Zooey Deschanel, possibly out-tweeing herself in “The New Girl.”
(Isabella Vosmikova - Fox)
Zooey Deschanel was heartbreaking in “All the Real Girls,” darling in “Elf” and incredibly charming opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in “(500) Days of Summer.” Her work with M. Ward, her partner in the sunny-pop duo She & Him, has an undeniably sweet-as-a-pixie-stick appeal. Heck, this blog even expressed sympathy for her during a recent feud with an L.A. Times writer.
So why do I suddenly find Deschanel so intolerably twee in her new Fox series “The New Girl,” which debuted Tuesday night? Did I reach some pre-existing threshhold for Deschanel tolerance that I never knew existed? Did the “New Girl’s” cutesy-poo stop-motion opening — which honestly seems like it was ripped right out of an SNL sketch (see below) — push me over the edge? Or is it possible that Deschanel has finally assumed her adorable-indie-chick persona so aggressively that she’s officially out-twee-d herself?
Post TV critic Hank Stuever has even less patience than I do for the Deschanel we find in “The New Girl”: “Boy, has she pulled the bangs over everyone’s eyes with this atrociously cutesy sitcom,” he writes in his review.
Apparently, though, Stuever and I may be in the minority. Based on Metacritic reviews, most professional TV assessors like “The New Girl.” Matt Roush of TV Guide calls Deschanel a “giddy bundle of zany vulnerability” while Alan Sepinwall of Hitfix deems “New Girl” the best new comedy of the fall season.
What’s your take on the irrepressibly nerd-dorable Deschanel? Were you charmed by her overall-wearing antics in “The New Girl” or have you hit your Zooey D. limit? Weigh in with a comment and/or vote in the poll below.
P.S. Despite everything I just wrote, I have to admit I am kind of excited about the upcoming holiday CD “A Very She & Him Christmas.” I’m delightfully, girlishly, indie-rockishly unpredictable that way.
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