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2 Broke Girls is an American television sitcom created for Warner Bros. Television by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings. It premiered on CBS in the United States on September 19, 2011, during the 2011–12 television season. On March 27, 2013, CBS announced that 2 Broke Girls has been renewed for a third season, to air during the 2013–14 television season. The series is set in the Williamsburg neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, United States. Its plot line follows the misadventures of the roommates Max Black (Kat Dennings) and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), who are both financially poor, and their efforts to start a cupcake business. The first episode aired at 9:30 pm (E/P) afterTwo and a Half Men on September 19, 2011. Later episodes followed How I Met Your Mother on Monday nights at 8:30 pm (E/P).[1]

The series has received a generally positive response since its debut. It was nominated for three 2012 Emmy Awards, winning for Art Direction.

Contents[]

 [hide*1 Series synopsis

Series synopsis[edit][]

Main article: List of 2 Broke Girls episodes

The series chronicles the lives of two waitresses in their mid twenties—Max Black (Kat Dennings), who comes from a poor working-class family, and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs), who was born rich but is now disgraced and penniless due to her father, Martin Channing, getting caught operating a Bernard Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme—working together at a Brooklyn restaurant. The two become friends and build toward their dream of one day opening a cupcake shop. Among those working with them at the restaurant are their Korean boss, Han Lee (Matthew Moy); Oleg (Jonathan Kite), an upbeat but perverted Ukrainian cook; and Earl (Garrett Morris), a 75-year-old black cashier. Also featured starting late in the first season is their neighbor and part-time boss Sophie (Jennifer Coolidge), a Polish immigrant who runs the housecleaning company Sophie's Choice. During most of the first season Max is also a part-timenanny for the twin babies of Peach Landis (Brooke Lyons), who during the season adopts Caroline's horse Chestnut. At the end of each episode a tally shows how much they have made toward their goal of $25,000 needed to open their business (it was original stated in the pilot to be the more realistic amount of $250,000). Early in the second season, Sophie lends the girls $20,000, which is enough for them to start their business. However, the business fails, and in the 18th episode they are forced to give up the lease of their cupcake shop with just enough money to pay off Sophie's loan, resetting the end of episode tally to $1.00. During the third season, the girls reopen the business in the back room of the diner, using the window as a walk up window. Max also enrolls in, and Caroline goes to work for, the Manhattan School of Pastry.

Cast[edit][]

Main cast[edit][]

  • Kat Dennings as Max Black, one of the waitresses at the Williamsburg Diner. She's a poor working class girl who had a rough childhood and adult life, both driven by genuine poverty and a childhood raised by a mother who was usually absent and was dangerously incompetent when she was around. Han initially allowed her to sell homemade cupcakes in the diner, which led to Caroline's idea to go into the cupcake business.
  • Beth Behrs as Caroline Wesbox Channing, a new waitress at the Williamsburg Diner. She is a former rich, high society girl who lost all of her money when her father was arrested and thrown in jail for a Ponzi scheme. She is forced to start over and becomes Max's co-worker, roommate and eventual best friend. She comes up with the idea of starting a cupcake business with Max.
  • Garrett Morris as Earl, the cashier at the Williamsburg Diner, an elderly former jazz musician. Max is very close to him, frequently claiming she wishes he was her father.
  • Jonathan Kite as Oleg, a Ukrainian cook at the Williamsburg Diner. He sexually harasses Max and Caroline constantly with inappropriate jokes, innuendo and propositions for sex. He later develops an attraction to Sophie, and has asex-only relationship with her. At the end of season two, Oleg cheated on Sophie, leaving her in anger and they break up off-screen before the third season premiere.
  • Matthew Moy as Han Lee, the owner of the Williamsburg Diner. A Korean-American who is constantly a target for jokes involving his height, his effeminate mannerisms in spite of his claims of being heterosexual, and his lack of knowledge of American culture.
  • Jennifer Coolidge as Sophie Kaczynski (Season 2–present, previously recurring),[2] a Polish lady who moves into the apartment above Max's. She owns Sophie's Choice Cleaning Service, which Max and Caroline sometimes work for, and is the object of Oleg's affections. She was briefly a silent partner in the cupcake business.

