Would watching a show weeks before it premieres make it any more likely for you to watch that show?
It worked for "Glee," and Fox seems to be hoping it'll work for "New Girl," a live-action sitcom starring Zooey Deschanel as a young eccentric who moves in with three attractive dudes after discovering her boyfriend's infidelity.
Though "New Girl" doesn't premiere until Sept. 20, the show is being rolled out on iTunes starting Sept. 6, as well as on Hulu and Fox.com starting Sept. 13. The pilot will also be available on Deschanel's website, Hello Giggles. Users will be able to watch the pilot up until it debuts.
We checked out "New Girl" and were pleasantly surprised by what we saw. Deschanel (who also sings the theme song) has her adorable rays on full blast as Jess, playing up a quirky cool that ranges from dropping involved "Lord of the Rings" references to donning her "hot farmer's daughter" overalls before a date. Though the sitcom almost makes the classic mistake of trying to get audiences to believe anyone as pretty and vivacious as Jess might have trouble getting male attention, Deschanel's unabashed willingness to break out into bizarre, man-repelling song and dance helps make its case.
After walking in on her boyfriend, and the girl he's cheating on her with, Jess moves into an apartment with three guys, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Coach (Lamorne Morris). The laugh factor of having this girly, mildly insane roommate shack up with these three men is moderate, though the device of the "douchebag jar" (to be filled when one of them says or does something that qualifies) is a nice touch. While Nick, just broken up with a girlfriend, seems to be the most sensitive -- by the end of the pilot, he not only takes Jess' unspoken advice regarding his love troubles, but also leads the charge in saving her from being stood up -- it's clear none of them are quite prepared for Jess and her brand of living life.
Nick, Schmidt, a peppy guy with a habit of taking his shirt off, and Coach, an athletic trainer whose method of cheering Jess up is to yell, as if at a dog, "Stop it!" over and over again, seem a little dubious about their decision once Jess spends a week weeping on the couch to "Dirty Dancing." Nick describes Jess's life philosophy as "living on a sparkly rainbow driving a unicorn." He has a point.
But it's this kind of self-aware, self-deflating humor keeps the show from being too precious. Written by Elizabeth Meriwether, who also penned this year's "No Strings Attached" with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, the sitcom aims squarely at deconstructing the sex lives of 20-somethings with Deschanel as a kind of zippy tour guide. While "New Girl" is full of zingers (often about how weird Jess is), it's just as concerned with delivering tender little life lessons about how nice it is to have friends, even if they're a little loony.