It’s a very seldom event to become excited about a TV series at this point in the year when so many fall shows are about to end and none of the summer series have really begun yet (save for Mad Men), but Nahnatchka Khan’s snarky homage to living in New York with a roommate you love to hate is incisive, witty, and features James Van Der Beek playing himself. I don’t actually think anyone has ever come up with such a brilliant concept.

Clockwise from top: Krysten Ritter, Michael Blaiklock, Dreama Walker, Eric Andre, Liza Lapira, and James Van Der Beek

June Coleman (Dreama Walker) is perhaps the most prototypical person that moves to New York: From a small town (in Indiana), dreams of greatness and success, and has absolutely no idea just how sobering it’s going to be. After recently completing grad school, June is hired by the Buchman Mortgage Company, an enterprise that is miraculously paying for her moving expenses and chic apartment (that June predictably notes is “just like in Friends!”), causing her to genuinely believe that her life path is on track. Her fiancé, Steven (Tate Ellington), even agrees to move there once he’s finished working on his psychological research with a preadolescent boy named Jeremy (it’s very Bill Murray in The Royal Tenenbaums). The only glitch is that the first day she arrives, the CEO is in the midst of being arrested for embezzlement (a cliché plot device, but always a believable one). Before she leaves the building, though, she gets the chance to meet Mark (Eric André), her would-be mentor had the company survived, and a contact that proves crucial later on.

Promotional poster for Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23

Because June’s apartment was subsidized by Buchman and is now deemed government-owned property, she frantically searches for a new place to live by scouring the internet for a roommate, ultimately settling on Chloe (Krysten Ritter), who comes across as the most normal in a city sea of crazy. As June is exiting the building to begin the moving process, Chloe’s neighbor in apartment 21, Robin (Liza Lapira), warns, “Don’t trust the bitch in apartment 23.” Vaguely creeped out, June doesn’t have much in the way of options and promptly starts moving her possessions into apartment 23, after which she has a run-in with Eli (Michael Blaiklock), a perverse neighbor who asks her if she’s “hot” and “sweaty” from moving. Realizing his innuendos, June threatens to call the police just as Chloe traipses around the apartment naked assuring her that everything is fine and that she knows Eli from when he shut down “an underground sushi restaurant [she] was working at.” This is also, mind you, at the same time she grabs a yogurt from the refrigerator that June had just finished clearly marking her name on. This show knows how to focus on details.

The "B" in question.

Chloe begins her plot to get June to move out within the next few days so that she can collect June’s rent (including last month’s and a security deposit) for herself. While talking to her best friend, James Van Der Beek (who she used to date, but ended up becoming friends with because, as she laments, ”We weren’t really compatible, genitally. It was like trying to fit a cucumber into a coin purse.”), he asks Chloe if she feels at all remorseful for constantly scamming her roommates, to which she replies, “Eventually, these girls realize that they don’t belong here and I’m just helping push them out. I’m part of the great digestive system that is New York City.” It is one of her most poignantly bitchy remarks in the episode.

Besties.

In the meantime, June has managed to get a job as a barista at the coffee shop where Mark found his new niche as a manager. Yet another character with solid gold lines, when June points out that Mark got hired at It’s Just Beans a mere four hours after being laid off from Buchwald, he shrugs, ”Can’t have a gap in the resume, right?”

The angel and the devil collide.

June’s ire for Chloe is only mildly allayed by the fact that Steven surprised her by coming to town for her birthday. What June doesn’t know is that he’s cheating on her with his assistant and a handful of other random women. But then, it’s Chloe’s job to make June see the truth. It’s a very The Odd Couple dynamic that works extremely well.

The quirky cast of characters that comprise Don't Trust The B---- in Apartment 23.

The real highlight of Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 is, undeniably, James Van Der Beek’s parody of himself. His willingness to play into the perception people have of him as simply James Van Der Beek (or “that dude who played Dawson”) was also present when he appeared in Ke$ha’s video for “Blow”–and was fine with her calling him “James Van Der Douche.”

Playing Ke$ha's nemesis in the video for "Blow"

This tongue in cheek humor he has about himself is evident in every line of dialogue he recites throughout this show. For example, while talking on the phone to Chloe, she overhears Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want To Wait” playing in the background and says, “You got a fan over, huh?” James confirms this as the fan in question comes downstairs holding out a flannel shirt to him. Chloe then asks, ”Did she get you to put on the flannel?” He responds, “We’re negotiating.”

Overstepping boundaries.

Another memorable line from Van Der Beek occurs when he tries to explain to June that Chloe really can be a good friend and that she once flew out all of his friends and family to Vietnam while he was shooting a commercial for an energy drink. Even though she used his credit card and left him stranded there, it was still a good time. But, as Van Der Beek will caution you, “Don’t be a blonde dude in a Vietnamese jail, June. That’s the real life lesson here.”

