There are so many things in life I am simply incapable of understanding.
Why some young men wear tank tops in public, how Smells Like Teen Spirit is regarded as a brilliant song and why people care so much about what the Kardashians are doing. The list is endless; I could go on for hours.
But one thing that makes me want to both laugh and cry at the same time is how people of my generation are too busy worshipping the pseudo-intellectual, non-funny The Big Bang Theory to realise another show currently in its fourth season is easily the greatest sitcom since Friends. I could go even further, but I am afraid of death threats from Team Aniston. I am talking about New Girl.
It is obviously important to acknowledge that most sitcoms today, New Girl included, would not have existed if it wasn’t for Friends and its impact on television, but New Girl was such a quirky breath of fresh air when it first premiered. The show is simply about Jess, portrayed by the beautiful Zooey Deschanel, who decides to move into an apartment with three strangers after her boyfriend cheated on her. Deschanel is talented, famous and very pretty, so she should be the star here, right?
Well, she’s not. The future Academy Award-winner Max Greenfield runs the show from the very first episode. He portrays Schmidt, a highly quotable Jewish narcissistic womaniser with OCD, who in the hotter months orders personalised citrus-flavoured condoms for a more ‘refreshing summer experience’. It took Barney Stinson seven seasons in HIMYM to become what Schmidt was from the start: a solid, three-dimensional character. I could write a book about Schmidt, his driving moccasins and his croquet cleats, but Greenfield’s character isn’t the only reason why New Girl is the funniest, most quotable show on television these days. One episode is simply about how everyone lost their virginities, and Winston, a black puzzle enthusiast and ex-basketball player in Latvia also living in the same apartment, realises his first lover was a prostitute. Visibly traumatised and in the fetal position, he delivers the best quote of the show yet, asking the room: “Was Mysteria even her real name?”
New Girl’s screenplay is unique and charmingly hilarious, and I am certain that the show, in a few years time, will get the recognition it deserves.
PARKOUR!
