Why New Girl Is the New Friends

Anyone who’s read our December issue knows how seriously I take my holiday episodes. Watching last night’s Turkey Day camping trip, I realized that New Girl has become the show whose Thanksgiving eps I most look forward to each year. Naturally, that made me think of the last great show to truly dominate Thanksgiving:

And that made me think: Though every buddy-gang TV show dreamt up, pitched, and made

would love to be dubbed “the next Friends,” New Girl really deserves the distinction. It’s not just that it manages to give us both super-specific, lovable characters and super-relatable, universal themes; it’s all these real-deal connections too. For instance:The jumping-off point is a group of pals, some roommates, none married (for all intents and purposes, Ross’s marriages never count).

There’s a will they or won’t they central couple…

And they’re prone to getting physical with one another.

When they go out, they basically go one place.

One guy in the gang has ruled himself the all-time ladies’ man.

Everybody loves a good leather couch.

And nobody has boundaries.

Is it me, or is Winston, in his confident nerdiness, taking on more shades of Ross every day? (My favorite Winston quote from last night: “The only hunt I want is Helen or Bonnie.”

No one’s ever clear on Nick’s or Chandler’s career plans.

They make up their own games, and play them with vigor.

Pets come and go with relative ease.

Somebody used to be fat.

One actress’s hairstyle became famous and garnered copycats…

But really, if you look closely, the actresses’ hairdos are all kinda similar and coordinated.

And last but not least, since this is TV, the apartment across the hall is always free when someone wants it.

You might be thinking, OK, but what’s the single biggest difference between these two shows? The answer is coffee. I feel like they never drink coffee on New Girl. The end!