Culture Crash: The End of New Girl

Welcome to Culture Crash, where we examine American culture – what’s new and old in entertainment.

When the FOX comedy New Girl first hit the airwaves in September 2011, I was in college. My now-wife and I were just friends at the time but many of our friends and family liked to point out that she was a bit like Jess and I was a bit like Nick- down to my steadfast defense of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler.

My wife and I even mirrored the characters by starting to date during season two. Back then, it was the one show we both watched and we’d live-text about it to each other across the country. New Girl stayed with us through our lives as she moved home, we got engaged, and into our first year of marriage.

When New Girl aired its series finale earlier this month, we both remarked that it really was the end of a specific era in our lives. It’s one of the few shows we still watched from the time we were in college and the beauty of a sitcom is that the characters become your friends. The adventures of Jess, Nick, Winston, Schmidt, Cece and occasionally Coach were often ridiculous and absurd, but they were also comforting- when we were cramming for finals, preparing for a job interview or planning our wedding, Liz Meriweather’s comedy would supply built-in half hour breaks.

New Girl ran for 7 seasons and spent a few years as a cultural hit and Buzzfeed mainstay before settling into a more comfortable run for a smaller, dedicated fanbase. Ratings aside, the show mattered to a group of people like me and my wife . We matured with the characters and eventually, both Nick and I moved on from Jay Cutler to being all-in on the Bears quarterback of the future Mitch Trubisky. The more things change, right?

Like all shows, New Girl has come to an end. But of course, the beauty of our technology is that it will always be there on streaming when we need it.

I’m Evan Rook.