‘New Girl’ takes big leap for final episodes
The cast and crew of the Fox comedy “New Girl” were ready to see the show end when the sixth season did. The final episode was written to be the series finale in case the network decided to cancel it.
Then the word came down from the executives there would be a seventh and final season consisting of eight episodes of the critically acclaimed and award-nominated series. The last offerings begin at 9:30 tonight and will continue to a special one-hour finale on May 15.
It all starts with a three-year leap forward that executive producer Elizabeth Merriweather explains was necessary to be able to wrap up all the stories exactly the way they wanted. These final stories all grew out of the original plans the team put together when the show launched in 2011. The dynamic of the show was described when the cast first met with the press as Zooey Deschanel playing the new girl who moves in with three guys, and the focus would be how she deals with three different roommates.
“I’m so passionate about this show,” says Merriweather. “It’s been my life for seven years and I feel really good about the end of Season 6, but I really wanted a chance to say goodbye to the show with a final season. I think the network definitely had questions about what happens next.
“I just love these characters, and I love this cast and the people that work on the show so much. Seven years. Shows don’t really run that long anymore, and so I think it’s just really been this family for me. I fought for the final season, and hopefully, it was worth it.”
From that base came the show that took a modern look at friendship and romance, as a group of five friends attempted to find their respective places in the world. As the sixth season ended, Jess (Deschanel) told Nick (Jake Johnson) her feelings for him. Winston (Lamorne Morris) and Aly (Nasim Pedrad) got engaged. Cece (Hannah Simone) and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) learned they are expecting.
It’s the cast that was the biggest attraction to doing the show for Deschanel.
“It’s such a treat to get to work with amazing people for seven years. That is so rare. And all of my professional experiences had been limited to the run of a movie. So it had been a lot of different movies, but no more than probably six months at a time. And I’ve gotten to work with all of these people through so many life changes and through watching everyone grow as people and as actors and as writers,” Deschanel says.
“I’ve gotten to know everyone so well. And it’s kind of like high school but longer. And I love everyone so much. I feel so fortunate that I was able to be there at the beginning and help with the casting process and meet every single one of these actors when they came in, and I read with everyone.
“And I feel like this sense of camaraderie that I’ve never felt before, and I don’t know if I’ll ever have again. So I just I can’t say enough positive things about this experience just from me just as a person. I love these people so much, and I love our crew so much. I mean, they are not here, but we just had such an amazing group of people that we got to work with every day, and I will forever miss that, you know, that working experience.”