Review: 'New Girl' - 'Normal': I wanna dip my balls in it!
Russell spends a night at the loft, while Winston starts a new job
Zooey Deschanel and Dermot Mulroney in "New Girl."
A review of last night's "New Girl" — which was renewed for a second season earlier this week — coming up just as soon as I remember to use one of the baller metals in my design...
"Normal" didn't seem quite as effortlessly hilarious as several recent episodes did, but it still feels like the show is operating in that higher gear that's made it so darned likable.
Take a bit like the roommates teaching Russell how to play True American. Like many drinking games, the rules(*) seem like complete gibberish if you're A)a novice and B)sober, but the actors all threw themselves into it and made it seem like it made sense to them, which only made it funnier.
(*) If I know the Internet, then some enterprising "New Girl" fan already has a Tumblr in which they've extrapolated every single rule to the damn game. UPDATE: And, once, again, it turns out that I do, indeed, know the Internet. And then I know it some more. I'll leave it to you guys to decide which set of rules better fits what we saw.
Dermot Mulroney continues to be a shockingly good addition to the series, here doing a good job of showing Russell trying to take everything in the loft in stride even as he's confused and/or horrified by most of it.
And Russell's presence was one of several instances of the show taking advantage of characters, relationships and stories that had been set up previously to set up gags here. Schmidt and Cece's relationship wasn't a heavy focus like last week, but it was used to add jokes to scenes that were about other things, just as Winston's new job was augmented by reminders of the nanny gig he got at the Christmas party(**).
(**) And also augmented by the presence of former airline co-pilot Roger Murdoch.
The RealApps/Relapse subplot not only featured an idea of Nick's that wasn't completely terrible (combining an iPhone with a Swiss army knife would make fewer things for me to carry), but carried through Nick's crush on Russell as well as Schmidt's obsession with mentoring Nick.
"New Girl" isn't on the verge of turning into "The Wire: The Sitcom" or anything, but it's been around long enough to take advantage of the world it's built and the characters it's built to live inside it. And that's very good.
What did everybody else think?
(Also, this week's headline provides me an excuse to link to one of the best "The State" sketches ever: Louie at The Last Supper.)
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April 11, 2012 at 9:50AM EST Reply to CommentTrue American kind of reminded me of Calvinball, so therefore I loved this episode. New Girl is definitely hitting its stride.
newcougar True American vs. Penny Can - is it really any contest which is the best Tuesday sitcom game?
April 11, 2012 at 11:38AM ESTaamadis Penny Caaaaaaaaannnn!!!!!
April 11, 2012 at 9:54PM ESTBrett
April 11, 2012 at 10:03AM EST Reply to CommentI thought for sure you'd go with:
"A quick review of New Girl coming up as soon as I'm going all 'Aladdin'"
Brett Or "As soon as I have a loose Candyland like structure"
April 11, 2012 at 10:06AM ESTToph
April 11, 2012 at 10:05AM EST Reply to CommentIt's going to sound odd... but I'm so happy to have this show in my life.
These things usually happen right when I'm the verge of giving up on sitcoms, and picking up a book.
StephenH2OMan
April 11, 2012 at 10:15AM EST Reply to CommentI'm pretty sure those are the same set of rules. The first one is just quoting the second one. Still, I like the second one better.
Dan
April 11, 2012 at 10:18AM EST Reply to CommentI thought the episode was hilarious. Kareem Abdul Jabar was awesome. I want to play True Americans very badly.
April 11, 2012 at 10:28AM ESTDezbot
April 11, 2012 at 10:29AM EST Reply to CommentThe floor is lava!!
Col Bat Guano JFK!
April 11, 2012 at 11:10AM ESTfresser28 FDR!
April 11, 2012 at 12:07PM ESTklg19
April 11, 2012 at 10:56AM EST Reply to CommentI'm ridiculously happy to hear the renewal news. These characters have totally gotten under my skin.
The game of True American--especially once Russell had figured it out--was a really classic scene. Why do I suspect most of that was improvised?
When I first heard Joe Napoli's voice, I thought it was going to be Rip Torn, but I have no idea who that actor was. Kareem was pure fun. And Elvin's strategy for Winston's future reflects well on the kid's knowledge of the adult world.
sepinwall That's Phil Hendrie, a veteran radio guy who dabbles in acting from time to time, often playing radio people. He had a similar role on an episode of Modern Family earlier this year.
April 11, 2012 at 11:18AM ESTDr. Gross I hope he sticks around for a while. That appears to be a promising subplot for Lamorne Morris.
April 11, 2012 at 11:32AM ESTMatt
April 11, 2012 at 11:50AM EST Reply to CommentI am appalled that the person who figured out the rules would call Jack Daniels rum.
nath Yeah, first thing I noticed too.
