NEW GIRL Awkwardly Meets "Prince"

Article first published as NEW GIRL Awkwardly Meets "Prince" on TheTVKing.

FOX's New Girl got the prime post-Super Bowl slot this week, meaning it had way higher ratings than usual, many viewers likely checking out the third-year sitcom for the first time. As someone on board from the beginning, it's gratifying to know others might find it on the schedule. But a typical episode it was not, and does that mean it missed the chance to show off its charm?

There's always pressure on the series that lands such a visible air time. It has one chance to both show who it is, and do something a little bit atypical and out there, maybe playing to the football game's target audience. Various programs have met with a wide range of success, from selling out completely while caught up in the moment or pretending it's just a typical week (which can be as bad), to effortlessly mixing what the show is known for with something flashy sure to have employees talking around the water cooler. Unfortunately, I think "Prince" falls towards the first end of the scale too much.

In "Prince," Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and CeCe (Hannah Simone) have a chance encounter that earns them an invitation to a party thrown by the legendary musician, not exactly a believable happenstance. As Jess leaves, though, Nick (Jake Johnson) says 'I love you' to her for the first time and, in a panic, she doesn't say it back. This leads Nick, Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Winston (Lamorne Morris), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) to crash the shindig, though the other three guys quickly focus on their own goals once inside.

New Girl is strongest when the main players get together and interact. Like any good comedy series, it has excellent chemistry between its leads, and that's what viewers tune in for week after week. We want to see their friendship and their love.

There are some examples of this in "Prince." Coach and Winston have an awesome moment when they work their way past the bouncer. Nick and Jess, ultimately, make up in a very sweet way. And CeCe and Schmidt share a scene dripping with tension, giving hope to fans who wants to see them reunite as a couple.

But there's also a lot of weird bits that feel forced. Prince (himself) inserts himself into the Nick and Jess's relationship. This is funny, to be sure, as is the Prince / CeCe ping pong game in the tag, and the CGI butterfly that incessantly follows Prince around. However, by putting a third party into the conflict, it kind of takes away from Nick and Jess themselves. They don't get a chance to work out their issue naturally, as Prince takes the lead in that.

Even worse are the cameos by LA Dodger Clayton Kershaw and supermodels Alessandra Ambrosio and Ana Beatriz Barros. None of this feels right for the show, their appearances ringing false. The characters in New Girl are great for their every-man quality. Having them rub shoulders with celebrities is just wrong, and when said celebrities cannot act, it makes the whole thing exponentially bad.

Let's hope would-be viewers pay more attention to the very beginning of the half hour, when the four guys get into a dispute over who should move Jess's panties out of the washer. This is way more authentic New Girl, and will show you how the players actually behave on a normal basis. If you were a fan of that scene, then give the series another chance, even if the rest of the installment flopped.

New Girl returns to its regular time slot tonight at 9 p.m. ET on FOX.

The Trouble With Football

Article first published as The Trouble With Football on Blogcritics.

 It's been a frustration of television fans for a long time that sometimes sports, mainly football, runs over into the favorite programming, pushing the broadcast time later. In the days before DVRs, one tuned in when the show was airing, anyway, and aside from possibly having to stay up a bit later, it wasn't that big a deal. But now that many record their shows, and don't check in on them when they are on, this has become a problem.

One side of the issue is that DVR technology has just not caught up with the real world. It's great to be able to record things, but often the schedule updates maybe once a day. Because the DVR does not track what is airing in real-time, it cannot make adjustments when the NFL teams take a bit longer than is scheduled.

I assume that the fix will ultimately come from DVRs being able to tell when this occurs. Until this happens, though, we are liable to miss the second half of The Good Wife, and I don't see that as an acceptable concession.

On a side note, if CBS would join the rest of the broadcast networks in the modern era and make their shows easily available to stream online, the problem would be less urgent. But since they focus on the older viewership, their main audience, they don't seem to be in any hurry to catch up with the times. And CBS has been the main offender for this problem lately.

One solution some DVR owners choose to pursue is to set their recording times a half hour or an hour longer. There are a couple of problems with that, though. Sunday night is arguably the biggest night of the week for TV, with cable channels such as HBO, AMC, and Showtime running their new installments mainly on this night, and ABC, CBS, FOX, and PBS competing, too. Most DVRs record two shows at once, and it takes away from other channels if you let one show record at double length. Also, unless you have one of the massive TiVos that can record hundreds of hours of HD programming, you might be concerned you don't have the space to hold more. (Disclosure: I do have a massive TiVo that can record four shows at once, and I still run into both of these things.)

