“Pink wine makes me slutty.”
I know that technically my stated goal for this blog is to
pair movies with corresponding wine, but this time I’ve chosen a TV show. With
websites like Netflix, programs like HBO Go and their less-than-legal
counterparts like Side Reel and TV Links EU on the rise, watching a season of a
favorite show can feel a lot like watching a long movie. I don’t know that the
people I know are watching more TV, but I would definitely say that they’re
watching it in a different way. Before I booted the television out of my
bedroom in favor of late nights spent with two side-by-side Safari windows
open, it would have been weird to sit down to watch a specific show with a
glass of wine. (FYI: Right now I’m watching Mad Men in one and writing this in
another.) A half hour show with commercial breaks is barely enough time to get
started on a glass, let alone a bottle! Now, receiving a newly released DVD of
a full season is an occasion for celebration, a chance to have friends over for
a night in. (By the way, if you haven’t started planning your Arrested
Development release party costume, you’re doing it wrong.) The point is, now
you can grab a bottle (or two), set up whatever watching device you prefer for
continuous play and enjoy.
Whether you watch it online or on Fox, you should send New Girl straight to the top of your
queue. Now, stick with me boys... New Girl certainly looks like a fluffy,
poppy vehicle for Zooey Deschanel’s widely beloved brand of quirky-cute, but
there is so much more below the be-polka-dotted surface. Here are just three of
the many reasons to watch:
1. The Story: New Girl
tells the tale of Jessica Day (Deschanel) as she faces the ups and down of
being a twenty something teacher, adrift in L.A., her only anchors her model
best friend and her three male roommates, found on the Internet. The best
friend is the beautiful model and down to earth tough girl Cece (played by the
stunning Hannah Simone). The roommates are the often-flamboyant wannabe playboy
Schmidt (Max Greenfield), the utterly loveable Winston (Lamorne Morris) and the
scruffy mess of a bartender Nick (Jake Johnson). The problems that the five
main characters face are not always realistic; this season alone they have
captured a rare lionfish, survived an overdoes of absinthe and gotten out of a shady deal gone wrong involving a race horse. However, the feelings are surprisingly
genuine at the end of each slapstick adventure. Real problems slip through the
cracks: the sticky situation of owing a friend money, how to deal with the
death of a parent and falling for a friend/roommate/room-friend, to name a few.
If we’ve been waiting for a comedy that falls between married-with-kids-coms
and a high school dramas, it has finally arrived. Twenty something’s rejoice,
you don’t have to cry your eyes out while cursing Lena Dunham to feel that
you’re part of a target audience. (I like GIRLS, but sometimes I want to get away from the depressing truths and
insanities that are life in our twenties.)
2. The Laffs: This show is funny. Period. (Speaking of which,
in one episode Winston actually gets his
period. Go ahead and pretend you don’t want to know more.) I don’t think a
show has made me laugh aloud this often since middle school. I can’t even
explain why the shenanigans of the cast are so funny unless it is because they
remind me of my own friends. Seeing a Nick-Miller-Style-Freak- Out (second in
the comedy hall of fame only to a Charlie-Style-Freak-Out via It’s Always
Sunny) may be one of the last pure joys in life. You will be tempted to make
your own Douchebag Jar for your most Schmidt-like friend. (If you actually do this, you
might as well go ahead and put $10 in there right off the bat.)
3. The Inevitable Crush: You will fall in love with one or all of the
characters… although there is a 90% chance that it’s going to be a combination
of Nick and Jess. Their awkward, bug eyed, panic moonwalking, often angry chemistry is
irresistible. I want to say more on the subject but I won't because I don't want to spark yet another in a series of intense debates about the future of their budding relationship. Schmidt is a metrosexual show-off with an always semi-visible heart of pure gold. I know plenty of people who have trouble
not falling for real boys this impeccably groomed and hopelessly romantic, let alone their king. Cece, who seemed like just a side kick in season one has actually
developed into a complex character dealing with an arranged marriage in a
surprisingly realistic way. And that brings us to Winston. The thing is… Ol’
Winny might sometimes get overlooked because he is not linked to one of the
constantly shifting love-triangles enveloping the other four members of the
show’s fab five but, take note: While
he has his fair share of freak outs, Winston is the anchor of the group, giving wise council and snort-laughs in equal measure and he is so sweet
that it will knock your socks off.
Sequin has pretty much every box checked on a girls night in
wine list. The Rosé is pink, “Delicately Bubbled”, brightly (and cutely)
packaged and sweet sweet sweet. I got together with my best friend Shelby to
test it out, along with the latest episode in New Girl’s second season.
We also
grabbed a couple of sheets from a “Rate That Wine” notepad that I gave my
parents as a gift last year. These tablets are a great gift or conversation
starter for any wine-based get-together. You can get yours at Knock Knock Stuff (http://www.knockknockstuff.com/catalog/categories/pads/kk-pads/rate-that-wine-pad/) or occasionally at Anthropologie, where they also appear to stock most of Zooey's wardrobe from New Girl.
The ratings that Sequin pulled fell somewhere in the middle ground, overall our biggest problem with it was the extreme sweetness. This may be less of a problem for other drinkers, but we tend towards dryness above all else. Unlike New Girl,
what you see here is what you get. Sequin is bright, sweet, bubbly and little else.
This is still a great pairing. If you’re going to laugh until wine comes out of
your nose, it better not be expensive. At $9.99, you can be prepared to sip,
swill and spill with abandon.
Pairing Notes: Pair with your best friend. That’s all you
need, except maybe snacks and a fluffy comforter and to laugh yourself to sleep
on the couch.
This post is dedicated to the lovely Shelby Parenteau. May
we go to tin-finity and beyond.
Pro Tip: For more comedy in this vein, see Happy Endings, starring Damon Wayans
Jr., who played a roommate named Coach in the New Girl pilot.
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