Stream It Or Skip It: ‘New Girl’ On Peacock and Hulu, A Sitcom That Surpassed The “Adorkable” Label and Provided Genuine Laughs

Though New Girl premiered back in 2011 (and ran for seven seasons), the show will be available to a new audience now that it’s landing on Peacock and Hulu starting today. Early in its run, the show’s star, Zooey Deschanel, was billed as being “simply adorkable” but the tag line reduced Deschanel and the show down to a novelty: She’s a quirky weirdo! What unusual things will she do next? In fact, she and the show were much smarter and more entertaining than that motto let on. As we reflect on the show’s pilot 12 years later, there’s a lot about it that holds up, and we can happily report that it’s still a great hang.

NEW GIRL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Jess, the star of our show, faces the camera and says, “So, you know in horror movies when the girl’s like, ‘Oh my God, there’s something in the basement! Let me just run down there in my underwear and see what’s going on in the dark.’ And you’re like, ‘What is your problem? Call the police.’ And she’s like ‘Okay!’ but it’s too late because she’s already getting murdered? Well, my story’s kinda like that.” As she finishes her story, she offers a shrug and a half-wincing grimace. You might think Jess is revealing all of this to a therapist, but no, she’s talking to the three men who will become her new roommates.

The Gist: Jess (Zooey Deschanel) is a teacher who has just discovered that her live-in boyfriend, Spencer, has been cheating on her. She discovers this because when she arrives home from work early one day to surprise him with an afternoon delight (she shows up naked under a trench coat, pretending to be a stripper named Rebecca who’s putting herself through college), Spencer and his lady friend have just finished having sex.

The show, created by Elizabeth Meriwether, who wrote the pilot, wastes no time getting Jess set up in a new apartment, occupied by Schmidt (Max Greenfield), who votes Jess in as a new cohabitant because her best friend Cece is a model, Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.), who’s a vaguely toxic bro with a hot temper, and Nick (Jake Johnson), who has just gone through a breakup himself that he’s not over, and he does not like the idea of living with this weirdo who is overly emotional, sings to herself often, and loves Dirty Dancing.

It takes an act and a half for the guys to warm to Jess, who spends a lot of time wallowing and mourning the loss of her relationship. So when they take her to a party and she meets a guy she likes and plans a date with, Jess’s misery seems like it’s coming to an end, and the guys seem happy for her. When that guy turns out to be a jerk who stands her up after declaring he just wanted to sleep with her, the roommates spring to action; they get Jess from the restaurant where she’s been waiting alone, and take her home so they cal all watch Dirty Dancing together. It’s sweet, it’s charming, it’s kind. These bros might not relate to Jess’s feminine energy, but they feel protective of her and she’s obviously just what they need in their apartment.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? At it’s core, New Girl is a modern take on shows like The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, about an irreverent, professional woman looking for love, but in tone, it’s a direct descendant (or perhaps sibling) of shows like Friends, Happy Endings, and How I Met Your Mother, full of running gags, solid jokes, and an ensemble with genuine chemistry.

Our Take: There’s one major shift between the pilot episode of New Girl and the rest of the series, and that’s the fact that Damon Wayons Jr., who was originally cast as Coach, was replaced by Lamorne Morris who plays Winston. (This was due to a scheduling conflict Wayans had with Happy Endings. Morris doesn’t show up till episode 2). Aside from that, New Girl sets up exactly what kind of show it is from the moment the pilot begins. Though Zooey Deschanel has stated that she dislikes the term “manic pixie dreamgirl,” the show sets her up to be a version of that archetype, a quirky, flighty, irreverent woman who doesn’t really fit a specific mold. She’s awkward and unsexy, yet she’s romantic. She sings – so much – and while Deschanel herself is a talented singer, Jess plays her vocal stylings for laughs, often to the irritation of her roommates. But even though Jess and the men around her (and her best friend Cece, played by Hannah Simone), are all “types,” the show immediately rounds out their characters with heart, flaws, and self-awareness. Schmidt is the womanizing business bro who constantly has to put money in the apartment’s “Douchebag Jar,” one of the many funny recurring gags that appears throughout the series. Coach is the talented and cocky athlete who’s actually terrible with women. Nick is the cynical guy’s guy who thinks Jess is all just a bit too much. But of course, Nick is also the roommate who doth protest too much, and his soft spot for Jess (and their will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic) is established early on, giving the show a romantic tension that carries over for it’s entire run.

Though New Girl is not a new show and we have the luxury of looking back on its seven seasons in hindsight for this review, with it’s high points (Prince! True American!) and low points (Schmidt’s love triangle with Cece and Elizabeth!), overall, there are far more good episodes of New Girl than there are bad ones and despite a few bumps, it always managed to find its way back to funny.

Parting Shot: As the four roommates sit together on the couch to watch Dirty Dancing, Schmidt leans over to Jess and tells her,”Jess, I know you’ve had a really rough go of it. I just want you to know that no matter what, for me at least, I would still totally do you.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Jess says before immediately calling out for the Douchebag Jar where Schmidt puts a dollar in every time he acts like, you know, a douchebag.

Sleeper Star: Back in 2011, Jake Johnson was probably the least-known of the four main actors in the pilot, and he’s become one of the most consistently entertaining actors out there thanks to his roles in Minx and Into The Spider-Verse. When you watch these early episodes, even though he’s a grumpy crank who basically hates himself, he’s one of the most lovable characters on the show.

Most Pilot-y Line: “Who’s that girl? It’s Jess!” Jess sings to motivate herself after Schmidt invites her out to a party to get her out of the house. “Did you just make up your own theme song?” Nick asks. She sure did, because that’s what Jess does. The joke is also that this is actually the show’s theme song.

Our Call: STREAM IT! New Girl has genuine laughs straight out of the gate. In hindsight, there are certainly a few episodes worth skipping, but overall, the show is entirely worth a watch (or re-watch) if you’re looking for a comforting sitcom to binge, filled with people you wish you could be friends with.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.