Creative Flame Out

"Enjoy the break-up. If you need me, I'll be in my room, listening to some mainstream hip-hop." — Schmidt, "New Girl"

When it debuted three seasons ago, "New Girl" offered not only the best pilot of the year, but quickly became the most funny show on TV. That first season it tore through 24 episodes (two more than the standard full season network order). The second season, it was asked to carry a full night of comedy and turn out another 24 episodes.

It's still April in the show's third season and it has already aired 21 more episodes — meaning it's already through 69 episodes in its short life. As a result of the increased orders, added pressure, and the way we consume TV, the show is burning through stories like nobody's business. In its first two seasons it used more arcs than a lot of sitcoms do in four seasons.

The result has been an uneven, often unsatisfying third season. Now, it's reasonable to question if this show is nearing the end of its run. This seems to happen a lot with FOX shows, which star fast, burn bright, then burn up.

"The O.C." was a hot show when it debuted a decade ago. But a long first season — that stretched 27 episodes — forced the show to burn up a lot of story. By the time it hit the fourth season, it had burned up. It finished with 96 episodes in those four seasons.

The same is true of "Glee." The show still has another season, which will give it six, but it's been a couple seasons since it was good. It burned bright, was great in the first season, and quickly faded.

Last December some critics started to turn on "New Girl," even labeling it one of the worst shows on TV. That, of course, wasn't purely about the quality of the show. Based on that metric, it wasn't one of the five or 10 worst shows on TV. It was about the fall off in quality and the distance from the bar it had set.

At that time I wasn't as down on the show as others, but I noticed it seemed to meander. The show became too wrapped up in guest stars, too wrapped up in quirk, and felt like it lacked direction. That's only gotten worse this Spring, to the point where Jess (Zooey Deschanel) and Nick (Jake Johnson) broke up in the most ridiculous way possible. Some have argued the show never should have put them together, which seems to have merit considering they seem to have no plan.

The show is close to the end of this season and is already guaranteed a next season. But if "New Girl" doesn't figure out how to get its mojo back — and hopefully get some higher ratings in the process — it could be walking the plank...