Max Black and Caroline Channing…two women from opposite lifestyles in the city of New York who are brought together by a chance encounter at the local Williamsburg diner. When Caroline, a former trust-fund princess loses her fortune following her father’s arrest in a Ponzi scheme gone bad, she thinks it’s the end of her kosher lifestyle. Then she discovers that her diner associate Max who in light of a bad attitude from a bad upbringing, has a talent for baking and believes that they can achieve real success through their own bakery. She convinces her to open up a cupcake shop with her in the hopes that they can both get out of the small-time and into the big-time and though Max reluctant at first agrees to take on the challenge. For the next six seasons, this ‘odd couple’ finds themselves bending and (sometimes breaking) the rules as they attempt to defy all odds against them in their pursuit of happiness.
At first glance, the title sounds like one of those teen dramas you see and hear about on the old ‘ABC Family’ channel but rest assured this is one show that is definitely not for the ‘PG’ crowd. Honestly, I was a little dismal about seeing this show but when myRDC (formerly known as U.P.N.) started airing reruns on weekday nights from the first season I said to myself, ‘what the hey? I’ll give it a shot’ and I must say 2 Broke Girls was pretty interesting for a comedy. Since then, I’ve continued watching this show on myRDC even when they moved it to Sunday nights to see what kinds of mayhem these two would get into in their pursuit of their dream. After doing a little research I was surprised to learn that during its run on CBS, 2 Broke Girls was nominated for 24 television awards but only won two out of the categories and it received rave reviews from lots of viewers. Plus, 2 Broke Girls really put its two main stars Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings on the map along with their other cast members.
So after six seasons of situational silliness with Max, Caroline and the Williamsburg Diner gang, why did CBS decide to give this high-rated primetime comedy the axe when it clearly had more than enough steam to keep going? And worst of all, why did they pull the plug on the season finale when Max and Caroline’s luck went from bad to super good?
2 much innuendo for Prime-Time?
While everyone has their theories about why this show got da’ boot and even though producers at CBS have weighed in why the show was cancelled, my theory about 2 Broke Girls’ cancellation is pretty simple: 2 much innuendo and way 2 many complaints from the F.C.C. are probably what really got this show killed at the height of its sixth season.
For all of its mean-spirited humor, 2 Broke Girls was definitely one show that had a nasty reputation for pushing the envelope with its sexual innuendos and raunchy jokes. I mean, you really have to ask yourself how in the world the writers of this show could pull out so many dirty jokes related to sex for a 30 minute slot (no pun intended). Being a glass half-full kind of viewer, I have to say that while some of the jokes and situations moved the show and were humorous, other times they were dry and bland and did go a tad bit too far. How in the world did CBS get clearance to use words like ‘penis, anal’ and God knows whatever else the cast was allowed to say during the 8:30 time slots when young eyes are still up channel surfing through the stations? F.X. is probably the only station I’ve seen thus far that is allowed to show TV-MA related material but the networks would wait until the 10:00 p.m. slots before they aired adult-related content like ‘Sons of Anarchy’, ‘Rescue Me’, ‘Justified’ and so forth.
But then again, I think the producers of 2 Broke Girls as well as its creators were finally taking a step up toward what some might call pro-liberal behavior. Now I’m not gonna get into the politics of television about what should be allowed on and what shouldn’t, but the way I see it many new prodigies in the world of writing entertainment have begun to take their stand and say, ‘hey. This is the new world, we have to be more open about what goes on in it. We can’t continue to hold onto the old values of the old world as that’s a step backwards. Things are changing and we have to show that change in everything we do be it through movies, music, literature and especially in television.’
And in a way, 2 Broke Girls certainly did just that: like so many other shows that are airing on primetime t.v. now, it appears to be the first of its kind to show that in the entertainment world, anything goes. Aside from a ratings system that lets people know what they’re in for when the show comes on, as a viewer we have to make the decision as to whether or not this is something we want to watch or allow others to watch. You either have to like what you see on the tube or not. You either sit through it or you change the channel (and I won’t lie, there have been some episodes of this show that have made me say ‘Oh God, I can’t look at this’ *changes channel*)
But regardless of what the circumstances are, it was nice that CBS allowed this show to have the run that it got and covered as much ground as it did before it got the axe. The only thing that I wish is that networks find a way to wrap these shows up if there are no plans for another season to give the series the proper closure that it needs not just for the cast and crew…but for the *fans*.
(We got Cancelled?! Oh, no they didn’t!)
The Cable Critic 