If it is broke, shouldn't it be fixed?

[joanne3482]

How would you like to see 2 Broke Girls progress in the future? Would you like to see them successful in a business? Would you like to see Caroline find love in all the right places? Would you like to finally meet Max's mom? Here's your place to muse and contemplate what could make this a better show. 

[Quinzee]

I've always wondered, with Caroline's college degrees, why she is not trying for a business entry level position or a better paying job than diner waitress? For that matter, why Max isn't trying to wait tables at a more high end restaurant, if the tips are so bad at the Diner? They're always going to be broke if they never want to improve their job situation! The self employment thing doesn't seem to be working out.

[Camera One]

For practical reasons, they want to keep the two leads together, and the diner is a familiar location, but yeah, it would make sense for Caroline to try at another position.  I thought it made sense for her to work in the office at the culinary school, but they just had her get coffee and sandwiches.  

 

Their main "progression" this season has been for them to start selling T-shirts.  So that's something, I guess.  Though in this latest episode, they indicated their T-shirt sales weren't going well.  

 

I think the main thing for me, is I don't want them to slide backwards.  Forward progression could be slow, but step-by-step, they should be improving their situation, or it's going to be very unsatisfying.

[joanne3482]

I think the main thing for me, is I don't want them to slide backwards.  Forward progression could be slow, but step-by-step, they should be improving their situation, or it's going to be very unsatisfying.

 

Yet here we are 4 seasons in and we're nowhere. I like the cupcake window they do. I think that's a good progression. I even liked that they shot too far for the actual store front and failed because that happens too. To my knowledge, they don't pay any rent to Hans for the window. It wouldn't surprise me if they were pilfering supplies from Hans and perhaps even using Hans' business license since the window is on the premises. Even if they are paying for their own supplies and paying Hans rent/ utilities, from a financial standpoint they already should be doing better than they are. 

[Traveller519]

The writers really need to get away from the paint by numbers aspect of the show:

- Caroline makes some comment about how far her life has fallen

- Max has family drama/has her slutty streaks

- Han complains that the girls don't work, they make fun of his size

- Sophie has some outlandish quirk from her Poish Upbringing

- Oleg overhears something and turns it into an innuendo

- Earl was the man in the 70s and maintains that persona.

 

I want any of those typical fall backs to fall by the wayside for one show and do something. I figure there's probably a wedding episode nearby... great. The problem is all the peripheral characters are some variant of the wacky neighbour. No one's invested in what they do.

 

I want to like the show. Beth and Kat have such great chemistry and Beth's gift for physical comedy is pretty impressive. But if things don't shake up, I'm just not going to care anymore.

[ExplainItAgain]

The writers really need to get away from the paint by numbers aspect of the show:

- Caroline makes some comment about how far her life has fallen

- Max has family drama/has her slutty streaks

- Han complains that the girls don't work, they make fun of his size

- Sophie has some outlandish quirk from her Poish Upbringing

- Oleg overhears something and turns it into an innuendo

- Earl was the man in the 70s and maintains that persona.

 

Which episode was this? Oh right. All of them. Nailed it.

[joanne3482]

I want to like the show. Beth and Kat have such great chemistry and Beth's gift for physical comedy is pretty impressive. But if things don't shake up, I'm just not going to care anymore.

 

I can only record 2 shows on my DVR at once. Unfortunately for 2 Broke Girls I like both Gotham and The Fosters more so those got the slots. So now the DVR just picks this up when one of the others is in rerun. I just can't be bothered to watch them. I too love Beth and Kat but I need a lot of changes on the show to make it funny, which I don't see happening. 

[iMonrey]

I wish the show had the guts to drop Sophie and the diner. If I try to think of episodes I actually enjoyed, they were about Max and Caroline dealing with outside characters, not the regular supporting characters at the diner. Like when they catered the Bah Mitzvah. Or when they visited Caroline's dad in prison. Or when they had to go to the free clinic. The show does great with guest stars playing even wackier characters than Max and Caroline. When Max and Caroline are reacting to outside predicaments and influences, that's when the show is at its best. When they're just running through the litany of schtick that Traveller519 so eloquently listed above, the show is stale and tiresome.

 

Most irksome of all is every time Sophie enters and yells "Hi Everybody!" and the audience cheers like she's Fonzi. It annoys me to no end because it's making me actively dislike Jennifer Coolidge. And I used to adore her.

[bamlou]

Well the most obvious fix for me would be to write out Sophie, but I just don't see that happening at this point. I've liked Jennifer Coolidge in other roles, but I've always found her performance here to be obnoxious, the jokes written for the character not very funny, and her necessity within the show negligible. At the very least they could stop with the entrance applause, as if trying to convince me she's been a welcome addition.

 

Aside from that, I agree that the girls need some new goals to work towards, be it personal or with the business. When I look back at the pilot, the early promise in the show for me was the chemistry between the girls, and this goal they had with their cupcake business. It gave them some character motivation which has been lacking for a while now. The dollar count at the end of the episode used to mean something, and now it's this arbitrary amount that seems to change for random reasons.

