The gals who play the two broke girls are cracking each other up. As their interview takes place in late July, Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings can count a grand total of one week spent working together. That was when they filmed the pilot for “2 Broke Girls” — and that was in April.
But joining a reporter for breakfast at Mel’s Drive-in, a Valley landmark, they share laughs and a chemistry that seems years in the making — just as they do on their sassy new comedy as struggling waitresses at a Brooklyn greasy spoon. (“2 Broke Girls” premieres Monday at 9:30 p.m. EDT, before settling into its regular slot on Sept. 26 at 8:30 p.m., hammocked between the CBS hits “How I Met Your Mother” and “Two and a Half Men.”)
| ON TV |
| ‘2 Broke Girls’ |
| » When: 9:30 p.m. Monday |
| » Channel: CBS |
| » Info: cbs.com |
While waiting for production to resume in early August, they solidified their friendship.
On “2 Broke Girls,” their characters will form a similar bond. But not instantly. First, they have to size each other up.
Kat plays sarcastic, street-wise Max Black, who, to make ends meet, must work two jobs, one of which is the night shift at the downtrodden Williamsburg Diner.
Beth plays chic Caroline Channing, whose ritzy Upper East Side lifestyle has abruptly come undone after her money-manager father got busted for financial shenanigans. Like Max, Caroline is now broke, too, and is seeking refuge at the diner waitressing alongside Max, who warily receives her not only as a co-worker but as a roommate, too.
So not only is “2 Broke Girls” a buddy comedy, it’s also a fish-out-of-water sitcom, with Caroline the Brooklyn-beached fish.
The dialogue is snappy, befitting the show’s top-flight creative team: Michael Patrick King (“Sex and the City”) and Whitney Cummings (TV’s comedy “It” girl who is represented on the fall schedule by this show as well as her new starring sitcom, “Whitney,” on NBC).
But beyond its writing, the charm of “2 Broke Girls” comes down to its two leading ladies.
In playing their roles, they both speak of trying to avoid stereotypes.
“Caroline is a girl who used to walk out of her New York high-rise with a car waiting and someone there to hand her a Starbucks,” says Beth. “For me to play her, I had to find the entitlement without being a bitch.”
“Caroline’s really sweet and innocent and adorable,” Kat declares. “I think that’s a fresh approach.”
“And she’s smart,” Beth adds. “She went to Wharton business school. I don’t think Max would have taken to her if she weren’t smart.”
