Don’t Trust The B—- In Apt. 23 ‘Pilot’: CBS Can Suck It

(Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23 premieres on ABC April 11th. The first two episodes are available online through iTunes: this review is for the pilot only.)

I fucking hate 2 Broke Girls. The inherent racism, stupid little gimmicks like the horse in the window and the cash tally at the end, the trashy writing… I could go on and on about how awful that show is. At a glance, Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23 seems to follow the same formula: a blonde girl from outside the city ends up broke in NY, with a wise-cracking, loose dark-haired girl with questionable morals.

The parallel is there, and unfortunately, many potential viewers will see it and ignore the show, which is a damn shame: Apt 23 is a surprisingly sharp comedy, one of the best of the 2011-2012 season. It’s funny and poignant in ways most first episodes only dream of. The creators of this show have one promising female comedy duo on their hands; and more importantly, one audiences can respect a little.

Although the promos are pushing the known female face of the series (Krysten Ritter, of Veronica Mars & Breaking Bad), but the main character is really  June Colburn (Dreama Walker), an out of water Indiana girl who moves to NYC to take a cushy job at a mortgage firm. When the company goes belly up on her first day, she ends up homeless, and finds Chloe (Ritter), a sharp-witted, energetic con artist who’s been working schemes on potential room mates. Her scheme: she plays them up so they move in, she acts crazy for  few days, and they move out while she pockets their rent money.

Through the first five minutes, I was a bit worried: first of all, 95% of the episode is flashback, which is dangerous territory for any show with unestablished characters. In the first couple scenes, June felt like a typical clueless Midwestern girl in the ‘big city’, and Chloe was there just to latch on and feed off her. Obviously they would end up as friends, and it really felt like the show was setting us up for an A leads to B, so C happens, and it’s a misunderstanding, and in the end, the dumb country girl learned a lesson from edgy city chick, and they set off for adventures.

Ok, that kind of does happen, but it plays out in a hilarious fashion, thanks to the great performances of the female leads. Ritter nails every scene she’s in, delivering comedic lines with a natural cadence, and really wearing Chloe’s personality – impressive for a first episode. It helps that the writing captures her character perfectly, and in the latter half of the episode, manages to humanize her in a way that doesn’t feel melodramatic or unearned.

Best of all – and probably the biggest difference between this show and 2 Broke Girls – is that June is just as crafty and courageous as Chloe, and the show manages to avoid the offensive, dead-horse beating smart girl vs. dumb girl set-ups that monkeys write in their sleep. She’s not just a girl in the heartland with a heart of gold, as she proves in an act of vengeance halfway through the episode. There’s a real chemistry between the two main characters, and they don’t go about the episodes constantly insulting each other, collapsing the show into an all out stereotyp-laden ‘bitch session.’

The show is not without its problems, however.  The other female character – the girl in Apartment 21 – just didn’t click for me: she was too weird, and with one weird dude already filling up the ‘creepy neighbor’ spot, I didn’t feel like she was needed (or him… the show really just needs to choose one). I hope Mark (Eric André) is given something to do in the future weeks, and could help balance out some of the zany personalities around him. Plus, there is James van der Beek… AS JAMES VAN DER BEEK.

I know what you’re thinking – fuck that noise. But it actually works: he’s going to be the guy who tells the wacky anecdotes and gets to be the fun guy in this show. It’s hilarious, at least in the pilot. There’s flannel jokes, monologue jokes, and numerous other Dawson’s Creek laughs to be had… which will become real thin and annoying if it goes on for a long time, but for an episode, it was entertaining, and there was enough material outside of the obvious meta references that keep it from being annoying.

Thanks to some fantastic writing, and bit of surreal wit, Apt 23 will fit well into the ill-named shows of ABC’s Tuesday night, right next to Cougar Town. If this show can get a quarter of the audience of 2 Broke Girls, it will be a miracle, but those who tune in will be pleasantly surprised by the chemistry between the two main characters, and the solid writing…. plus, it’s actually funny, something many comedies are far too short on these days.

Grade: B-

Other notes and observations:

– Best line? “Anyone want to get weird and play Mario Kart?”

– unlike the many complaining, entitled female characters we get on TV, it’s nice to see two women who don’t complain or ask for help: they go out and get shit done. Did we have any scenes of June whining about her lost apartment or future riches? Nope, she sucks it up and gets a job quick, no bitching at all. LOVE IT.

– yes, it’s a dark-haired feminine and light-haired feminine combination. nothing wrong with that, if they expand on it. Having the blonde one not be stupid is a big step in the right direction.

– the surreal office scene was when I realized this show might actually be kind of good….. oh, Rhonda.

– Another great line: “I wrote a rap at Christmas camp once. It was called ‘Jesus is my N-Word.'”

– James Van Der Beek was reading a book called ‘The Zen Hustler’ at one point… nice touch.

– Eli’s in the cast picture, but is relegated to a single masturbating joke in the episode. Here’s hoping this character ends up being worth something.

what did you think of Don’t Trust the B— in Apt 23? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section below, and check tomorrow for a review of the second episode.