The New Girl on Television

Deschanel stars in the newest Fox show, "New Girl"

by Melissa Fajardo ’13

Zooey Deschanel stars as Jess in Fox’s new series “New Girl” as a quirky young woman who moves into an apartment with three strangers after a bad break up.  Three guys I might add. As the friendship between Jess and her roommates become stronger, the less tolerable I become of her dimwitted personality. I’ve been a fan of Deschanel ever since her role in “500 Days of Summer” and I counted down the days until the debut of her new show.  As I watched the premiere I thought to myself, “Where have I heard these jokes before?” Oh, that’s right; all these punch lines were the same 15 second punch lines they revealed in the promo commercials.  It was only until the third episode did I realize that Jess’s naïve nature, which was so innocently displayed in the premiere, was here to stay. She is easily irritated when she is called dumb; however the way her character portrays herself is almost begging people to make fun of her. There are only brief flashes such as when Jess offers romantic advice to a roommate, does she reveal her “normal” side, minus the unnecessary comments. The show became hard to watch as I was constantly taken aback on how clueless Deschanel’s character portrayed herself.  However, I will continue to follow the show, as any loyal fan of Deschanel would, and give the show time for it to grow on me.