2 Broke Girls: Series Premiere

Did you feel that?  It was a breath of fresh air.  By no means is this the pound-for-pound funniest pilot to ever reach network television, but 2 Broke Girls certainly brings something new, something hip and something funny.  The show is the timely creation of Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King and raunchy comedienne Whitney Cummings.  To avoid any confusion, yes, Cummings wrote and executive produced this pilot on CBS and also wrote, executive produced and stars in her own sitcom Whitney on NBC – which I’ll also review in a few weeks.  For now, though, let’s talk about 2 Broke Girls, which taps into problems of the current 20something generation with honesty, humility, and originality.

Kat Dennings (40 Year Old Virgin) stars as a witty, modest, hardworking waitress at a Manhattan diner.  She’s got a sharp tongue and zero tolerance for the normal abuse those in the service industry commonly endure, but is damn good at her job.  Where her colleagues fail, she picks up the slack.  But that’s only one of her jobs, she also nannies for a hysterically materialistic and moronic Manhattan snob.  The character works those two jobs to maintain her tiny, abused apartment, where she houses her unfaithful, physically ripped boyfriend.  The interesting twist comes when one thing leads to another and a waitress job opens up at the diner where Denning’s character “Max” works.  The woman hired to work alongside Max is the daughter of a once rich and powerful Manhattan family, the patriarch of which has fallen in a Bernie Madoff fashion.  The now waitressing daughter is accustomed to a country club lifestyle and, with all family assets frozen, is working for the first time.

It’s nice to see a network sitcom so organically blending a dirty current events topic into its family friendly primetime faire.  The part of “Caroline” (Beth Behrs), the ashamed daughter of the business scam-man, is so perfectly flawed.  On one hand, she’s clueless and crass, having never worked a day in her life.  She also has her father’s blood, recognizing ways to scam money from the diner on her first day on the job.  But, she comes loaded with humanity, in that we see how fake her previous life was when none of her old “friends” will offer her a place to stay, forcing her to spend the night in the subway.  Comedy writers take note, every character you write needs two things: 1) Flaws and 2) Humanity.  Think of it this way, 1) Something we want to see the character fix, and 2) The reason we want to see them fix it.

The comedy between the two women is fresh and the writers did a great job demonstrating how each character looks out for and helps the other.  To no surprise, King brings a lot of depth to his characters and there appears to be plenty to work with to make this series live on.  While the pilot seemed to leave some jokes untouched, it was funny, but could have been funnier.  With a full writing staff aligned for future episodes, hopefully all the funny will be found.  I’m not sure how much involvement Cummings will have, but her signature style and voice of take no prisoners comedy was present in the Max character, so I hope she continues to lend her oft-purchased talents to the series.

My only concern for 2 Broke Girls is finding an audience.  But, Zack, you just raved about how good it was?  I know, I hear you, believe me – that’s why it’s a concern for me.  It wouldn’t be the first time a show with real potential failed to launch.  But, consider what we’re working with here – a female driven, multi-cam sitcom.  The concept for the show – two single women from different worlds in Manhattan – is aimed directly at young women.  It’s not going to grab families and most men won’t gravitate towards it either (yes, some will… but not most), so the question comes down to whether the series can elevate above the more visually exciting single camera offerings and the more dramatic flair of other female-driven shows in surrounding timeslots. 

Perhaps, and again – I hope so, the research within CBS showed that young females are losing interest in high school melodrama, rich kids dealing with rich kid problems, and shows comprised mainly of cover songs.  If that’s the case, and audiences find 2 Broke Girls, CBS may have something to hang their aprons on with this one.