Ray Mickshaw/Fox Zooey Deschanel and Jake Johnson in last week’s episode of “New Girl†on Fox.Previously we heard from the creators of “Modern Family,†“Homeland†and “Justified.â€
Last week Fox’s “New Girl†effectively ended any will-they-or-won’t-they chatter about the flirty roommates played by Zooey Descanel and Jake Johnson (they did). This week, Elizabeth Meriwether, the series’s creator and show runner, addresses concerns that she ruined the show in the process.
“Oh no! You’re right! It was too soon! I messed up,†she writes (joking).
Ms. Meriwether, a veteran of New York’s downtown theater scene who has also written movies like “No Strings Attached,†responded to questions from Times readers about “New Girl.†Below, in addition to parsing the mechanics of The Kiss, she reveals her favorite scenes for each character, where to find the rules for “True American,†the show’s convoluted drinking game, and which of the often outlandish Schmidt plot lines were actually based in reality.
Why, oh why, did you go down the Jess and Nick road Everyone knew the attraction was always there under the sur! face, but now that they kissed, it is going to be so awkward. - Mnoelle, New York
Oh no! You’re right! It was too soon! I messed up. What should I do now Maybe I can make that episode into an elaborate dream sequence.
Josh Haner/The New York Times Elizabeth Meriwether.But seriously folks. I’ve found that the kiss has actually invigorated the show and the characters. As opposed to letting the tension out, it’s added spark and conflict and helped us focus. It’s been fun to write the aftermath, and I know the actors are having fun with the new dynamics. It’s not going to lead to immediate happiness for everyone, if that’s what you’re worried abut. Don’t you find, in real life, that kissing leads to more comedic situations not less I like awkwardness. “New Girl†thrives on awkwardness. But I hope you keep watching. Don’t give up on us yet. We might actually figure it out.
Just give me some reassurance: Please don’t make Nick and Jess the new “Ross and Rachel†(the comparison is running rampant in the blogs). - Amanda, South Carolina
I think Nick is going to be the new Rachel, and Jess is going to be the new Ross. Women everywhere are going to be asking their hairstylists for “The Nick.†If we’re keeping score, Schmidt is obviously Monica, and Winston is a sort of Chandler/Phoebe hybrid, if such a thing can exist. Cece is George Clooney’s character from “ER†mixed with the neighbor on “Home Improvement.â€
Hi Liz, just a question about ! filming t! he kiss of Nick and Jess: did you tell them how to kiss, like with the small pecks in the end or did they just improvise, like they felt for their characters to be right at that moment - Newgirlfangirl, Germany
Embarrassingly, I actually did try to tell them how to kiss. I walked up to Jake Johnson between takes and said: “I want you to kind of take her, and then do thisâ€"†(I demonstrated by making my fingers kiss each other) “Then wait and do that again, but kind of like thisâ€"†(more finger kissing). He just stared at me for a beat, and then, to his credit, nodded and said, “I think I got it.â€
Giving actors direction on how to kiss or have sex on camera can be deeply absurd. I’ll never forget watching Ivan Reitman explain how many thrusts the actors were supposed to do in the sex scene in “No Strings Attached.†The truth is, anything that physial is like a dance routine, it requires precision and timing, and both actors need to know what goes where when. The challenge is waiting to giggle until your hand is in front of your face, and you can pass it off as coughing.
Is Schmidt’s casual racism ever going to be addressed I know that it’s meant for edgy laughs, but it seems particularly more offensive this season. - Kerissa Ward, New York, NY
I know. I’m sorry. I’m going to try and get him to shut up, but he can be such a jerk. I apologize on his behalf for any offense he’s caused. He also makes fun of women, fat people, poor people, Jewish people, and the movie “The Hobbit†if that helps at all.
Adam Taylor/FOX Max Greenfield as Schmidt.Is there any chance of you telling us Schmidt’s first name - Jamie, NY
Unfortunately, the word is unprintable in The New York Times.
