Steve Howey will soon catch the eye of Jessica Day on New Girl Season 2.

The actor (Shameless) will appear on a future episode of the Fox comedy as a a professional football player interviewed by Winston and then invited to Schmidt and Nick's “Tinfinity” party. You know, that shindig everyone throws to celebrate a decade of residing together.

Look for Howey's Jax McTavish to interact with Jess at the bash, leaving us to wonder if she will have ended her relationship with Sam by the time this episode rolls around.

On New Girl this week, Brooklyn Decker guest-starred... Schmidt got shirtless... Winston actually got some...

... and, oh yeah, Nick and Jess made out. EEK!

Indeed, after a season-plus of teasing and hinting, "Cooler" finally brought together these two roommates in an especially moving, hilarious and appropriate manner. With Jess still dating Sam and Nick being, well, Nick, it's unclear what the future holds for this pair.

Will they date? Will they regret the kiss in the morning? Who knows. But let's leave the tomorrow for tomorrow. Today, in the case of this episode and how the big moment played out, it was perfect.

To the sitcom's credit, it's never shied away from Jess and Nick as a potential couple. The chemistry between the actors and characters has been so clear from the beginning that Jess and Nick themselves have acknowledged how their feelings surpass mere friendship on more than one occasion.

But the timing hasn't been right and, let's face it, dating one's roommate is a big deal. It's a tricky situation. You need to be certain you're ready for it, you need to be sure of those feelings - or maybe you just need to be locked in a room with your half-naked close pal.

Except if you're Nick Miller, Romantic Extraordinaire.

While the obvious move here would have been for Jess and Nick to to quickly suck it up and French a little - a clear and present threat of tongue was required, after all - only to then give in to their desires and "do stuff" together (to quote Winston)... the show went in a different, heartfelt direction.

Nick didn't want their first kiss - something he's likely dreamed about, while wearing a women's trench coat, of course - to be part of contrived game. It shouldn't be forced, it should be natural. It should be passionate, not pressure-packed. Yes, Nick may be bitter and cynical when it comes to pretty much the entire world, but not when it comes to Jessica Day.

Yes, any Ness 'shipper (sorry) had to be thrilled with the way this storyline went and with the intense lip-lock that concluded the half hour. It was the ideal combination of heart and humor.

All that - and there was True American! Even if Nick and Jess had never swapped spit, this episode would have been an all-timer for the most ridiculous, hysterical game in modern television history.

I caught references to Joe Biden; Abu Nazir; secret tunnels; Amber Waves of Grain; Howard Dean's scream; and the Hawley Smoot Tariff Act.

I have no idea who came up with this concept, but to steal one from Liz Lemon: I want to go to there. Now.

An incredible episode all around. Funny, sentimental, character-building. Any time Brookyn Decker taking off her top doesn't even make a review, you know a show has done something right.

What did everyone else think? Are you happy Jess and Nick finally got to first base?

It finally took place this week on New Girl.

Inspired by a women's trench coat or simply unable to mask his feelings any longer, Nick kissed Jess and viewers around the nation squealed in delight.

But what will the fallout of this spit swap look like? How will Jess react? Nick? The other loft mates? We jumped on the phone with creator Elizabeth Meriwether yesterday for answers to those questions and more...

 

New Girl Kiss

Why now?"It just felt right. We’ve sort of gotten to a place where it felt like organically, in their relationship, something like this could happen… It also felt like if we didn’t have them kiss, it was kind of like pulling our punches; like we were not really being true to the characters in this moment. We were all ready for Nick to kind of step up to the plate and have a moment of confidence, whether or not it was the trench coat or not."

Where will next week pick up?"Right where this episode left off. Sort of like a continuation of that night and it just obviously rocks Jess’s world and Nick starts freaking out about what he’s done and they both are just grappling with how they continue as friends the way they were… it definitely pushes Jess into a place with Sam where she has to deal with whether or not this really is something that she wants to be in."

