TV Review: 2 Broke Girls, Pilot

I'm going to go ahead and say it:  this is my favorite of the three pilots I've watched for this season.  I was not expecting this to be the case, as it looked like the weakest contender based on the ads; then again, the other two shows (Up All Night and New Girl) basically put all the funny parts in their countless promos, thus dooming themselves to me being bored, because I watch promos for everything I'm interested in excessively.

But yes, 2 Broke Girls is pretty darn charming.  I think I like it because the pilot delivered pretty much exactly what I was promised:  a straightforward premise, two characters who are reasonably likeable and who both have room for further development and complications, and some sassy, real-life humor that was genuinely amusing and more raunchy than I'd expected for CBS.

Kat Dennings plays seasoned waitress Max, and is actually kind of perfect as the lead of this show, and I really liked the opening with her talking to the hipsters.  She definitely won't be able to get by on the street-wise schtick forever, but for an introduction to this character it really works.  Beth Behrs plays Caroline, the very recently impoverished daughter of a notorious Ponzi schemer.  I expected this character to be kind of whiny and annoying, but there is already something very genuine and endearing about Caroline, and the writers have clearly worked hard to make her a foil to Max without it being unreasonable that the two of them might become friends.

The plot is no roller coaster (the pilot did little more than establish that they will both be working and living together from now on), but it still moves with surprising speed and fluidity because of the back-and-forth between all the characters, primarily the two girls.  The only potential problem was Max's live-in boyfriend, who came off flat, but that issue was resolved by the episode's end, with her sending him packing.  And yes, having a laugh track when so many of the shows I watch now don't use one is a little jarring, but I think if the wit of this show is maintained I can even make peace with that.