Dork Through This: Zooey Deschanel's "New Girl"

I found myself chuckling quite a bit at FOX's new comedy "New Girl" -- especially in regards to a recurring gag involving a "Douchebag Jar" (I'll let you discover that on on your own). Zooey Deschanel is also quite funny in the show, not quite as annoying as I remember her being, making me wonder if she was ever truly annoying but rather some sort of omni-present "it" celebrity suffering from media overkill who I considered annoying based on principle alone. That said, the premise of "New Girl" is that Deschanel's character is a nerd of sorts -- she wears glasses, makes LOTR references, and sings at inappropriate times. As the ads describe her, she's "simply adorkable" (cringe), depending on her cute 3 new male roommates to lift her spirits after a big breakup and make her feel attractive again.

She gets more dorky than this in the show, I swear!

Thus, "New Girl" addresses two basic primal romantic fantasies at one time:

1) For men: the fantasy that they will find a really cute girl with very low self-esteem and, through selflessly granting her much-needed attention, she will blossom into a really hot chick;

2) For women: the fantasy that she will find one or two or several cute guys who can be respectful and attentive girlfriend substitutes, protective big-brother types, and latent potential romantic interests all in one, depending on the particular need at any given moment in time.

I call #2 the Wizard Of Oz fantasy, which the basic premise of "New Girl" seems to be quite reminiscent of. Deschanel is the lost and emotional Dorothy, and it's up to three wacky guys with various hilarious neuroses and personality quirks to navigate her to "Oz" (which I assume would be out of their house and into the arms of "the One" -- though more than likely this show will take a "How I Met Your Mother" turn and feature her having an affair with at least one of these platonic "friends"). Considering that Deschanel was Dorothy in the recent "Tin Man" TV mini-series, this all begins to take on some added resonance.

See, her model-friend is the sexy one, not her! She's just a big dork.

I would suspect that the biggest controversy of "New Girl" -- if anyone could look at Deschanel's adorkable mug, comedic oversized eyeglasses perched far on her nose, and think "controversy" -- is the topical debate on whether some women are too pretty and non-geeky to really be considered geeky at all, and whether it's just an affectation to seem hip. I don't know...Deschanel has always seemed somewhat sincere -- if not quite a certified Dork per se, then at least convincingly quirky. How long can they prolong the "adorkable" schtick over the course of this TV series before her character finally learns how to pull her hair up in a sexy way and wear heels on a consistent basis? That remains to be seen. But I'm giving the show a shot, at least for the Douchebag Jar.