You had a rather successful career as an off-Broadway actress and playwright (“Heddatron,†Mistakes Madeline Made). Has your experience in New York’s downtown theater scene prepared you for life in Hollywood and as the creator of a successful TV show And if so, how - Mr. Frazier, Harlem, NY
Please god, I hope my experience in downtown theater isn’t over, because I’d love to keep making weird plays. I can’t wait for Charles Isherwood to call my next play “si-com-y†and tell me to stick to writing television. But, yes, I learned everything working in theater. I learned the importance of community â€" I was constantly going to play readings, stand-up nights, improv nights. I went to one of the earliest workshops of “Gatz†by the Elevator Repair Service. I sat through a seven-hour play at Lincoln Center that was entirely in French and mostly performed on skateboards. I got to work with incredible people (Alex Timbers, Evan Cabnet, Sam Gold, Marsha Norman, Chris Durang, Jenny Gersten, Naked Angels, Ars Nova), and my work got better by proximity to all of the energy, weirdness, and insanity. Now, whenever I feel stuck, I try to get out of my own head and go see something new. Laugh at someone else’s jokes. Open myself up to the artists around me. It makes it less hard. So that’s one of the things I learned in New York. (“The Things I Lea! rned In N! ew York†sounds like a bad one-woman show actually. I hope I never write that.)
Zooey Deschanel is great. would your show have succeeded without her or, to put it another way, did you find yourself shaping the show around her personality Also, how much of the tone of the show did you pick up among fellow students while at Yale - ponsoldt, athens, georgia
Patrick McElhenney/FOX Ms. Deschanel in the episode “Cabin.â€Would the show succeed without Zooey That’s easy. Hell no. The character and the actress have merged together in a great way, and Zooey’s spirit and talent are absolutely at the heart of everything we do. (And hi, Mr. Ponsold.. Good to hear from you.)
Are there any particular female comedians who inspired you when you created Jess’s role - Hannah, New York, NY
While I was trying to figure out what the show was going to be, I fell down a Hulu Hole with this British series (or should I say “programmeâ€), “Green Wing.†Procrastination Yes. But I just fell in love with the lead actress Tamsin Greig (who now stars in Episodes on Showtime). It’s an amazing show â€" hugely broad physical comedy, commedia dell arte, mixed with real characters, real emotion, and a great love triangle. I was very much inspired by that character and the crazy tonal shifts the show pulled off. Why do British people make such good TV It’s so annoying. Stop it. Is it because they have free health care Uggh.
Also Diane Keaton. She’s so massively, heart-wrenchingly funny, and she is never just pl! aying one! thing. Whenever we get criticized that the Jess character is too this or too that, I think about Diane Keaton. Funny women aren’t feminist symbols. Funny women are honest women. I guess that’s also true for men, but no one ever asks me if my male characters are presenting a negative image of masculinity. (As if that were possible… men are AMAZING.)
I absolutely love your show! It reveals so much about the culture of young adults that I wouldn’t otherwise know, since I am a 70 year old grandmother of three. The only question I have is how much is script driven and how much comes from your amazing cast member’s contributions - SeniorSues, Minneapolis, MN
That’s so good to hear. You just warmed my cold comedy writer’s heart. Thank you so much.
And to answer your question, we have a really loose set. We shoot extra jokes that we call “alts.†The actors, who are all great on their feet, build on those extra jokes or jst riff on the ideas that are in the scene. The “alt pack†is a thick packet of extra jokes for that day’s work that our tireless, ridiculously talented writing staff slave away on and hate with a passion. When it’s all cooking, the collaborative, anything-goes energy of set translates to the screen and makes it feel real and alive.
The trouble with making a single camera comedy (a comedy that doesn’t have a laugh track and isn’t performed in front of a studio audience) is that you’re forced to make a judgment call if something is funny based only on your instincts instead of actual laughter. The playwright in me wishes we were performing the show live, because I could hear if something was working or not. But my experience sitting in audiences and listening to real laughs (and horrible silences) has been helpful in the editing room. My co-showrunners, Dave Finkel and Brett Baer have worked on everything from “Animaniacs†to “United States of Tara†to “30 Rock†and Ste! ve Welch,! our editor, is a wizard of comedic pacing. Between all of us, we try to figure it out. But there are some real stinkers in there too. What can you do Just keep trying. If you’re lucky, you get to make twenty-four episodes a season and completely stop sleeping or showering. Unfortunately, one continues to eat.
Is it more important for you to adapt for the voice of the actor or stay strong to the voice of the character - Alex Tucci, Oakville Ontario
When I was talking to Jake Kasdan about directing the pilot, one of the first things he said was to cast actors that I love and write towards their strengths. He told me not to be precious with the characters I’d created in the pilot â€" on a television show running for years, the character and the actor start to fuse into one thing, and if you’re constantly fighting what the actor naturally does or trying to shoehorn the wrong person into some dream of the character in your head, you wil end up with a bad show. He was right. Our scripts are important, but I think the most important thing is what’s happening on set â€" what’s working or not working with the actors. Our actors are very much a part of the creative process, not joke-reciting robots. (Although, I’ve actually written for a joke-reciting robot in “Heddatron,†and that had its own joys.)