April 11, 2012 at 6:04PM ESTJack Everything you hear in true american is a lie...
April 11, 2012 at 7:19PM ESTLee
April 11, 2012 at 11:54AM EST Reply to CommentNot the funniest episode, especially compared to last week, but still solid.
Brooklyn625
April 11, 2012 at 1:52PM EST Reply to CommentSchmidt saying "baller metals" had me howling.
Guest972
April 11, 2012 at 2:02PM EST - via iPad Reply to CommentRelapse!
jmscher
April 11, 2012 at 3:43PM EST Reply to Comment"The Wire: The Sitcom" I would watch the hell out of that, but of course only after asking Mr. Simon in what manner it best deserves to be enjoyed.
Mike No we'd have to all watch it, and create a huge Internet following, then Mr. Simon could tell us how we're enjoying it the wrong way
April 11, 2012 at 7:45PM ESTDan
April 11, 2012 at 4:46PM EST Reply to CommentThank you, thank you, thank you for the "The State" reference.
Doug I'm Doug and I'm outta heeerrre.
April 11, 2012 at 10:57PM ESTjlrepka
April 11, 2012 at 8:26PM EST Reply to CommentI loved that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar signed the note: "Abdul-Jabbar #33"
KobraCola
April 11, 2012 at 9:47PM EST Reply to CommentI agree with you, Alan, I liked this episode of New Girl a lot, though it wasn't quite as good as the past few weeks'. I actually think Nick's invention of RealApps was sorta terrible though, for comedic effect. Wasn't the point of it sorta that having sharp thing attached to your phone is a bad idea because they'll cut you when you reach for your phone? Regardless, funny ep. The physical joke with the garbage disposal was also hilarious. Finally, you linked to the same rules for True American twice, the first time quoting the 2nd one's rules, just an FYI.
belinda
April 12, 2012 at 12:07AM EST Reply to Commenthuh, what would be considered a "the wire: the sitcom"?
Mark The Venture Bros.
April 12, 2012 at 6:21PM ESTComes pretty darn close to it in quality too.
WeebeysPlasticFish Arrested Development?
April 15, 2012 at 11:33AM ESTBill
April 12, 2012 at 1:48AM EST Reply to CommentThe 'Louie' reference (awesome timing btw, I made sure I posted it on easter myself) reminded me of a thought I had recently. I don't know for sure behind the camera, but I feel like I didn't really start to like the show until Party Down people started getting involved, that show being in the State/Stella circles. Last week's episode was by far the best one in my opinion and it was directed by David Wain. I think The State humor is starting to majorly influence this show which is awesome to see.
A-LEX
April 12, 2012 at 8:36AM EST Reply to CommentI keep enjoying this show, and it keeps improving. Thank the lord they moved Winston away from that Nanny gig, and the horribly overplayed "kid that is smart and wise" joke. Having him struggling at a dream job might actually give him an interesting purpose.
Schmidt continues to be one of the best creations on TV. His rant about the sub par sushi restaurant...what other show has a character that could get away with that, and still be lovable?
Heisenberg
April 12, 2012 at 9:38AM EST Reply to CommentDavid Simon wouldn't approve of your suggestion of a sitcom version of The Wire.
ed w
April 12, 2012 at 4:36PM EST Reply to CommentThis episode was okay but not up to the level of other ones recently. I don't care for the new job storyline for Winston and especially didn't like the shake-prank part of it. He was better off as a Manny, or rather the show was.
What I find lately is that the series does best when Nick is the de facto adult, the sort-of lead and relatively sane one. This episode could have used more of that.
"it still feels like the show is operating in that higher gear that's made it so darned likable. " I agree with that comment by Alan. I think they have the show mostly figured out and just need to work on consistency now.
Jack
April 12, 2012 at 5:25PM EST Reply to CommentThis one was kind of a let down compared to the last seven or so. I don't want the show to be likable for the sake of being likable, I want it to be funny. Commercials aim to be likable.
Soul_Candycorn
April 12, 2012 at 11:02PM EST Reply to CommentGreat episode, but was there a scheduling problem for the actors? Especially in the morning-after scene, there were a lot of shots where Dermot Mulroney seemed to be filmed separately--all his lines were delivered in close-up, and when others talked, Mulroney's character was only seen from the back of his head or super out of focus. Maybe the director just liked using close ups, but it seemed weird to me. Great episode though
John Thomas
April 13, 2012 at 1:54AM EST Reply to CommentGrover Cleveland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tina
April 19, 2012 at 6:37PM EST Reply to CommentI was kind of pissed at the sexist crap coming out of Russel's mouth as he attempted to bond with the boys. That should have been the thing that prompted the fight. Otherwise, the fight thing wasn't clear, since he had embraced the drinking game and the roommates, but was ignoring Jess, but they seemed to make up by talking about him accepting her living situation (?!).