Hey everyone! So, as the month of May continues on, many TV seasons are approaching their end. There were a TON of new shows this year, many of which I decided to tune into. However, I didn’t stick with all of them. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up! (Especially with the Kardashians. Ha, get it? And no I do NOT watch that show!) In any case, even if I continue to watch some of these new shows, there are some that stand out more to me than others.
The biggest success of this year, in my opinion, would have to be Fox’s New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel. I only caught on to New Girl towards the middle of the season, but from the first episode I saw, I was hooked. I know the show can be criticized sometimes because Zooey really takes the quirky to a new extreme, but I think that’s kind of the point. I think she embraces it and just tries to have fun with that silly mentality. And you know what? It works. I’m laughing at every episode I watch, and it’s not only because I think Zooey is “adorkable.”
The three guys she shares an apartment with are just as funny, if at times funnier, than she is. Jake Johnson (as Nick), LaMorne Morris (as Winston), and Max Greenfield (as Schmidt) round out the cast perfectly. Johnson and Deschanel have a nice chemistry going, and it drives me insane how pathetic he is, but that just means he’s going a good job as an actor. Greenfield is a total smart-aleck as the douche-y Schmidt; every time he does something stupid, he has to put money in the “douche jar.” All things considered, it’s Morris who stands out the most among the guys. His storylines aren’t really as developed as much as the other two guys’, but even without them, Morris manages to hold his own and gets the best jokes. The dynamic between the three of them works so well, and Deschanel awkwardly fits in (in a good way!) as the odd one out in the household.
It’s really refreshing to see a comedy with such a simple concept do so well, especially with no laugh track to speak of. I bet it stays on the air for a long time — it seems very promising. If you’re curious, Hulu has some episodes available, so I’d recommend taking a peek if you haven’t already.
Another show that left an impact on me was NBC’s Smash. Being the Broadway and theatre nerd that I am, this show is totally captivating for me. With people like Angelica Huston, Christian Borle, and Debra Messing in the cast, you can really do no wrong. I get that not a lot of people may be into the whole song and dance vibe of the show, but it’s really just like Glee, with more serious and mature plotlines. However, I do suggest this show with reservation; if you’re not very into showtunes, it may not be your kind of show. If you are interested, I would say watch a clip from the show on Hulu first to get a better idea of what it is like.
I could talk about this show at length, but I’ll just give you the basics. It’s about how a show gets produced and how a production team gets the final product to Broadway. It centers on a new musical about Marilyn Monroe and intertwines the actors’/producer’s/director’s/etc. personal lives with the story of the musical. Every episode features songs: some old, some new, and some originals written my Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (the writers of Hairspray). However, I don’t think it’s been doing so well in the ratings. It did get picked up for a second season but who knows if that’ll go like the first season did. I’d like it to stick around because there’s not much like it on TV and it’s just super fun.
So those are my two picks for best new tv shows of the season! Of course I didn’t watch every new show, but those stood out the most among the others I did watch. Happy Monday y’all!
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