The striking thing about “New Girl†is that under all the comedy, there’s something about the emotions and reactions that feels very real â€" much more real than other sitcoms. Like â€" maybe everybody is sort of laid bare in different ways. Was this the plan for the show To make it a completely different type of comedy - JL, Chapel Hill
Yes, that was the hope, but Jake Kasdan brought that tone (or “vibe†as we say in California) to the show. He blended comedy and! emotion ! beautifully on “Freaks and Geeks,†and that was one of the main reasons I wanted him to direct the pilot so badly. It’s a tough tone to maintain though, and we struggle with it all the time. We’re lucky to have actors and writers who can find the real emotion under the stupidest joke, and find stupid jokes in the most emotional scenes. Our show works best when you’re laughing, but you’re a little sad about it. You’re welcome, America.
One of my favorite episodes this season is “Models,†where we saw flashbacks of the history of friendships of Nick/Schmidt and Jess/Cece. Will we get more episodes like that - Carl, The Philippines
We actually have an episode coming up that celebrates the ten-year anniversary of Nick and Schmidt living together as roommates €" their tin anniversary. This came from a passing reference in “Models†we thought would make a funny episode. So we did it. None of the characters are related, so it’s been important to see their histories in flashbacks. These are probably my favorite things to write on the show.
Greg Gayne/FOX From left, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield and Lamorne Morris.At what point in our nation’s racial consciousness-raising will Winston get to carry an A-plot - Kate Ryan, Cary, NC
Yeeeeesh. Okay. He has been in A-stories, but point taken. Lamorne Morris is fantastic, and we all love writing for him.
! I’ve he! ard/read that Jess is based on Zooey, but what about other characters (I’m basically asking if there’s a real-life version of Schmidt.) - Jemi, Edmonton
There was no one “Schmidt†in my life when I first wrote the character, but since then, I’ve heard a bunch of stories about real-life Schmidt’s. Which makes me both sad and happy. My favorite real-life Schmidt stories come from my friend Mark in London. In the Season Two premiere, Schmidt throws himself a “re-branding party†and that actually came from a true story Mark told me about his friend. God love him.
What is the one scene that you would say is your “favorite†I know that sounds boring but if you were forced to pick one scene at gunpoint â€" I don’t know why someone so violent would make you ever choose a favorite “New Girl†scene â€" which would be the scene you’re proudest of - Sarah, alligator pit
It’s funny to imagie a situation where someone is holding me at gunpoint and asking me that question. Like a very strange, unpopular episode of “Law and Order: SVU.â€
Okay, by character. For Jess: The scene in “Bad in Bed†when she chokes Justin Long as he does a sexy Jimmy Stewart impression. For Nick: The scene in “Menzies†when he slowly opens up to the old Asian man on the bench and ends up telling him that he’s afraid of dying. For Winston: The scene in “Secrets†when he gets rid of Nick’s sorority girls by doing a monologue as his alter ego Theodore K. Mullins. For Cece: The scene in “Fancyman Part Two†when she admits she has feelings for Schmidt while naked in the back of Winston’s car. For Schmidt: The scene in “Eggs†where he explains his methods for pleasuring women to Sadie, the lesbian gynecologist. So there. Please don’t shoot.
My question for you is mostly related to costume designs and fashion. Are you aware of the many websites that! search t! o find exact or close to matches for Zoe’s on set wardrobe How do you pick the clothes for these characters- are they dictated by vendors of the actors personal styles - BillieRose, Long Island, NY
Deb McGuire is our unbelievably talented costume designer. She designed the costumes for all ten years of “Friends†(which means she’s responsible for some terrible fashion choices I made in high school â€" a lot of baby-tees and vests). Zooey obviously has a fantastic sense of style and innovative taste, and the two of them cook it all up. I wear pajamas and sweatpants every day and try to stay out of the way. I think my personal style has inspired a lot of Nick Miller’s outfits.
We are hardcore “New Girl†nerds and we were wondering if you ever plan on going more in depth with the game “True American.†Like maybe a bok of rules or more footage of a game played or just a way for us to make it as legitimate as possible. We’re pretty darn serious about this. I mean, we’re planning customized bowling shirts for our pro True American team. - Christina & Amanda, Florida Panhandle
That’s amazing. I love you guys. We’ll work on some rules for you, but I would just trust your hearts, get really wasted, and look inside yourselves. I think you’ll find the rules were there all along.
Thank you for sending in questions. I was really excited and moved by the opportunity to talk directly with our audience. Keep watching. We’ll get better, I promise.
