"2 Broke Girls"

What do two beautiful 20-somethings and a big brown horse have in common?

They're all part of the new CBS sitcom, "2 Broke Girls," the recent People's Choice Awards winner for Favorite New TV Comedy, and one of 15 of America's Most Watched TV shows, according to a poll late last year in TV Guide. The show aired Sept. 19, 2011, with 19.4 million viewers and ended with the 13th episode Dec. 12.

I can see what makes ‘Girls' a top TV hit, it's right on target with our nation's class warfare. The plot revolves around two young  women struggling to eke out a living at a dead-end job. Its creators, Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings, could not have picked two more talented actresses whose chemistry clicks so well together. Viewers can feel a strong sense of balance between them -- one a raving brunette, the other a tall, naive blonde.

Kat Dennings plays the pessimistic Max Black, a sassy waitress working at the Williamsburg Diner in New York City. Her second job on the weekend as a nanny is for Peach, a beautiful, rich socialite mother from the Upper East Side who has twin babies named Brad and Angelina. That fits right in with the plot because it contrasts Max's poor working-class lifestyle with the rich.

Max's blonde counterpart, Caroline Channing, is a former rich girl whose father is in prison for bilking his clients out of millions. The authorities have frozen all of his assets, which leaves Caroline out in the cold – literally. That's how she and Max  met – on the street when Caroline had nowhere to go. Max took pity on her, got her a job at the diner and invited Caroline to live with her in her small, cramped apartment, so the plot makes sense in that they are both struggling to exist. 

Caroline has somehow managed to keep the last remnant of her rich lifestyle, a large brown horse named Chestnut in Max's small back yard, which adds a bizarre twist to the show. It doesn't really add anything to the plot except to connect Caroline's past luxurious lifestyle to the horse. It's a plus for animal lovers, though.  One other reminder of Caroline's past is her necklace, which she almost always wears, even to her diner job. It appears to be an expensive three-string large pearl necklace, which looks awkward with the cheap gold waitress uniform that's required for the job. 

While both the horse and the necklace serve as reminders of Caroline's past, I think what makes the show a hit is that the audience likes the contrasting dialogue, where the girls relate tidbits of their past lives. Caroline, played by Beth Behrs, grew up as a super-rich socialite with all kinds of luxuries, including worldwide travel.

In one episode, for example, she says that she doesn't know how to be poor. Max grew up poor, struggles for every dime she earns and says that she's "too poor to have a fear of success."  In another episode, Caroline says, "I've always had things done for me," whereas Max states, "I've never had things done for me."  

The great contrast between the two major stars wouldn't be enough to keep the attention of a TV audience for more than a season or two if it wasn't for the one thing that promotes capitalism.  Caroline's upper class upbringing leads her to encourage Max to start up a cupcake business. Max has been baking a variety of cupcakes, but doesn't have enough self esteem or knowledge to run a business. Caroline reminds her that she has a degree from Wharton Business School. 

The point of the show is to develop this business one step at a time so each episode has to do with promoting Max's cupcakes. At the end of every show, the dollar amount that the girls have earned from their cupcake business is posted. It started at zero. In one of the last episodes, the total had reached $725.  The girls are slowly growing the business.

In scenes at the neighborhood diner where the girls work, three other intriguing characters contribute to the show:  Asian owner Han Lee, with his broken accent, always rattles on about the business, Ukranian chef Oleg makes constant sexual remarks to the girls, and the black cashier Earl spouts off on a variety of topics. The cupcakes are a hit at the diner as well.

I think "2 Broke Girls" has a lot of potential because it's based on the girls' close friendship. It's definitely a hit for CBS. The only real problem I see is that it's not very funny, but with the strong contrasting roles of Dennings and Behrs and the capitalism theme the show encourages viewers to believe that anyone can succeed if they just take the time and make an effort.