2 Joke Girls

Krysten Ritter is one of our favorites here at Pajama Guy, not only because she's so great as Jane in Breaking Bad, but because we choose to believe she's the only celebrity ever to leave a comment.

So I figured the least I could do was check out her new sitcom, Don't Trust The B---- In Apartment 23. It's an Odd Couple sort of set-up (or if that reference is too old, 2 Broke Girls.) Krysten, as the untrustworthy Chloe, has the title role.  The other lead is June, played by Dreama Walker--a naive girl from Indiana who comes to New York only to discover the job she had lined up, and indeed, the company that gave it to her, is gone.  She has to find a place to live (since the company apartment is also gone) so Chloe fools her, getting her to pay too much, planning to force her out in a few days with outrageous behavior.

June gets wise quickly, though, and won't go. Her fiance from back home shows up and Chloe, realizing he's cheating on her, has sex with him to prove he's no good. (I'm reminded of the pilot for Mary Tyler Moore, where she moves into a new place, gets a new job and dumps her fiance.) An odd way to help someone, perhaps, but June realizes it's an act of kindness.

The supporting cast includes the next door neighbor Robin, who has a love/hate obsession with Chloe, Eli, a pervert who lives across the alley and can see into their apartment, and Eric, who would have been June's mentor at the company and is now her manager at a coffee house.  But the most interesting side-character is James Van Der Beek playing himself (or a version of himself).  He's an old friend of Chloe's and they hang out together.

The show is one-camera, like most sitcoms these days.  There writing is not set at a particularly believable level, which is good for doing wild gags, not so good for reaching the heart beneath.  But the leads are appealing and if I wasn't laughing a lot, I was amused. It's at least worth another look.

And Kyrsten, if you want to write us again, feel free.