 

Other suggestions:

 

Put Max and Caroline in more stories away from the diner. I've found that the show has often worked best when the girls interact with new characters in different settings - as long as it feels organic and not written just to make a one-off joke or cheap shots. Case-in-point: I was actually enjoying the recent episode where the girls were out at that bar, trying to sell their t-shirts, and Caroline hooked up with that guy - it gave them some nice interplay, but after that it went off the rails for me - the farce of them trying to break back into his apartment just seemed like a ridiculous excuse to land them in jail and make a bunch of lame prison jokes.

 

I could use some more recurring characters as well - another Candy Andy, or some other friend not connected to the diner.

 

Explore Max and Caroline's friendship more: I think there's more they could play with here, especially since the heart of the show for me has been how they care for each other beneath all the jesting and one-liners. It what makes them feel more like actual people. Some of the stronger moments of the show for me have been when they support each other/have each other's back (e.g.Max standing up to Caroline's ex William), or when they confront/test the strength of their friendship (e.g. when Caroline used Max as a shield during the gun robbery, or when Caroline contemplated keeping the temp job over pursuing the cupcake business with Max - again, an interesting storyline ruined by stupid plotting when Max screwed things over by accusing Caroline of sexual harassment).

 

Revisit Caroline's wealthy past/ Explore Max's upbringing: One of the interesting things I thought the show did initially was contrasting Caroline's current broke state with her prior wealthy life - there was a sadness there you could empathize with when she remembered what she'd lost or whenever she was confronted with the people from her past who have now shunned her. Plus it showed  her resilience and made you root for her. With Max, we've had enough jokes about her absent dad and mother's horrible parenting - it would be interesting to now learn more about them, more about Max and where she comes from, to give more weight to these jokes, and to her character.

 

More character development for Han, Earl, Oleg, and, if we must have her, Sophie: We're four seasons in now. We should know more about them at this point beyond the stereotypes and quirks that set up their one-liners.

 

I think in general, I want more depth to all the characters so I can care about them again. But maybe I'm wanting a different show than the one the producers want to make.

[bamlou]

 

When Max and Caroline are reacting to outside predicaments and influences, that's when the show is at its best.

 

Most irksome of all is every time Sophie enters and yells "Hi Everybody!" and the audience cheers like she's Fonzi.

 

I must have been writing my post when you submitted yours iMonrey - we seem to be thinking along a similar wavelength! You'd think it'd be as obvious to the writers as well.

[iMonrey]

What's weird is that it kind of reminds me of Laverne and Shirley, which had a similar premise. I hated whenever Lenny and Squiggy burst into the apartment and said "Hello" and the audience cheered. It's like the show is trying to force a "thing" with Sophie's entrances like they did with Lenny and Squiggy. 

[kelslamu]

Hated Lenny and Squiggy myself as well.  Sometimes Sophie drives me crazy, but sometimes she actually makes me laugh. Go figure.  I think everyone is right about it being better with more shows outside the diner.  

[FineWashables]

Let's put the diner characters into a food truck instead so they can get out of that fixed location and start meeting new people. The girls can sell their cupcakes -- they do still make cupcakes, yes?? -- from the truck.

If you've got a genius like Garrett Morris on the show, then please use him for more than one line per show.

I agree with the poster above who wants the show to introduce us to Max's mom. Anne Heche would do a good job of that, and so would Sean Young. 

But the biggest change viewers need is for the writers to stop it with the tired old tropes. Yes, Han is short. Yes, Oleg is gross. Yes, Caroline used to be rich. Yes, Max has big boobs.  Next, please.

[Snow Apple]

I just wish they'll stop treating Han like crap, especially since he did so much for them. It's not funny and it's hard to watch. I'll even put up with Sophie and the screaming audience if they just end that attitude.

[Big Mother]

I would like to know how this corny, redundant, unfunny, innuendo-rich show is still on the air, while a gem like Limitless is canceled after one season.

[teapot]

I think there is a great show *in* this show...but they never quite get there and they keep going to a lowbrow place  (except juxtaposed with Caroline's bougie past & Brooklyn's hipster aesthetic, maybe even *that*'s interesting...or could be...I have no idea what the solution is!)

[SarahPrtr]

Agree with every single post on this thread.  Good to know that I wasn't the only one.  I stopped watching after mid-season 4 because I just couldn't be bothered anymore.  Sophie was getting way too much screen time, the audience woohooing every time she came on was getting too irksome, teasing of Han was unnecessary and as if having the actors playing Oleg, Sophie and Han doing terrible accents wasn't enough, they bring in another actor to do a horrible, fake Irish accent.  Earl is the only other main character apart from the girls I liked.

[stillhere1900]

Has this show been canceled ?

[jewel21]

Sadly, yes. I wanted a Max/Randy marriage and Caroline to hook up with Candy Andy.