Sell the Damn Horse

To appreciate a good story, you have to buy into the premise. It's a difficult reality of television as a story telling medium because it can be so easy to buy out. Maybe it's a particular actor who you can't see in any other role than her first, which is a problem I have on White Collar fairly regularly every time Elizabeth Burke shows up on the screen. Or maybe it's a particularly ridiculous plot point, like when the characters on Glee complain about being poor but then have three different sets of synchronized outfits in an episode.

Whatever the reason, buying into the basic premise of a story is key to getting the most out of it. I can continue to watch White Collar despite Kelly Kapowski's regular appearances because I can believe that Peter and Neal have a similar moral code even though on the surface they are so different. I continue to watch Glee because I can ignore the fact that the actors playing the supposed outcasts are all immensely popular celebrities. Buy the premise, buy the bit.

I have never had so much trouble buying the premise of shows as I am having with some of the new fall comedies this season.

CBS's Two Broke Girls centers around... well, two broke girls. One, the former socialite daughter of a Bernie Madoff esque corporate type who just lost all his money, the other the street savvy loner type with a biting wit, both living together in a tiny one bedroom apartment and trying to make it in New York while waitressing at a crappy diner in Brooklyn. On the distant horizon is the girls' loose plan of starting up their own cupcake business to make their big break in the world.Also, they have a horse in the back yard... First of all, it's a cupcake business, it's not going to make anyone filthy rich, but if they're so broke, why don't they just sell the damn horse for start up cash?

FOX's New Girl centers around Jess, played by Zoe Deschanel, a lovable dork of a girl who moves in with three new male roommates she met on the internet. There is nothing about this show that is believable. The boys live in a deluxe four bedroom apartment complete with a college dorm style in house bathroom, urinals, shower stalls and all. Jess moves in with these boys because she dumped her cheating tool of an ex-boyfriend, but let's be honest, nobody could ever cheat on the wonder that is Zoe Deschanel. The real kicker though is Jess' character. She's one of those mildly humorous but way over the top socially awkward stereotypes. It is impossible to believe that someone so beautiful has any trouble fitting in with the world around her. Just look at me, I'm only mildly attractive, and I've assimilated just fine.

Don't get me wrong though, I am actually quite enjoying both of these shows, and I'm working hard to really dig in, bite down (and any other metaphor for trying hard) and just believe the basic premises so that I can invest myself a little bit in the story going forward. I'm pretty sure that they will both be worth the effort.

And I hope 2 Broke Girls doesn't sell off the horse, because Chesnut (the horse) is probably my third favorite character on the show.

Maybe I should write my own show about a post-college theatre major living in Seattle and trying to make it on his own in the world of entertainment but spending his nights sitting on his couch writing a not-so-up-and-coming blog about serialized television. The show would probably be pretty boring, but at least it would have one thing going for it:

Premise bought.