Test Pilot is a semiregular feature sharing my first impressions of the pilots for next season’s shows. These aren’t reviews, since these pilots can be rewritten, recast and retooled before airing, and the shows that eventually get on the air can prove much better or worse. But premature opinions are why God invented the Internet, so let’s get on with…
The Show: 2 Broke Girls, CBS
The Premise: Max (Kat Dennings) is a sassy, sarcastic waitress at a Brooklyn diner who dreams of opening a cupcake business. Her new coworker Caroline (Beth Behrs) is an heiress whose dream life went bust when her dad’s hedge-fund scam got him arrested. They fight, they move in together, they plan to start a business. They’re the latest original odd couple!
First Impressions: The tough thing about gauging a sitcom pilot is that you have to separate the jokes from the overall potential (voice, characters, premise &c.). This pilot made me laugh, but also had some notable clunkers (a couple of rape jokes, including a bizarre, dated reference to the Duke lacrosse team; a few more body-fluid references than you might want to associate with a food-service environment). If those are just a case of a pilot trying a bit too hard, there could be a lot of potential in the chemistry between the two leads—Dennings, in particular, has timing and personality to spare.
Do I Want to Watch Another Episode? Why not? I want to see which side of this pilot wins out. Who can stop at just one cupcake?
