Last night, HBO premiered its depraved comedy about life in New York’s outer boroughs, Girls – a show as insidious and hotly anticipated as a sexually transmitted disease. Think: Sex and the City for ugly people with a fat chick named Hannah (played by the show’s writer and director, [Keira Knightley]). New York Post.

Everything men hate about the show Girls I mostly hate, too. The complexities of young women trying to find their voice, who they are, and their intertwined friendships — blah, blah, ugh, give me a tampon and a pineapple drink in a martini glass. Esquire.

[There are] five separate instances of [Keira Knightley's] breasts in one episode. Five… seriously, pack the breasts in. Seriously. Collider.

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We love the show, but this is too much. From Craigslist via Jezebel:

Ever feel like life in the big frantic city is just too much? Are you a twenty-something young woman seeking fame, fortune, love or even a hookup with potential? How do you get from here to there when you can’t even get a seat on the L train! Come to a casting call with our Emmy-winning production company and tell us your dreams and woes, your highs and lows, your tales of *** in the city and the outrageous opportunities that have come your way. Is your circle of friends bound together by not just the parties, fights, and brunches but frequent bouts of commiserating over your struggles? It isn’t easy taking the road less travelled, but making it as a writer, designer, entrepreneur, actress/model or glorified dog walker never is!

The real life television show we are making follows the trials and tribulations of an ensemble of wise-beyond-their-years young ladies. We are with you living the dream in hipster Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. Only well educated and cultured extroverts need apply. Are you thinking about that show—”Girls?” Well we didn’t say it but. . ..now that you mention it.

(Hat Tip Brokelyn)

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We’ve been pretty quiet about HBO’s much buzzed about new show Girls because, well, every single other blog has written endlessly about it. But the show’s protagonists live in Greenpoint and today the gang is at Café Grumpy on Meserole filming for the second season.

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The café appeared in the most recent episode of the show as Ray’s place of work.

I’ve spent years living in North Brooklyn but I really didn’t know anything about it until I was able to see how it was portrayed by 2 Broke Girls, a hackneyed, LA-filmed sitcom created by the “brain” behind Sex and the City and the “brain” behind Whitney. This column will keep track of all the knowledge dropped and questions answered, like: Why do hipsters wear knit hats? Because of Coldplay…of course (seriously, this was one of the first jokes of the series).

This week I learned…

None of Us Has Ever Filed Their Taxes

Duck season!  Rabbit season! Duck season!  Rabbit season! Duck season!  Rabbit season! Duck season!  Rabbit season! Duck season!  Rabbit season! Duck season!  Rabbit season! TAX SEASON!!!!! Oh, so it’s tax time in 2 Broke Girl’s Williamsburg, like it is in the real Williamsburg. The only difference is people say things like this:

“There were onions in my street meat. Listen to me, ‘Onions in my street meat.’ Last year I was taking meetings on Wall Street – this year I’m eat meat, from the street, by a wall.”

Nope. Look I’m all for plays on words but nope.
So after the blond one says that joke, which is and was the worst joke, she goes on shopping spree but with no shopping and a lot more doing the other characters’ taxes. See she got a degree in finance so she says that makes her an expert with people’s finances, which is not what that means – she is a liar.

Despite her lying, she still looks down upon the Kat Dennings broke girl for having never done her tax, ever. So she agrees to do KD’s taxes but it doesn’t go well because it’s a sitcom. They get into a fight and then they go to a hipster tax place call the Tax of Life, which is a funny name for a tax place. I joke about the accuracy of the show all the time but this they really nailed. All my friends have a “tax bro” that helps write off their weed costs. No one uses TurboTax or their family’s accountants – psh – family accountants are so OVER.

Then they jump in a dumpster. It might seem like a drastic turn of events but seriously, I can’t believe they haven’t done it before. Looking for something in a dumpster is Sitcom 101 – a class 2 Broke Girls is seemingly still taking. Then there’s more fighting about being a poor broke girl and a formerly rich broke girl – basically the same argument they’ve had for the other twenty episodes.

Yada yada blah blah – there is a happy ending at the post office. Everyone did their taxes and hugged and yay. In all seriousness, it was a pretty solid episode. Taxes are exactly the type of issue the show should be focusing on. Also, the episode featured my favorite joke of the season. When comparing the blond one’s neat purse with Kat Dennings messy one, Katty Denns goes, “Also known as, OCD versus Oh, here’s a CD I forgot I had.” As I said, I’m all for plays on words and that one gets two broke thumbs up.

[What I learned from last week's episode]

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AMC’s Mad Men returns tonight from it’s 17-month hiatus. If you don’t have cable or just want to watch with a room full of fans, Nitehawk Cinema will be screening the season premiere. The event starts at 8pm (2-hour episode starts at 9) and there will be drink specials.

You may have thought that the season’s biggest commercials all aired during the Super Bowl, but Mexican food chain Chipotle saved its best for last night’s Grammy Awards. The commercial, which actually debuted on YouTube in late August but hadn’t aired on television until last night, features a farmer raising pigs that get plumped up with pills and shipped off on big trucks, until he has an epiphany and tears down the walls holding the animals. The ad consists of stop motion animation and presents the story in a single, two and a half minute long shot. Willie Nelson’s cover of Coldplay’s “The Scientist” plays throughout. (The spot aired right after Coldplay’s performance.)

The ad, officially called “Back to the Start” has over four million views on YouTube. “The film and the soundtrack were commissioned by Chipotle to emphasize the importance of developing a sustainable food system,” Chipotle’s website states. The response from viewers has been mixed, however. While the chain has publicly promoted sustainable and humane farming practices, it is was once owned in part by McDonald’s, which no doubt is guilty of participating in the factory farming system that the clip eschews.

If you really like the ad, check out the fascinating “making of” below.

As intense as the ad is, apparently more people who watched the Grammys are just wondering who Bon Iver and Paul McCartney are.

Update: Several commenters were quick to point out that Chipotle and McDonald’s parted ways in 2006. Nevertheless, it’s surprising that a food chain once connected to McDonald’s would attempt such a significant re-branding by coming out as anti-factory farming.

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The Super Bowl is hours away and you need a place to watch it. Luckily for you, The Greenpoint Gazette published a list of 18 bars in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that will be airing the game. I cut that list in half, narrowing it down to my top picks of which bars and specials sound best. Descriptions by the Gazette.

- Full Circle Bar (318 Grand Street, 347-725-4588): Giving out free Bon Chon Bowl wings, showing the game on three 40+ inch HD TV’s, and selling 24 ounces of Genesee Beer for $10.

- Huckleberry Bar (588 Grand Street, 718-218-8555): Serving up chili nachos ($7) and chili dogs ($4), $15 buckets of Budweiser and Bud Light (5 beers in each), and projecting the game onto the wall.

- Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, 347-529-6696): Showing the game on a 12-foot projection screen in the main room and on two 48-inch screens in the front bar, providing free snacks, and offering a food menu complete with pizza, wings, and party food. Reserve a party package and get seated before everyone else. The packages are First Down (12 beers, 1 pizza and a reserved table for $45), Field Goal (24 beers, 2 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $85), and Touchdown (48 beers, 4 pizzas, plate of wings and a reserved table for $150).

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