TV Tastes Don't Jive With Popularity: New Girl Vs The B----

It takes me awhile to warm up to a new show.  A long time ago, I remember being forced to watch Friends one night and I kept thinking, "What's the deal with this show?"  I didn't get it at all.  Two years later, I tuned in again [on my own] and Voila-- became a Friends fan.   

It's not that it takes me longer to catch on, it's just that I don't like a show solely because it's popular;  I have to discover it on my own.

Sometimes, I'm surprised by my own taste.  While I admit to enjoying an occasional Deadly Women episode [expected], I can't seem to get into Orange Is The New Black [unexpected.]  The Walking Dead has to fight for my attention along with Game Of Thrones, two wildly popular shows that fans live and die over, but I haven't devoted much attention to.

New Girl, a show that premiered on Fox in 2011, is a show I expected to like.  It had a decent premise and Zooey Deschanel as a lead.  Additionally, Zooey's character, Jess, is a little like me. She's completely unafraid to showcase her klutsy, adorkable self.  She also breaks out into impromptu dancing (which I do, too) and randomly sings. 

Jess, in case you didn't know, breaks up with her boyfriend in the pilot episode.   Then, out of necessity, she answers an ad on Craigslist and moves in with a houseful of guys.  Shockingly, I didn't really like the show.  I didn't entirely dislike it.  I mean, I passively enjoyed parts of it, but I felt there was something lacking.  The storylines were okay and, at times, rather amusing, but the jokes and ensuing laughter felt canned to me.  It always feels like New Girl is trying too hard to fit in. 

Instead, I turned my attention to the Bitch in apartment 23.  This was a chick, I was expecting to hate.  Don't Trust The Bitch In Apartment 23... and I didn't.  I didn't trust her, but I sorta liked her.  The series, which premiered on ABC in 2012  followed June (Dreama Walker), a seemingly wholesome character who moves from Indiana to New York City.  Through unforeseen circumstances, she ends up needing a place to live asap.  Enter the Bitch, Chloe (Krysten Ritter), who becomes June's new roommate.  While the scheming and conniving Chloe begins with the upper hand, June proves herself by often beating Chloe at her own game.  B---- can be cliched, but to me, it has heart.  I enjoy the good-natured conflict between the girls and their neighborhood posse.  Chloe is creepily believeable as a skanky, older sister type to June.  She always looks after #1, and that's the point. 

The Update: New Girl is going strong in its third season.  Meanwhile, the network kicked B---- to the curb after Season 2 in early 2013.  That's how much I know.  Evidently, I'm not in touch with the heartbeat of the average American viewer.  Generally, I don't even like sitcoms. 

Luckily, though, even cancelled shows can have an afterlife these days.  Occasionally, a strong enough fan base can even resurrect a show from the dead.  These days, thanks to Netflix, I can diss New Girl in favor of B----.  And I'm thankful for that.

Copyright ©2013 by KLiedle