Every fall, we are greeted with a new slate of sitcoms. It’s become as regular and anticipated as the changing of the leaves and the bringing out again of your favorite jackets and sweaters. Most of these shows stay around for a season or less and are never heard of or seen again. (Remember “Love Bites”? Of course you don’t.)
But every season there is invariably a standout, a show that manages to stand above the competition. This year, I nominate “2 Broke Girls” as that show.
“2 Broke Girls” is the story of Max (Kat Dennings), a rough and tumble Brooklyn native, and Caroline (Beth Behrs), a blonde Manhattan socialite fallen from grace. Fate brings them together to work at the same diner and become roommates, and, as you could assume, their differences incite much conflict and hilarity.
The premise is admittedly a bit farfetched, but much about a show can be forgiven if it is genuinely funny, which “2 Broke Girls” is. Compare this to the other “Girl”-centric fall sitcom, “The New Girl”, which is pretty desperate and cloying in its attempts to be funny. The outlandish premise in that show only adds to the frustration.
The real star here is Kat Dennings (you may remember her from “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist”), who steals the show in the first 30 seconds with an amazing takedown of hipsterdom and never lets go. Her Max is smart, sexy, sassy and streetwise. But most of all, she’s authentic. You, as the viewer, really get the sense of her as a real, living person — a person you want to meet and have as a friend. And, as strong as Dennings is, Behrs does well to hold her own and justify her equal billing in the show’s title. Caroline could have very easily been an annoying stereotype — just another rich bitch like we’ve seen portrayed on TV _ad nauseam_. But through a combination of smart writing and Behrs’s charismatic persona, Caroline is likable and genuine.
But still, the show has its faults. Many of the show’s supporting characters — the horny line cook who lusts after the girls, the Chinese American owner of the diner where they work — are unfunny or, worse, unremarkable. And while the show is for the most part pretty hilarious, when the jokes fall flat, they _really_ fall flat. As good as “2 Broke Girls” is, there is a lingering sense of “Is this really the best TV has to offer?” that makes us miss such great television debuts as “Modern Family” or “Arrested Development”.
And so, while “2 Broke Girls” does manage to stand above the rest of the fall slate of sitcoms, it’s not so much because it is a giant amongst men but more because it is simply a man amongst children. But many great shows have started off as only good (“Parks and Recreation”, “The Office”, “Community”), and I have hope for the future.