I admit it. I am the one. The one person who writes about television who will absolutely admit to enjoying 2 Broke Girls.
Is it kind of ridiculous? Of course. Is it offensive? Often. But I consider Max and Caroline (Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs’ characters) to be caricatures, and Sophie, Oleg, Han, Earl and everyone else are just crazy additions to their caricature world.
The Complete Fifth Season of 2 Broke Girls recently arrived on DVD – you can order a copy here. Here’s how Warner Bros. Entertainment describes the 3-disc set comprising of all 22 episodes of the fifth season:
In season five, Max and Caroline continue to wait tables at the diner while trying to build their new business — a dessert bar! Caroline goes to Hollywood to meet with studio executives to discuss the idea of making her riches-to-rags life story into a movie. Max tags along and meets Randy (guest star Ed Quinn) — who becomes her new beau — but will it last outside Hollywood? Sophie and Oleg are expecting, and pregnancy can’t slow these two lovebirds down. Han finds himself in trouble when he can’t repay his debt from gambling on women’s tennis, but the diner gang rallies together to help him. Earl gets his feelings crushed when he discovers his old jazz band is having a reunion and he is not invited to play — it’s up to Max and the diner gang to make it happen!
That’s the season in a capsule. For me, I found the episodes in Hollywood – where Max and Caroline get a super fancy hotel suite and have to deal with really irritating producers’ assistants and such – to be the most amusing, and I almost wish they had stayed there, just for a change of scenery, like when Laverne and Shirley moved to Burbank in the later years of their show. This storyline reminded me of that short Andy Griffith Show arc where they make a two-week trip to Hollywood for $1000, a rate that I don’t think even made sense in 1965 or whenever those episodes aired. As per usual with 2 Broke Girls, some love interests stay around for a bit, and the above-mentioned Randy has a go of it back in New York. Does it work out? Well, the show isn’t called 2 Broke Girls & 1 Guy, so you can probably figure that out.
Even if the characters did not stay in a new location, it seems like some settings change at least, and some characters evolve. Except Max and Caroline, who haven’t grown much at all since we first met them, no matter how much they try.
Sadly, this year’s DVD set has only deleted scenes and a gag reel; not a lot extra that you wouldn’t get if and when 2 Broke Girls goes to Netflix or syndication. The picture quality is good, and – I mean this in the nicest way, not dismissing the show – it makes fun background noise while you’re doing other things, because the dialogue is just as funny as the visuals. It’s a shame people often stick their noses up at it, because it’s one of the few broadcast sitcoms that can make me laugh.
