This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 1, Re-Launch, which originally aired on September 25, 2012 and was written by Kay Cannon and directed by Steve Pink.
Here’s a quick recap of the episode:
This episode not only kicks off Season 2, but celebrates Schmidt having his penis cast removed and in only the way Schmidt can, he throws himself a party to “re-launch” his brand of “Danger” now that he’s no longer “broken penis guy”. Jess meanwhile has been laid off from her job as a teacher and tries to be a shot girl at Schmidt’s party to make some money. Throughout the episode, Nick supports Jess as she works through losing her job.
We discuss Pop Culture References such as:
- “Groove is In the Heart” (Deee-Lite) - At the beginning of the episode, Nick is singing this song in the shower. At the end of the episode, Winston also sings this song while drunk at the bar.
- Lord of Winterfell (Game of Thrones) - When questioning Robby and Cece’s relationship, Schmidt ponders if Robby is like “the Lord of Winterfell or he's working with a real piece of pipe.”
Additional Pop Culture References such as:
- Morgan Freeman / Shawshank - Winston is trying to convince Nick he’s matured by telling him he’s wearing a suit and Nick comments that his suit is something Morgan Freeman’s character would wear after leaving Shawshank. Morgan Freeman is an American Actor who portrayed the character Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding in the movie Shawshank Redemption, which is a movie about two imprisoned men bonding over a number of years, finding solace, and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
- Philip Seymour Hoffman - Schmidt mentioned Philip Seymour Hoffman was invited to his re-launch party. Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor, director, and producer. He acted in many films, including leading roles, from the early 1990s until his death in 2014.
- Crank Yankers - Schmidt mentioned that a writer for a little show called Crank Yankers was invited to his re-launch party. Crank Yankers is an American television show that features actual prank calls made by show regulars and celebrity guests that are re-enacted onscreen by puppets for a visual aid to show the viewer what is happening in the call. The show aired on Comedy Central from 2002-2005 and later aired on MTV2 from 2007-2009. Crank Yankers has returned again on Comedy Central in 2019.
- Slap Bracelet - After being laid off and getting to take items from the lost and found box, Jess mentioned she should have grabbed the slap bracelet. A slap bracelet is a bracelet that consists of layered, flexible stainless steel sealed within a fabric that wraps around your wrist when the bracelet is hit against it.
- Paramount Picture(s) - When Jess is trying to be a Shot Girl, she invents a character named Ivy who will sleep with someone for a chance to be in a Paramount Picture. Paramount Pictures is an American film and television production and distribution company founded in 1912.
We also cover when Schmidt gave his fire monologue while twirling his fire batons as the “Schmidtism” of the episode. We changed our next segment to “In the 2020s” to highlight the “not” moments, like the way Schmidt described Cece’s new boyfriend, and the “yes” moments, like Robby not feeling threatened/his lack of toxic masculinity and the guys wanting to comfort Jess. We also give a brief look into Parker Posey and Nelson Franklin, the Guest Stars we featured in this episode.
Also in this episode was Ross Mackenzie who we do not discuss in the podcast but played the proctor in the flashback scenes.
We also discussed how Parker Posey replaced Leslie Mann for the role of the shot girl and how we were excited to see the Chore Chart still on the fridge!
While not discussed in the podcast, we noted other references in this episode including:
- Bushel - When speaking about Nick and his “gift” of making mixed drinks, Winston asks why he’s trying to hide his light under a bushel. A bushel is actually a unit of volume in the US based on dry capacity and is equal to 8 dry gallons. It was primarily used for farming products like wheat. It’s also colloquially used to measure a “bushel of apples”.
- Dengue Fever - In the episode, Jess says that one way she could earn up to $700 at a hospital is by being infected with Dengue Fever for research. Dengue fever is a tropical disease that is carried by mosquitoes with the dengue virus. It has been a big problem since World War II and is still common in over 120 countries mainly in South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. It is currently classified as a neglected tropical disease.
- When Nick is giving Jess a tough love speech he mentions the following references:
- Passing cigarettes to prisoners - Historically, in prison, cigarettes were noted as an informal currency that allowed you to supplement the income that your family might place into a commissary account. In 2016, the preferred informal currency began to shift to Ramen after many prisons had budget cuts leading to prisoners having to find nutrition on their own.
- Turn-of-the-century bathing costume - In the 1900s women typically did not swim and rather jumped through the waves while holding onto a rope attached to a buoy and were dressed in black, knee-length wool dresses with puffed sleeves. They often also included a sailor collar, ribbons and bows, black stockings, and fancy caps.
- T-Ball - Casey tells Schmidt that her nickname is t-ball because you can never strike out with her. T-ball is a team sport that combines cricket, baseball, and softball for children between ages 4-7 to develop skills and have fun. The rules are most similar to those of baseball, however for the youngest players it is played without a score with each player being allowed to bat.
This episode got a 9/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Nick and Kelly rated this episode an 8/10 and her favorite character was Winston!
Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 2!
Music: "Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com
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