Who Watches This Stuff?: “2 Broke Girls”

By Tom Comi

CBS has done a great job over the past several years of becoming the go-to network for comedies, so it should never come as a surprise when one of its new ventures finds an audience. But it might be fair to say that nobody expected 2 Broke Girls to register like it has.

With no household names to carry the load, the sitcom (tonight, 8:30pm ET) was fortunate to be sandwiched out of the gate between established hits How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men. Debuting with 19 million viewers, the show starring Kat Dennings (Max) and Beth Behrs (Caroline) as two financially-strapped waitresses has impressively been able to sustain its success.

To find out more about why 2 Broke Girls has struck a chord, we caught up with Channel Guide reader John Carson of Delaware.

What first made you take a chance on watching 2 Broke Girls?
I just happened upon it while channel-flipping, although I had seen some of the commercials leading up to its premiere. The storyline seemed somewhat bogus and uninteresting, but with one cute girl and another sarcastic one there didn’t seem any harm in investing a half-hour in it.

Explain what you find funny about the show and what makes it different than other sitcoms on TV.
I love the constant sarcasm and abuse doled out by the character Max. Also, while not a major character on the show, it is great seeing Garrett Morris back on TV. Maybe he has always been out there since his days on Saturday Night Live, but I certainly haven’t seen him in quite a while.

Many comedies revolve around known stars, but Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs were relatively unknown coming in. Did that affect your decision to watch?
It didn’t necessarily cause me to watch because they were new, but rather the opposite. There was nobody I recognized other than Garrett Morris, so nothing initially drove me away. I don’t watch any other sitcoms and haven’t in a while, so I had no preconceived notion of the actors.

Do you think the poor economy has somehow helped this show about two struggling characters resonate with viewers?
The economy plays no part in why I like the show. I feel more for Max having to put up with all the low-lifes and snobs she deals with than for Caroline’s minuscule trials and tribulations.

How much longer do you think you will tune in and why?
Every week I keep saying I’ll give it a couple more shows, so who knows? It remains to be seen how creative the writers can be in finding constant quips and sarcastic comments for Max. At some point my guess is her character will either run out of material or become mean-spirited, in which case I’ll turn it off.

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© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Credit: Monty Brinton