Don’t ditch the B.... in Apt. 23
Don’t Trust the B.... in Apt. 23, a deceptively named ensemble comedy starring Krysten Ritter, Dreama Walker and James Van Der Beek about young people “fraternizing,” is nowhere near as raunchy or low-class as that title, or some of the early previews, would suggest.
Unlike the crass, offensive comedy of other female-centric, first-year comedies like 2 Broke Girls (a hit) and Whitney (not so much), Apt. 23 has taken an old TV trope — two single, wildly different people sharing a Manhattan apartment — and elevated it to, if not class, exactly, something resembling decent, worthwhile entertainment.
There’s a lot to like, if not love, exactly. There are the characters, for starters, from Ritter’s unapologetic party girl Chloe, a born trickster and con artist with more heart than appearances suggest, to Walker’s wet-behind-the-ears dreamer, and naif, June, who has more steely resolve than first impressions would have you believe.
The comedy glue that holds it all together, though, is Van Der Beek, as Chloe’s full-of-himself boy toy. In tonight’s episode, Van Der Beek is stoked to have landed the starring role in a body-swap movie, co-starring Mad Men child ingenue Kiernan Shipka, age 12, who appears in Apt. 23 as herself.
Van Der Beek would like to share his good fortune with anyone who cares to listen, but his gal pal Chloe has other things on her mind, like causing more grief for her overworked roomie, June, now juggling two wage-slave jobs with a demanding internship at her dream job.
Right there, you have one of the reasons Apt. 23 has touched a nerve, with young viewers, especially. These are not attractive, single friends living in Manhattan apartments they can’t possibly afford, but rather young singletons trying to make ends meet in a tough economy, or else forced to move back home.
Even the subplot with Van Der Beek — a privileged, well-to-do TV star who caught lightning in a bottle when he was too youthful and callow to appreciate it — works because Van Der Beek is in on the joke. Willingly so, as in a scene from an earlier episode, when he grouses to a coffee-shop barista about not being taken seriously as an actor, despite being rich, famous and adored, and the barista replies, “I made four dollars today.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” a chastened Van Der Beek replies. “I’ll figure it out.”
Don’t Trust the B.... in Apt. 23 is funnier than that title makes it sound. (ABC, Citytv – 10:30 p.m.)