“2 Broke Girls” -giving young, poor people a bad rep

Let us be honest here, “2 Broke Girls” should be renamed “The Kat Dennings Show“, cause that is all it is, a vehicle to have this great comedian and busty non conformer on our TV screens every week. If you took her out of the equation, there would not be much left.

The premise of the show is pretty easy, Kat Dennings and a blonde bimbo are broke and want to open a cupcake business which they need money for. Similarly to the HBO series “Girls”, “2 Broke Girls” is “Sex and the City” for 20something women. The premise is as implausible as “Sex..”, and the characters still have perky boobs as the ladies in “Girls”. This show differs the most however because “Sex..” took 4 stereotypes and built upon them, whereas “2 Broke Girls” took a bunch of stereotypes and hollowed them out till nothing was left. It also managed to kill the “wow, they are in New York and even though shiz doesn’t make sense and they are kinda slutty i aspire to be like them” factor.

I shouldn’t judge too early since “Sex and the City” also needed a little time to truly flesh out its characters. And season 2 of “2 Broke Girls” has been mildly funnier than the first season but that is not saying much since season 1 followed the creator’s attitude that the show is too clever to be needing to be funny.  This wouldn’t be a bad thing, a bit of raunchy humor and  female empowerment delivered by the superb comedic timing of Dennings could make up for obvious lack of chemistry and funny scripts. Looking a bit further though, the show features craploads of racially motivated jokes and certain ethnic and cultural stereotypes. I mean come on, their boss Han Lee played by San Francisco born Matthew Moy has no accent in real life but for cheap jokes he has to make a mockery of his family’s heritage. Same goes for two other American actors playing a Ukrainian cook and  Polish cleaner, respectively. I get the point that everyone on the show is getting “teased” for their stereotype but could one have made these stereotypes anymore dumb, insulting and one dimensional?! (Still love Jennifer Coolidge though, just not in this role.)

Pop cultural awareness and slight self loathing can’t make up for lack of substance, jokes and characters to root for. As you can tell, i heart Kat Dennings but her character is not the typical female lead but rather the snarky best friend which leaves us with no main character to cheer on. I have been broke, doing crappy jobs alone in a big city but i would rather shoot myself than be like any of these people. Well..maybe Earl, he is lovable. Go Earl woop!

“18 to Life”- surprisingly not a prison drama

“18 to Life” is this little Canadian television sitcom that premiered in 2010 and ran for 2 seasons. The premise is quite cute and adds a new spin to the “odd couple” relationship routine known from other shows. “18 to Life” is the story of Jessie and Tom, a young couple who decides, on a dare, to get married right out of high school. The show focuses on their first year as a married couple, the struggles and misunderstandings of adult life, as well as their friends and respective family coming to terms with the union.

The young people are rather sane and sweet, their parents are batshit crazy though. Jessie’s parents are hippies while Tom’s family is stuck up and neurotic. These pairs do follow overused cliches but they also offer comedic relief to juxtapose the relationship drama. The show as a whole is like ABC Family but on crack. It is “Juno” but funnier, or “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” but with substance. The characters have sex and argue and every episode does not hit the reset button to make everything idyllic again. However, one can watch the episodes out of sequences and still be entertained.  The main difference between “18 to Life” and other cutesy shows is that i found myself caring about the characters and their lives. They are fleshed out and could substitute as the everyman’s sweet and wacky neighbors, no matter where you live. Divorce is (especially for a young couple) a definite possibility in life but true commitment and belief in marriage are, in my opinion worth the struggle 🙂

Fun fact: Can’t really judge young married couples as my brother got married at age 20..fast forward 15 years, they have 3 kids, a house, two dogs etc etc. Mad people, i am telling you MAD 😀

 

Not much to hate about “10 Things I Hate About You”

If you have been near a TV during any holidays in the last 13 years you will have seen the widely popular romantic comedy starring Julia Stiles and the oh so cute Heath Ledger. However, today i discovered there was a TV show of the same name produced between 2009 and 2010 for ABC Family. The premise for “10 Things I Hate About You”-the television show is the same as in the film: two very different sisters struggle with high school, social acceptance and love. 20 episodes were made and many of them feature plotlines from the film as separate episodes, such as the party where Kat gets drunk, or Bianca going to the dance with the guy who only wants to get laid.Unfortunately, the whole show is a very watered down version of Shakespeare, heck it is even weak considering the usual ABC Family content (which is saying a lot). The three things making this show a bit more charming and watchable are:

1) Kat aka Lindsay Shaw, i saw her some months back in another ABC Family TV movie called Teen Spirit and i must say she does quick-witted feminist incredibly well. Plus i think television needs more exotic looking brunettes who don’t wear fake tan or have their boobs out, if i want to see that i watch Latin porn.

2) The original dad from the film who reprises his role on the show. He is mad but lovable, at the same time you feel his pain but he also makes you laugh.

3)Ethan Peck (playing Heath Ledger’s part) and his voice. The guy is not a great actor but he has a certain presence that is undeniable and a deep sexy voice to match. This was the first time i had ever seen him in anything and i immediately thought: Twilight meets old Hollywood leading man! Turns out i was not too far off,  the guy is the grandson of “To Kill a Mockingbird” actor Gregory Peck. I am a sucker for a nice jawline and the whole family has the swoon factor.

Overall, the show is not funny, some episodes are touching and some lines are clever. You might as well watch it but do not spend your heard earned money on it. “10 Things I Hate About You” is enjoyable Sunday afternoon watch-out-of-sequence television.