ABC has already done two things to wreck their new sitcom, “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23,” premiering tomorrow night.
First, it’s the only network in creation with not one but two shows that use the “B” word in the title.
No, not the word “bitch,” but the initial “B.” It’s not just incredibly idiotic and middle school of them, but demeaning.
The second is that by having two titles with “B” — they stand the chance of having potential viewers confuse “GCB” (for “Good Chrstian Bitches”), a show so lame it needs crutches, with “Don’t Trust the B—-,” a show so funny I almost needed crutches to get back off the floor.
Oh, there’s one more thing they’ve done wrong. They keep promoting the new series by constantly showing the “I screwed your fiance on your birthday cake” scene which is the only scene that isn’t even amusing.
Expecting the worst, and getting the best was a real shocker — one that happens, well, never.
At first you’ll think you’re watching a knock-off of “New Girl,” or “Two Broke Girls.” (Naive, suddenly-out-of-work girl from the Midwest finds a jaded roommate in NYC and has to work as a waitress). But it’s not.
It’s as funny as “New Girl,” and much funnier than “Two Broke Girls.”
June Colbern (Dreama Walker),co-stars as the one who loses her corporate apartment and must troll the Internet for someone with whom to room.
In short order, she finds Chloe (Krysten Ritter) who seems like a dream come true but is a real nightmare who sleeps with June’s fiance.
But June has no choice and no money so she’s stuck, and even manages to get even with Chloe in a surprise twist.
The girls are perfect and the addition of James Van Der Beek playing himself is just hilarious. Self-centered as Chloe, Van Der Beek just wants to move beyond “Dawson’s Creek” into, say, Shakespeare, but ends up on “Dancing With the Stars” instead. (“One digit can separate me from Al Roker!”)
June sticks it out, gets a job at a coffee bar with a fellow out-of-work MBA grad (Eric André), who tells a whining Van Der Beek,“You’re upset because you’re adored for the wrong reasons! I graduated from Stanford and I made $4 today!”
Meanwhile, hilariously amoral Chloe sets up an unsuspecting June with her own young-looking father who is still married to her wheelchair-bound mother.
“We have nothing in common; I love biking,” he tells the horrified June.
Chloe is so bad, she has no problem getting a 13-year-old drunk for information, walks around naked so her pervert neighbor, wannabe rocker Eli (Michael Blaiklock) can see her, and gets actor Kevin Sorbo to escort her to a wedding by telling him he’s the keynote at a multiple-sclerosis fund- raiser.
Sorbo, unprepared, gives the “My Dead Aunt MS Speech” as a wedding toast. Yes, brutal.
The series which starts out badly (idiotic masturbation jokes), builds quickly. And the co-stars are flat out terrific together.
However, if you don’t think lines like Eli — describing his old-lady lead singer — saying: “Candace has been sexually active for 68 years” are funny, then seriously, this show is not for you.