Recurring cast[edit][]

  • Brooke Lyons as Peach Landis (season 1), a high society mother who acts like the most clueless version of that. She is the woman whose babies, Brad and Angelina (a reference to real-life actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), Max babysits for. She fired Max from that job to appease an awful friend of hers after a cupcake-catering mishap, and after she begged Max to return full-time, Max decided that she would only return in a part-time capacity. Her last appearance was in the third episode of the show's second season and hasn't been seen or heard from since.
  • Nick Zano as Johnny, Max's on-again-off-again love interest. He told Max he broke up with Cashandra and was getting married to another women he just met a week ago in the season 1 finale. He was not seen again until the episode "And the Big Opening" of season 2, in which he and Max had sex. He and Max both agreed that they only wanted each other when they were taken by another person. He left at the end of that episode promising her he would see her again someday.
  • Ryan Hansen as Andy (season 2), a candy store owner whose business was across from the cupcake store, and Caroline's love interest in season 2.
  • Federico Dordei as Luis (season 3), a flamboyant man who becomes the new day waiter in the third season episode "And the Group Head", who likes Oleg.[3]
  • Gilles Marini as Nicolas (season 3), a French "master baker" who owns and teaches at the Manhattan School of Pastry; he was Caroline's love interest, until she realized he is married in "And The French Kiss".[4]
  • Mary Lynn Rajskub as Bebe (season 3), a neurotic pastry chef who works at the front desk of the Manhattan School of Pastry.[4]
  • Eric André as Deacon "Deke" Bromberg(season 3), a sarcastic student at the Pastry School who quickly becomes Max's friend and later boyfriend. He's the first person Max says "I love you" to. It's later revealed he's rich, his parents owning a large elevator company. [5]
  • Patrick Cox as John (season 3), a large homosexual bald man who shares a table in the pastry school classroom with Max, who nicknames him "Big Mary".[5]

Special guest stars[edit][]

  • Martha Stewart as herself[6]
  • Steven Weber as Martin Channing, Caroline's father, who is currently in prison for a ponzi scheme he masterminded.
  • Cedric the Entertainer as Darius, Earl's estranged son.
  • 2 Chainz as himself
  • Missi Pyle as Charity Channing, Caroline's rich and abusive aunt.
  • Debra Wilson as Delores, an exhausted employee at the temp agency where Max and Caroline worked. Her catchphrase, "Let me give you a 'for instance'", was used throughout the episode to illustrate violations to company policies.
  • Andy Dick as J. Petto, a puppeteer, who slips on a cupcake at Max and Caroline's cupcake shop and damages his puppet.
  • Piers Morgan as himself
  • Kyle Gass as an SFX operator

Development and production[edit][]

Even before it went to series, the then-undeveloped pilot was the subject of a bidding war, with CBS landing the deal on December 10, 2010,[7] and ordering it to series on May 13, 2011.[8] It is one of two shows commissioned for the 2011–12 TV season in which Whitney Cummings is serving as producer and co-creator, the other being Whitney, which was picked up by NBC.[9]

Dennings was the first to be cast in role of Max on February 18, 2011.[10] A week later on February 25, 2011, Behrs won an audition to land the role of Caroline, beating out other established actresses.[11] Moy, Morris and Kite were the last three to be cast on March 16, 2011.[12]

Production for the second season began on August 6, 2012. On March 27, 2013, CBS renewed 2 Broke Girls for a third season.[13]

The series is taped in front of a live studio audience with some sweetening.[14]

Broadcast[edit][]

Reception[edit][]

[1][2]Dennings and Behrs at 38th People's Choice Awards. January 2012.

The show has received generally mixed reviews from critics, earning a score of 66/100 from review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Much criticism for the show was focused on the perceived overuse of sexually based jokes and offensive racial stereotypes. Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter said the show had potential but "squandered it away every week on cheap, predictable and unfunny jokes" and noted that many jokes were of a racist or sexual nature.[15] New Zealand critic Chris Philpott was especially offended by the rape jokes in the first three episodes of the series, calling the series the worst new show of 2012, stating that it "display[ed] a lack of understanding and creativity on the part of the comedy writer."[16] Andrew Ti, writing for Grantland.com, singled out the portrayal of Han Lee as "a fairly regressive portrayal" of the stereotypical Asian male: "a tiny, greedy, sexless man-child with infantilized speech patterns."[17] Elliot B. Gertel at Jewish World Review[18] similarly found that the show misrepresented "Orthodox" Jews in an episode. When asked about the racial stereotypes at a January 2012 press conference, Michael Patrick King said "I don’t find it offensive, any of this".[19][20]

Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker wrote that while the way the supporting characters are written is "so racist it is less offensive than baffling", she noted that the show has "so much potential", and compared it favorably to Cummings' other show Whitney.[21] Positive reviews such as one from Entertainment Weekly focused on the "potential" that the series has based on the acting and chemistry between Dennings and Behrs.[22] The series also received a B+ from The Boston Globe TV critic Matthew Gilbert, who was impressed with the casting and production: "The actresses—especially theGwen Stefani-esque Dennings—transcend their types, and the pop-savvy humor has spirit thanks to producer Michael Patrick King from Sex and the City. After the forced opening minutes, it’s the best multi-cam-com of the season."[23] The A.V. Club editor Todd VanDerWerff in writing his weekly reviews of the show, he hoped that the series would improve, but ultimately wrote: "Most of the problems—weird story construction, stereotypical characters, bad jokes—that have bedeviled the show have been there from the very beginning, though I will certainly say they’ve gotten worse as the season has gone along and the show hasn’t bothered to diversify its rhythms at all."[24]

On January 11, 2012, 2 Broke Girls won the award for Favorite New TV Comedy at the 38th People's Choice Awards.[25] A promo during the Super Bowl XLVII featured Behrs and Dennings pole dancing became a political scandal for Idaho state representative Raul Labrador when his press officer tweeted from Labrador's Twitter account: "Me likey Broke Girls." His press officer, Phil Hardy, was fired.[26]

Ratings[edit][]

The series premiere was watched by 19.2 million viewers after its lead-in, the first episode of Two and a Half Men without Charlie Sheen. This marked the highest rating for a fall premiere of a comedy series since Fall 2001.[27] It scored a 7.1 rating in Adults 18–49.[28] With DVR viewers included, the premiere rose to over 21.5 million viewers and an 8.1 in adults 18–49.[29] The show has done well in ratings with college students and young males.[29]

Season Episodes Timeslot (ET) Premiered Ended TV season Nielsen ratings
Date Premiere

viewers (in millions)

Date Finale

viewers (in millions)

Rank U.S. viewers

(in millions)

Rating

(adults 18–49)

1 24 Monday 9:30 pm (premiere)

Monday 8:30 pm

September 19, 2011 19.37[30] May 7, 2012 8.99[31] 2011–12 32[32] 11.29[32] 4.4/11[33]
2 24 Monday 9:00 pm September 24, 2012 10.14[34] May 13, 2013 8.94[35] 2012–13 32[36] 10.63[36] 3.7/9[36]
3 24 Monday 9:00 pm (September 23, 2013 – October 7, 2013)

Monday 8:30 pm (October 14, 2013 – present)

September 23, 2013 8.88[37] TBA TBA 2013–14 TBA TBA TBA

Awards[edit][]

Year Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
2012 People's Choice Awards Favorite New TV Comedy 2 Broke Girls Won
Excellence in Production Design Award Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety or Unscripted Series Glenda Rovello, Conny Boettger and Amy Feldman Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice TV Breakout Performance - Female Beth Behrs Nominated
Choice TV: Comedy 2 Broke Girls Nominated
Emmy Awards Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Glenda Rovello and Amy Feldman Won
Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series Gary Baum Nominated
Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series Darryl Bates Nominated
Casting Society of America Announces Artios Awards[38] Television Pilot Comedy 2 Broke Girls Nominated
2013 Excellence in Production Design Award Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety or Unscripted Series Glenda Rovello Nominated
NewNowNext Awards[39] Coolest Cameo 2 Chainz Nominated
Young Artist Award Best Performance in a TV Series - Guest Starring Young Actor 11-13 Jake Elliott Nominated
Emmy Awards Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series Glenda Rovello and Amy Feldman Nominated
Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series Gary Baum Nominated
2014 People's Choice Awards Favorite Network TV Comedy 2 Broke Girls Nominated
Favorite TV Gal Pals Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) & Max Black (Kat Dennings) Nominated

Syndication[edit][]

On June 20, 2012, it was announced that TBS has secured the cable syndication rights to the sitcom, and will begin airing the series in 2015.[40]

International broadcasts[edit][]

The series has been picked up in the following countries:

Country Network Premiere date Notes
Argentina Warner Channel
Australia Nine Network February 14, 2012 Season 3 currently fast-tracked 5 days after U.S. airing, Tuesdays at 9pm, with Seasons 1 and 2 in reruns on Nine's digital channel GO! weeknights at 6:30.
Belgium VIER September 1, 2012
Brazil Warner Channel[41]

SBT[42]

October 25, 2011

May 21, 2013

Also known as Duas Garotas em Apuros ("Two Girls in Trouble") and stylized as 2 Garotas em Apuros.

