best laugh-out-loud moment in the pilot comes when Jess asks him if he’ll ax murder her and, with perfect comic timing, he says “definitely.” Little things like that will make or break “New Girl.”
Free Agents:
Hank Azaria headlines this not-quite-comedy doing a more adult version of the “friends with benefits” theme that’s permeated the summer. In it, Azaria plays Alex, a man still suffering emotional damage from his recent divorce. His foil is the equally unstable Kathryn Hahn playing Helen, a woman who still has not managed to grieve properly for her dead fiancé.
There are funny moments throughout, usually courteous of Anthony Stewart Head, who adopts a loose, laconic acting style (mastering the art of delivering lines while something else seems to be on his mind) betraying his experience playing the exact same character on the original British version of the series. Unfortunately, most of the other supporting characters give performances pitched far too broad. Joe Lo Truligo and Natasha Leggero have been better – and funny – elsewhere, so it can be hoped that once their characters find a place within the office universe, they’ll be toned down. The same cannot be said for the outright dreadful Mo Mandel. His obnoxious, irritating performance completely misses the mark. Even a chronic overactor such as Azaria seems embarrassed to be sharing a scene with such a walking misstep. If I could ask one thing of this show, it would be to fire Mandel immediately.
My second request would be that the writers not be afraid to treat the unhappiness of their leads with honesty. Both Azaria and Hahn are playing characters hitting rock bottom, but the overall tone of the show seems desperate to distract from that. What would boost this show immensely is to tap into that deep, dark core and be unafraid to show the neuroses that inform the (thankfully few) “wacky” antics of its leads. For example, a scene where Azaria’s character cannot help but start crying at the sound of a song, the moment would have been better had the script truly established the real pain behind the emotion in a previous scene instead of going for a quick punchline. Holding off on the humor and providing more outright tragedy would make the show more unique and make it seem more meaningful.
Ultimately, “Free Agents” would probably be better served by a 10PM timeslot on Showtime, where it could be as dark as it pleased. But, since all it has is NBC and abandonment on Tuesday in a blind attempt at a new comedy night, what can be hoped is that the writers and directors tone down the mugging, broad performances from the supporting cast and embrace the essential darkness lurking beneath its confectionary premise.
Up All Night:
My biggest worry going into “Up All Night” was that Will Arnett’s Chris and Christina Applegate’s Reagan would seem like hapless idiots incapable of doing even the simplest of childrearing tasks. Fortunately, the advertising was misleading. Chris and Reagan are actually quite smart and capable, and seem to have found a happy balance of taking care of their daughter, Amy. The pilot just catches them at a seismic time. Reagan is returning to work, and the couple is forced for the first time to truly confront the new identities they’ve created as parents with the fun-loving, irresponsible drinkers they were to the outside world. This tension provides most of the narrative drive, if not many big laughs. In fact, despite Arnett and Applegate’s experiences doing broad comedy in various other TV and movies, there’s not much playing to the balcony coming from them. Their frustrations for the most part seem reined in and reasonably realistic.
Maya Rudolph’s character, Ava, threatens to upset this balance. Rudolph has been chronically underserved by weak material on SNL and other supporting parts that lean her towards “grating” instead of “amusing.” But her excellent turn in “Bridesmaids” this summer led the producers of “Up All Night” to boost her Oprah-like role. Disappointingly, these producers don’t seem to have paid attention to what made Rudolph great in that role. She possesses a natural and easy charm, but when forced into an overly mannered performance she can quickly become hammy and over-the-top. That’s where she is here, and her almost childlike attention span and selfishness are a harsh disruption to the small domestic world.
“Up All Night” is at its best when the urgency of the scenes come from Reagan and Chris’ fundamental understanding of what they should do without the comprehension of how to get there. A heavily teased moment where they can’t help but shout at their child in fury gains another level when paired with the preceding scenes of them attempting to recapture their foolish, hedonistic ways.
“Up All Night” is anchored by two surprisingly restrained performances, but side characters could damage the show’s ability to build an appealing and consistent world.
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