The recent trend in transitioning silver screen stars to the small screen is part of No Strings Attached screenwriter Elizabeth Meriwether’s formula for The New Girl. With Zooey Deschanel as lead character Jessica Day (Jess for short), the show might actually have a chance of surviving the curse of airing on the Fox network.

Talking up the show on the red carpet.

Because both Meriwether and Deschanel come from a film background, the pilot episode has a notably cinematic feel. They even have Jake Kasdan (of Bad Teacher and Orange County fame) directing. With this trifecta, overtones of the filmic technique are especially evident in the opening scene in which Jess stares straight into the camera and delves into the following monologue:

“So you know in horror movies when the girl’s like, ‘Oh my God, there’s something in the basement. Let me just run down there in my underwear and see what’s going on in the dark.’ And you’re like ‘What is your problem? Call the police.’ And she’s like, ‘Okay,’ but it’s too late because she’s already getting murdered. Well, uh, my story’s kind of like that.”

Deschanel in her "Jess look"

Jess then rehashes how she made the mistake of coming home early from a trip to find her longtime boyfriend, Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff), with another woman. This is, lamentably, after she has already begun her awkward stripper act–one of the moments that makes Deschanel come across as more annoying than charmingly quirky.

The cast of The New Girl includes (from left to right) Damon Wayans Jr., Jake M. Johnson, Max Greenfield, and Hannah Simone.

Once her prospective roommates, Nick (Johnson), Schmidt (Greenfield), and Coach (Wayans Jr.) are done listening to Jess’ tale of woe, they’re pretty much ready to say, “Next!” That is, until Jess mentions that her best friend, Cece (Simone), is a model and is constantly surrounded by models so she would really rather not live in that atmosphere. This immediately prompts Schmidt (the resident douche bag of the group–he actually has to put money into a “Douche Bag Jar” when he starts to act or say something that falls into that category) to encourage his fellow roommates to let her move in.

Looking confused as she re-enters the dating world.

Upon moving in, Jess is not shy about displaying her normal behavior, which consists of crying as she watches Dirty Dancing on a loop as a part of her grieving process. Not quite sure how to handle such womanly problems, Schmidt decides to take charge and insist that they all go out so that she can find a rebound guy. Naturally, they choose to go to the bar where Nick works–discounted drinks always help boost confidence.

At her interview for the apartment.

From there, the gist of how the dynamic between the four of them is going to work becomes more pronounced. Basically, Jess’ whimsicality and unintentionally refreshing frankness is a source of inspiration for how Coach, Nick, and Schmidt (well, maybe not Schmidt) interact with women. While The New Girl is enjoyable enough, chiefly when you take into account some of the other upcoming new series this fall (Charlie’s Angels and Free Agents being amid some of the more distinguished riffraff), its main downfall is when the contrivances of the Zooey Deschanel “Ooh I’m so weird but I’m also really beguiling” shtick are too glaring to ignore.

‘The Gang Hits the Road‘ is about the gang taking a road trip to the grand canyon. On the way there they run into a disgruntled biker, stop off at the Italian market to barter with some gypsy’s, try to cook hot dogs in a mobile storage unit, and pick up a hitchhiker. The first ten or so minutes of the episode were a bit boring. It was basically just all five of them bickering and bitching. I mean, it was amusing just hearing them bicker, but they weren’t really saying anything particularly funny.

The second half of the episode is when it gets really hilarious. All the scenes at the Italian market were great. One moment in particular when Mac (Rob Mcelhenny) is explaining to Charlie (Charlie Day) how to eat a pear was classic, and the scene is punctuated with the line ‘I EAT STICKERS ALL THE TIME DUDE!’. Haha, oh Charlie, you fucking idiot. The scene with Dee (Kaitlin Olson) and the hitchhiker was also pretty funny. Their ‘name the states while you drink’ drinking game was great. Another good part was when Dennis (Glenn Howerton) and Charlie decide to light a fire inside of a small storage unit, which ends with expectedly horrible results. But the BEST part of the episode had to be the ending. You’re probably going to be able to guess what happens while you’re watching the episode, but I won’t spoil it. I’ll just say the comic timing and the camera work are pitch perfect. The ending seriously had me short of breath.

The most horrible people in the world

One thing I’m starting to notice though is how stupid Frank (Danny Devito) has become. He used to be the semi voice of reason among these selfish assholes. But now he’s become equally as stupid as the rest of the gang. It’s a bit annoying because now there’s no X factor among the five main characters. Frank used to add an extra dimension to the show but now they could honestly get rid of him and the show would be pretty much the exact same.

After a rather weak season opener I was starting to fear that Always Sunny was beginning it’s decline toward lameness. Thankfully though ‘The Gang Hits the Road’ eased those fears a little bit. It’s a funny episode. And while it’s not close to the best in the cache of episodes, it’s good enough to be called a “good” episode. And if all the episodes this season are as good as this one, i’ll walk away satisfied.