Who's the New Girl?

Does New Girl count as 2010s-ish media? The google says it ran from 2011-2018, so yes it does. From the time that I was in high school, New Girl has been my "I've had a bad day" show. This is one of the few shows that I argue is still entertaining when watched for the first time years later, likely due to the fact that its comedy is done in relation to the series's time setting, but the humor is not solely contingent upon it.

Why did we like it then?

When watching New Girl for the first time in 2019 or so, it immediately stood out for its diverse ensemble cast. Unlike the all-white casts of Friends or the Big Bang Theory (which I acknowledge are a little older, but not by THAT MUCH), or the majority-white cast of Parks and Rec, New Girl's main cast includes several people of color, all of whom are portrayed in the same quirky and wholesome light as the white characters. There was also the element of turning stereotypes on their heads, such as Schmidt simultaneously being a womanizer yet not being the hyper-masculine manly man we often saw in that trope. To sum all of this up -- we liked New Girl because it was DIFFERENT than everything else on TV at that time!

What can we take from it now?

Like I mentioned above, New Girl was different from other shows of its time, but if it was released today, it really wouldn't be that different from shows like What We Do in the Shadows or Abbott Elementary. The world may suck right now, but thankfully comedy has advanced in diversity and representation in the past decade. Since it's not really different anymore, what's the pull of New Girl now? My younger sister is watching New Girl for the first time, and she finds it hilarious for creative the writing is. While watching it with her, I've noticed that one of the strengths of the show is the depth of the characters and relationships. Through the seasons, we grow to love Nick Miller despite his self-destructive tendencies and we get to watch Winston fully embrace his strange personality while chasing his dream of serving his community.

While some might argue that New Girl is "too millennial," I actually think that is one of the elements that has aged well. Even in 2016, I argue that the writers were aware of the "millennial cringe" of it all, even writing it into an episode (S2E4) wherein Jess befriends their young neighbors who view Schmidt as old and cringey. In this way, New Girl functions as time capsule of the 2010s, but its value has long outlived the decade.