But I think the sports run-over runs deeper than this. We, as a society, have decided that sports is the most important of all of the television programming, especially NFL football. It gets more viewers than anything else, makes more money from ads, and thus, gets the top priority. The network isn't about to cut off the end of the game for fear of angering the source of their income.

 Why is football so popular? Isn't it basically the same thing week after week? Guys run at each other and try to move a ball down the field. There won't be any exciting plot twists, and the memorable moments come few and far between. What is the draw?

We see this in scripted television, too, with CSI and NCIS topping the ratings, even though they virtually always stick to a single formula, with stand-alone installments. Is the point here that people want mindless escapism that they don't have to think about, and can tune in or not at their convenience, rather than scheduling their lives around it (for the most part)?

Why doesn't the cream rise to the top? Why don't the higher quality, more complex shows draw football ratings? This is a phenomena I will never understand, nor really have any desire to. It just disappoints and frustrates me that this is the reality we live in.

However, considering the two points this essay has made thus far, that DVRs aren't ready to adjust, and that football will always be given first dibs on the airwaves, isn't there something that can be done to solve the problem now?

The simple solution seems to be to schedule the football air times longer. Afterall, it's not unusual for the game to run longer than schedule. It's the norm, rather than the exception, for this to happen. Why not pad the time a little bit, and just let the post-game commentators ramble on a bit longer if the competition should end early? I really don't understand why this hasn't happened yet. It's so obvious!

That being said, if you do know why this can't be done, please weigh in on the comments below. Seriously.


This situation arises to my thoughts this week because of the Super Bowl. Yes, I'll TiVo it, like many, but I plan on fast forwarding through the game and just watch the commercials. However, more important than ads is the brand new episode of Elementary that airs after. I definitely do not want to miss any of that clever show! If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's very good.

Sure, this is the Super Bowl, and perhaps this is the one time of year that run-over can be excusable; after all, this is the Big One. But what is the excuse the rest of the year?

Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!

Glee Season 2 Volume 1

     You all know I am a huge fan of FOX's Glee. It's the only show I currently review every episode of. I was super excited to get the DVD for the first half of the current season. Sadly, I find myself a bit disappointed. Not with the episodes, which I have written repeatedly were better than season one, on the whole, but with the special features, or lack thereof.

    The best extras included on the set are just clips of the episodes, reorganized. "Glee Music Jukebox" has returned, where you can scroll through the song list from every episode on the disc and just watch the actual song. Or hit shuffle and the DVD picks one for you. I also enjoyed "The Wit of Brittany," which is about two minutes of some of Brittany's (Heather Morris) best one-liners.


     I also liked "Getting Waxed with Jane Lynch," in which we get to see some of the process it took Madame Tussauds's to make a Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) wax figure. There are 15 minutes from the Glee panel at the San Diego Comic-Con from last summer. Also included is a seven-minute look behind the scenes of episode five, "The Rocky Horror Glee Show."

     All of these features are great, but I felt like I wanted more. Perhaps it's not a bad lineup, considering this is less than half a season of Glee, but I wish there were some episode commentaries or further discussion with the cast and crew.

     The one feature I was truly disappointed in was the exclusive bonus song from "The Rocky Horror Glee Show." Called "Planet, Schmanet, Janet," it is about a minute long. There wasn't anything new filmed, just the old red-lips-mouthing-the-words trick used for the opening. I enjoyed the music, but longed for something more substantial.

     That being said, these ten episodes were mostly fantastic. At the bottom of this article, I will include a list with links to my reviews of each one, in case you'd like to check them out individually, but in summary, it featured tighter writing and better acting than season one. Kurt (Chris Colfer) was given lots of development and a potential love interest (Darren Criss). We met a fun substitute teacher (Gwyneth Paltrow), and the football team got a new coach, Beiste (Dot Jones). Puck (Mark Salling) met a girl named Lauren (Ashley Fink) who rocked his world, while Emma (Jayma Mays) married her dentist, Carl (John Stamos). Plus, so many great musical numbers, including Christmas and Britney Spears songs.

     Glee returns from hiatus after the Super Bowl tonight, and we'll get a second episode on Tuesday at 8 p.m., in the show's normal time slot. Two sure-to-be-great episodes in three days!  What could be better than that?

Season Two Episodes (So Far):
#2.01 "Audition"
#2.02 "Britney/Brittany"
#2.03 "Grilled Cheesus"
#2.04 "Duets"
#2.05 "The Rocky Horror Glee Show"
#2.06 "Never Been Kissed"
#2.07 "The Substitute"
#2.08 "Furt"
#2.09 "Special Education"
#2.10 "A Very Glee Christmas"

Article first published as DVD Review: Glee Season 2 Volume 1 on Blogcritics.

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