S2 E16 - Table 34

Who's That Girl? A New Girl Podcast

This podcast covers New Girl Season 2, Episode 16, Table 34, which originally aired on February 5, 2013 and was written by David Iserson and directed by Tristram Shapeero.

Here’s a quick recap of the episode:

After Jess and Nick kissed in the last episode, both of them are feeling awkward and we get to watch them deal with the aftermath. Meanwhile, Cece goes to an Indian singles event for those looking to get married and Schmidt goes as well to win her over.

We discuss Pop Culture References such as:

• Gone With the Wind / Scarlet O’Hara - When Jess was describing the kiss with Nick to Cece she said it was as if she was like Scarlet O’Hara in one of her curtain dresses; Scarlet O’Hara was a character from Gone With the Wind.

Additional Pop Culture References such as:

• Big - When Schmidt gets dressed up to go to the marriage convention, Winston says that he looks like the fortune teller from the movie Big. Big is a 1988 American movie starring Tom Hanks about a teenage boy who, after he wished he was older by a fortune teller arcade game, woke up the next day to be in the body of an adult.
• The Love Guru - When Schmidt shows up at the marriage convention, Cece says that he looks like a character from the movie The Love Guru. This is a 2008 American comedy movie starring and written by Mike Meyers about an American who was raised by gurus and who tries to break into the self-help industry.
• Lil Wayne - Cece justifies that she has more accomplishments by mentioning that she was in Lil Wayne’s last music video. Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, record executive, and entrepreneur who began his career at age 12.
• During speed dating, Schmidt calls the man Cece is talking to M. Night Shyamalan and tells him that he has a twist ending: “to shut up”. The man then responds by calling him Ben Affleck and telling Schmidt that he’s not desperate.
  • M. Night Shyamalan / Twist Ending - Manoj Nelliyattu "M. Night" Shyamalan is an Indian American filmmaker and actor. He is known for making original films with contemporary supernatural plots and twist endings.
  • Ben Affleck - Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter.
• Kal Penn - In his speech to highlight Cece, Schmidt mentions that Kal Penn is a genius. Kalpen Suresh Modi, known as Kal Penn, is an American actor and former White House Principal Associate Director in the Office of Public Engagement during the Barack Obama administration.
• Taylor Swift - Jess wanted to listen to Taylor Swift alone after Sam broke up with her at the convention. Taylor Alison Swift is an American singer-songwriter, who is often inspired by her personal experiences, in her song writing. She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with over 200 million records sold worldwide and she has won 11 Grammy Awards.
• Magic Carpet - In the final scene, Schmidt says to Cece that they’re “taking a ride on the magic carpet”. A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet typically used as a form of transportation in fantasy fiction and can quickly or instantaneously carry its users to their destination.
• Moonwalk / Shamone - When Nick is moonwalking away from Jess, he says “Shamone”. The moonwalk is a dance move where one is gliding backwards while leaning forward which became popular during Michael Jacksons’ performance of “Billie Jean”. “Shamone” is a common phrase in Michael Jackson’s songs as a way of saying “come on” as a tribute to soul singer Mavis Staples.

We also cover how Schmidt learned some Hindi phrases as our “Schmidtism” this episode. For our “not in the 2020s” we discuss how Schmidt and the show reduce Cece to a sex object rather than her own person and Anu’s treatment of Winston. However, Winston’s response and Schmidt putting aside his selfishness for Cece (before he messes this up) are some of our “yes in the 2020s” moments. We also explore the careers of Kristian Kordula (Male Model) and Lara Shah (Indian Single), the guest stars we feature in this episode.

Also in this episode were the following guest stars who we do not discuss in the podcast: David Walton (Sam - discussed on S2E3), Meera Simhan (Anu), Andy Gala (Rajiv), Prince Shah (Indian Man), Upasana Beharee (Indian Woman), Swati Panat (Indian Woman), Eric Newham (Freddy), Akash Saini (Indian Man), Lavrenti Lopes (Indian Guy), Kody Kavitha (Indian Single), and M. Hasna M. (Sri Lankan Single - also in S2E15).

We also read this interview with the New Girl showrunners where they discussed how this episode had to be rewritten after the kiss in Cooler (the last episode) and how the idea of the marriage convention came from Hannah Simone. The interview also shares how Kobe Bryant showed up to watch the filming of this episode and some of his favorite jokes.

This episode got a 7.5/10 Rating from Kritika whose favorite character was Cece and Kelly rated this episode a 9/10 and her favorite character was Nick!

Thanks for listening and stay tuned for Episode 17!

Music: "Hotshot” by scottholmesmusic.com

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