"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of ''

New Girl ''New Girl'' is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and produced by 20th Television for Fox that originally aired from September 20, 2011, to May 15, 2018. The series revolves around a kooky teacher, Jessica Day (Zooey ...

''. The episode was written by

Elizabeth Meriwether Elizabeth Hughes Meriwether (born October 11, 1981) is an American writer, producer and television showrunner. She is known for creating the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'', and for writing the play ''Oliver Parker!'' (2010) and the romantic comedy fil ...

, and directed by

Jake Kasdan Jacob Kasdan (born October 28, 1974) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing ''Walk Hard'' (2007), ''Bad Teacher'' (2011), ''Sex Tape'' (2014), '' Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'' (2017) and '' Jumanji: The Next Level'' ...

. The episode first aired on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in the United States on September 20, 2011 to positive reviews.

Plot

The show begins with Jessica "Jess" Day talking to her friend Cece, a model, about seducing her boyfriend by coming home early and stripping down for him. While talking to Cece on the phone, we hear that she is naked in the back of the cab wearing a big trench coat. When asked what her stripper name will be, she replies 'Rebecca Johnson', then 'Two Boobs Johnson', and later 'Tiger Boobs'. Jess comes home and her boyfriend Spencer is shocked to see her there, but he is cheating on her with another woman who comes out of the bedroom while Jess is attempting a striptease with pillows and bows. While doing a mediocre job on seducing him (taking off the trench coat and doing "sexy stuff' to various objects), the girl comes out and Jess is shocked. Now she lives with three single men (whom she found on

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, Gig worker, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark ...

and thought they were women) called Nick, Schmidt and Coach in an apartment. During most of the week she lives there, she begins to have mood swings about her break up such as watching ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

''. Her roommates are sick of it and invite her to a bar to find a man on the rebound. She ends up on a date but her date bails on her and he goes to the same party as her roommates are at. They all go to the restaurant and cheer Jess up by singing "

(I've Had) The Time of My Life "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" is a 1987 song composed by Franke Previte, John DeNicola, and Donald Markowitz. It was recorded by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, and used as the theme song for the 1987 film ''Dirty Dancing''. The song has won ...

" proving that they do care about her as a friend.

Production

The episode was written by

, and directed by

. The episode first aired on Fox in the United States on September 20, 2011. Speaking of the show

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for he ...

claimed that her character in ''

'' resembles a younger version of herself. She said "I think Jess as a person, and the way that her personality is, has some of myself and especially some of my younger self," she suggested. "

he resembles He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

my 13-year-old self." Deschanel added that Jess will explore her lost youth after she is dumped by her long-term boyfriend. "I have to find a new support system, so I'm basically living my 20s as I approach my 30s," she explained.

Reception

When the episode was first broadcast it pulled in more viewers than its lead in, the Fox

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' for the episode "

The Purple Piano Project "The Purple Piano Project" is the premiere episode of the third season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the forty-fifth overall. The episode was written by series co-creator Brad Falchuk, directed by Eric Stoltz, and first ...

", which brought in 8.9m (5.4) in the 8:00 p.m. hour, after which ''New Girl'' launched with 10.1m (4.7).

Accolades

was nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series is presented to the best directing of a television comedy series. Winners and nominations 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Total awards by netwo ...

for this episode.

References

{{New Girl 2011 American television episodes

Television episodes about infidelity New Girl episodes