How will Schmidt and Winston react? On the February 12 installment, "Schmidt digs up a 'no nail' oath they all took when she moved into the loft where they all agreed not to nail her.

"Obviously Jess is mad about it and Schmidt is just dealing with the fact that the loft dynamics have changed in his view. It’s been fun to write because it’s definitely forced all the characters in to really strong positions, and instead of taking any tension out of the series, I think it’s really actually ignited it and helped us focus it."

What about CeCe and Schmidt? Next Tuesday, "we end up in an Indian marriage convention with Cece trying to meet an Indian guy to marry... I think they’re still really struggling with their feelings towards each other, even though they both keep trying to move on. That is definitely something that we are going to follow to the end of the season, just to see if Cece is going to take this all the way through and get married."

Are you glad Nick and Jess finally kissed?

With January behind us, I shook out my notebook and found Jake Johnson’s hints that people wanted a Jess/Nick coupling New Girl... Netflix’s new all-episodes-now approach to House of Cards... some tweaking for Body of Proof... and good news for Cinemax’s action drama, Banshee.

Let’s get started.

NEW GIRL Those collective gasps you heard around the world on Tuesday night? Just the long-awaited smooch between Jess and Nick. While Johnson hinted to me that this was coming in our one-on-one chat, he was reminded just how much fans really want Nick and Jess together when he was in Hawaii this past holiday season.

“A pickup truck with four Hawaiian dudes in the back drive by and I literally, I get scared,” he told me. “I think their vibe seems cool but it’s a little bit potentially tough. One of them sings in weird English ‘La, la, la, la New Girl’ and then yells ‘Aloha Nick Miller’, first and last name and that was a moment where I felt like ‘Those dudes are watching New Girl, to the point they know ‘La, la, la, la New Girl’ and ‘Nick Miller.’”

Though struck by this happening, Johnson said he managed to say, “‘Aloha guys. Thanks for watching.’ And they’re like ‘Nick, Nick’ and they’re like ‘Jess, Jess.’ They all laughed and drove off…that’s hard to mentally grasp.”

HOUSE OF CARDS Like marathoning a show on DVD or Hulu? Then Netflix is your new best friend, as it launches its new Kevin Spacey/Robin Wright drama today with all 13 episodes available immediately. Creator Beau Willimon explained:

“In terms of 13 hours all at once, I think that’s the trend that viewers are moving in. They are experiencing television shows more and more as entire seasons. They have become accustomed to watching things when they want to watch them, how they want to watch them, on what device they want to watch them on, and Netflix is smart enough to acknowledge that and to exploit it. And so, you know we’re proud to be the first to deliver a show in that way. We certainly won’t be the last.”

The series uses Washington politics as its backdrop, with Spacey playing the House Majority Whip who is passed for the Secretary of State job and, essentially, plots a plan for revenge.

“This is a show about power,” Willimon continued, “and certainly whenever you are exploring power you’re going to deal with a wide range of egos. So, our characters are exhibit examples across the spectrum, in terms of their moral compasses, and sometimes the needle shifts as their lives progress.”

(Having seen the first two episodes, trust me when I say you’ll be glad you can devour them one at a time without ever leaving your couch!)

BODY OF PROOF When the Dana Delaney-starrer returns later this month, you’ll notice the show has amped things up quite a bit in year three.

“We started thinking about how do we bring Megan's personal life into the actual A case, the actual investigation,” said Executive Producer Christopher Murphey at the recent TCA press tour. “The idea came about of a detective who she had a past relationship with (played by Human Target alum Mark Valley) and bringing him on board and their relationship would play in the course of the A story, in the course of the investigation.”

Producer Matthew Gross admitted that with the two-part Contagion-esque story at the end of Body of Proof Season 2, there was a ratings spike and they realized they needed to slightly shift focus.

