Activity | Begin with the argument Mr. Genzlinger made that “The New Girl” is a “role-reversed Three’s Company.” Watch the same clip—or others—from “Three’s Company” and then watch parts of “The New Girl” episodes to test the theory that Jess is like Jack Tripper. Then put “The New Girl” through the same questions from the warm-up: Who are these people? Where are they? Why are they together? What can you tell about them from what they say, how they look, how they interact with one another? What, if anything, does the show say about life, friendship, relationships between women and men and so on? Then ask: Does the show imitate real life? Do people you know act like this? Do you think people try to act like these characters? If so, who and why? Do you think in 1980, people imitated—or were imitated by—the characters on “Three’s Company”? Are shows like “The New Girl” entering the mainstream and becoming part of our shared cultural shorthand and vernacular? http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/everyones-a-critic-analyzing-sitcoms-as-cultural-texts/