By Sara Nigro
Contributor
The feel-good comedy and binge-worthy show “New Girl” has been regarded as a fan-favorite throughout the 2010s. During its seven-season run starting in 2011 and concluding in 2018, the show aired on FOX weekly to showcase the talents of Zooey Deschanel, Max Greenfield, Jake Johnson, Hannah Simone, and Lamorne Morris.
The show follows Jessica Day (Deschanel), a teacher in Los Angeles who has just broken up with her boyfriend of six years after catching him cheating. After moving out of her ex-boyfriend’s house, Jess is desperate to find a new place to live and answers an ad on Craigslist to move into an apartment with three strangers.
As she grieves over her ex by watching “Dirty Dancing” and relies on her best friend Cece (Simone), she begins to form a bond with her new roommates; Nick, Schmidt, and Winston. Each relationship between Jess and her new roommates has a different, quirky dynamic, and their bonds grow as the series progresses.
As someone who would consider herself an avid fan of television comedies, “New Girl” is at the top of the favorites list. It's incredibly versatile; it’s a light-hearted comedy similar to “Friends” or “The Office” and you could randomly watch one episode and have a good laugh. But it also features a strong storyline and plot that is good for curling up in bed and binge-watching on Netflix all day.
Each person showcases their own strong personality and notable character development throughout the series. They all experience the normal struggles of adult life: career changes, friendship troubles, and relationship turmoil. Its relatability factor allows for the audience to empathize with the characters and feel involved in their storylines.
As far as seasons go, some are bound to be more interesting than others. In season one it’s difficult to reach the peak of the encapsulating stories that early on, and the later seasons seemed to become repetitive and lack the same creativity as the earlier seasons.
But similar to other shows of this nature, once they reach the second and third season, the audience has a better sense of who the characters are and can understand the way their storyline is directed in a logical manner.
But as the seasons continue to unfold, there are some twists and turns that seem to be widely unfavorable among fans of the show. My first true dislike about the show was when Megan Fox joined the cast in season five to “fill the spot" of Deschanel while she was on maternity leave.
While it makes sense to add another character to fill the void of a temporarily absent one, the new character of Reagan was rather unnecessary and Fox seemed out of place in the role. Her placement in the show came across somewhat random, and many fans were glad to see her removal from the series in later seasons.
The show covers a wide range of interests overall, allowing for its plot, characters, and humor to apply and relate to the general public. If you’re looking for an easy, lighthearted watch, or a show to obsess over for the next few months, “New Girl” is the show for you.
