'New Girl' Gets Naked (and Awkward)

'New Girl': "Bad in Bed" (S1Ep9)

I'm not sure that a half-hour comedy has ever made me feel so...awkward. Assuming that was what the writers/actors of 'New Girl' were going for in last night's episode (and I'm pretty sure it was) they definitely hit the nail on the head. "Awkwardly Adorable" has become something of a Zooey Deschanel/'New Girl' tag-line on Twitter and blogs everywhere. And, lets face it, she does kind of have that down pat.

When 'New Girl' first premiered I had very mixed reactions. I wanted to like it a lot, mainly because Liz Meriwether created it, and there are far too few television shows on the air that are created by women. But, in all honesty, wanting to like it wasn't enough. The pilot episode just felt incredibly awkward to me...and no, I don't mean that in the awkwardly adorable sense. I fount Jess jarring, and the guys irritating. If I didn't write this blog, I probably wouldn't have stuck with the show. But I did, and I'm actually glad.

I still don't think that 'New Girl' is the best half-hour comedy on television. Not by a long shot. But, every couple of episodes I see one I really like, and that motivates me to keep watching. I laughed out loud during both the wedding episode (S1Ep3) and the Thanksgiving episode (S1Ep6).

I had mixed-feelings about last night's episode. For those of you who'd like a little recap: Jess and her new boyfriend, Paul (played by Justin Long) decide to have sex for the first time. But Jess hasn't had sex with anyone except her now ex-boyfriend in over six years. She stumbles across Schmidt's porn stash, and starts to worry that she isn't good at sex. Of course, she decides it's a good idea to ask the guys for advice. She gets more and more worried (and awkward!) and ultimately has a cringe-worthy almost-sex interaction with Paul. Which involves weird fake voices, some very light unintentional S&M, and awkward (!) lingerie. Literally, the whole scene made me cringe to the extent that I wasn't even sure I wanted to watch the episode. I talked with my roommates about it afterwards (weirdly, we were all watching the show in separate rooms) and they had similar reactions. Do you think that was what the writers were going for? Because while I know that awkwardly-adorable is 'New Girl's' middle name, I think that scene was just plain awkward.

I did think the last scene in the elevator was pretty funny, as were the earlier scenes where Jess confronts the guys (and later Paul) about their porn habits.

And, despite their awkward almost-sex scene in last night's episode, I'm pleasantly surprised by the chemistry that Justin Long and Zooey Deschanel have. It's almost believable that they could date despite all their...awkwardness.

Thoughts?