Max with a newspaper cover featuring "Martin Channing," the Madoff of the new CBS show.
The new CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls premiered last night. It stars Kat Dennings, one of my favorite Jewish actresses and has a plot line fueled by Bernie Madoff.
Unfortunately the show is not the best vehicle for her prodigious talents. Worse still, it traffics in Brooklyn cliches that would’ve felt dated 10 years ago.
For instance, let’s take the Brooklyn portrayed in this show. First there is the graffiti covered subway car Max takes into Manhattan. Graffiti on the subway was a common sight during heyday of the Koch administration but certainly not anymore. But it’s the sort of “authenticity” and “grittiness” that newcomers to the city are nostalgic for. (In the words David Rakoff in New York Magazine – “Nostalgia is a sucker’s game.)
Check out the rest of the in-depth Jewish and New York analysis of the program over at JTA.