Warner Channel: Mondays, 9:30 pm. SBT: Tuesdays, 3:30 am.

Canada[43] City September 19, 2011 Simulcast by CBS in Canada. Airs at the same time and date.
Chile Warner Channel
Colombia Warner Channel
Costa Rica Warner Channel
Czech Republic TV Nova September 2, 2013
Denmark TV 2 Zulu
El Salvador Warner Channel
Finland Sub Known as Tyhjätaskut ("Empty Pockets")
France[44] OCS Happy September 30, 2012
Germany[45] ProSieben August 28, 2012
Guatemala Warner Channel
Hong Kong TVB Pearl December 9, 2012 00:20pm, Brand new series premiere. Airing after Entertainment Tonight
Iceland Stöð 2 May 2012
India Star World September 2012 Monday–Friday 11:30
Indonesia Warner Channel
Ireland[46] RTÉ Two January 19, 2012 Season 2 premiered November 1, 2012, at 7:30PM. Season 2 went on hiatus on December 6, 2012, finishing with "And the Candy Manwich" (2.6). It returned on February 28, 2013, with "And the Three Boys with Wood" (2.7), airing at the new time of 8:35PM on Thursday nights. 2 Broke Girls is part of the 'See It First' programming on RTÉ Two, with the channel premiering new episodes before any other country in Europe.
Israel[47] Comedy Central Israel March 10, 2012
Italy Mya May 21, 2012 10:15 pm, airing after Suburgatory
Malaysia 8TV September 30, 2012 10:30 pm, two episodes back to back, airing after Hole in the Wall: Family Edition. Aired only for 6 weeks, then give way to The Next Miss Universe Malaysia 2013 for 6 weeks. Episode 13 aired on December 23, 2012. Season finale for season 1 was on January 27, 2013. Season 2 began on October 6, 2013, at 10:30pm, airing after Total Blackout .
Mexico Warner Channel 9:30 pm before, the past week episode is transmitted. and 2:30 pm on Mondays after The Big Bang TheoryFriends and Two and Half Man
Middle East OSN ComedyMBC 4 (Middle East) 2012–present
Netherlands NET 5

Veronica

March 12, 2012

October 18, 2012

NET 5 only aired the first seven episodes in March and April 2012. Veronica is broadcasting the series since October 18, 2012, from the pilot episode onwards.
New Zealand TV2 February 8, 2012 Previously 8pm, now at 9pm,after The Big Bang Theory and My Kitchen Rules
Panama Warner Channel
Peru Warner Channel
Philippines ETC September 20, 2011 – Present Wednesdays, 9:00 PM, airing Season 2
Poland Comedy Central March 1, 2012
Portugal RTP 2
Russia Paramount Comedy July 15, 2012
Slovakia Markíza January 7, 2013 Known as 2 baby na mizine
South Africa[48] M-Net March 14, 2012
Spain TNT España

Neox

October 28, 2011 Known as 2 chicas sin blanca
Sweden[49] TV4 September 13, 2012 Known as Två panka tjejer. Airing 21:30 after New Girl
Turkey ComedyMax /CNBC-e November 11, 2011 / April 2, 2013
United Kingdom[50] E4 /Channel 4 April 19, 2012 Shown Thursdays, 9:30pm.
Uruguay Warner Channel
Venezuela Warner Channel
Ukraine Novyi Kanal October 14, 2013

Home media[edit][]

The Complete First Season
Set details Special features
  • 24 episodes
  • 3-disc set (DVD)
  • 2-disc set (Blu-ray)
  • 1.78:1 aspect ratio
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Swedish
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD)
  • English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Blu-ray)
  • 2 Girls Going 4 Broke
    • Behind the scenes with cast and creators
  • Unaired scenes
DVD/Blu-ray release date
United States Australia United Kingdom
September 4, 2012 October 17, 2012 October 22, 2012 (DVD only)
The Complete Second Season
Set details Special features
  • 24 episodes
  • 3-disc set (DVD)
  • 1.78:1 aspect ratio
  • Subtitles
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Max's Homemade Cupcakes: Go Big or Go Broke!
    • Season 2 highlights and interviews
  • 2 Broke Girrllss! with Sophie Kachinsky
    • Cast and producers discuss the character
  • 2 Broke Girls at Paley Fest 2013
    • Highlights from the panel discussion
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Gag Reel
DVD release date
United States Australia United Kingdom
September 24, 2013 September 18, 2013 October 7, 2013
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