“We decided to continue that momentum and make stories that are more thrilling, have more stakes, and have the show have a second gear. So it was no longer just about solving a murder but also stopping something else from happening.” Body of Proof returns to ABC on February 19.

BANSHEE If you haven’t checked out the new Cinemax series, the time is now. The series, about a con man (Lucas) who masquerades as sheriff in a small town where lots of shady things are happening, just got picked up for a second season.

Of course, one of the complications in Lucas’ new life is that a past love (the ass-kicking Ivana Milicevic) is also living in this town, having moved on from her past with him…or has she?

“This is the love of her life,” Milicevic told me, “but not somebody that she should be with. You shouldn’t always end up with the love of your life. Sometimes you should end up with somebody that’s good for you.”

But can we expect the two to actually stay apart?

“Every smart part of her, every logical part of her, is all about her family, her heart is all about her family, but there just is something in her groin that’s, like, ‘but you’re the one that knows me better than everyone else.”

Banshee airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Cinemax.

That’s a wrap for this week! Anything else you’re dying to know about your favorite show? Leave a comment here or you email me directly at jim@jimhalterman.com. And remember: follow @TVFanatic for all your TV scoop

Not so fast, Nick and Jess 'shippers.

TV Line confirms that former House actress Odette Annable has landed a recurring role on New Girl Season 2, one that may delay the inevitable Nick/Jess relationship.

Annable will portray Shane, the new lady in charge at Nick's bar and someone who starts having a fling with the cynical bartender. She will appear on multiple episodes of the Fox comedy.

The star has also appeared on Breaking In and Brothers & Sisters and will soon come on board Cinemax’s first-year drama, Banshee.

On this week's episode of New Girl, "Table 34," Nick and Jess dealt with the fallout from their big kiss last Tuesday night.

Via moonwalking, turban-wearing and table-building at an Indian marriage convention, of course.

As has been the cast throughout this sublime New Girl Season 2, the installment combined the absolutely ridiculous with the impressive character-building, as Nick reacted how most viewers expected he would after planting a wet one on his pal the night before:

In sheer panic and embarrassment.

But a lesser show might have dragged out this secret, leaving Jess with Sam and creating some kind of awkward love triangle. Not New Girl. It ended that relationship (via a cool exit) and had Jess and Nick directly address what went down. Sort of.

Despite a lip lock that forced Jess to travel through space and time, these two aren't simply together. They recognize how big a deal it would be to date one's roommate. They aren't even entirely sure of their feelings for each other. Will they end up as an official couple? It seems hard to believe otherwise at this point.

They do have a strong foundation of friendship on which one could be an indestructible table of love. But I applaud the writers for both tackling this topic head-on and also delaying it in a believable way… all while dressing characters like the fortune teller in Big and revealing that pink robes are like cat nip to our man Nick.

Yes, it was a half hour of utter absurdity, yet it managed to tug on heart strings while also pounding on our funny bones.

Schmidt, as over-the-top as ever, took Cece to bed after telling off India and seducing the love of his life via some squirrel-based nut talk. BLAMMO! That happened, readers.

Elsewhere, Winston rediscovered his mojo, despite only doing "side stuff" in bed and we learned Schmidt actually likes The Love Guru. Sound off now on another terrific episode and visit our New Girl quotes section for the top lines of the night. BLAMMO!

Ready to meet the woman responsible for Nick Miller?

New Girl has cast Emmy winner Margo Martindale (Justified) as the mother of this hilarious roommate. Viewers will meet her later in the season when Nick and company travel to his native city of Chicago and discover - gasp! - he's actually the most responsible member of his family.

Martindale won an Emmy for her portrayal of Mags Bennett on Justified Season 2 and has since appeared in episodes of Suits and Person of Interest.

She kicks off an arc next week on FX's The Americans.

Ready to meet more Millers?

Entertainment Weekly reports that Nick Kroll and Bill Burr have been cast on New Girl as members of Nick's family, a dim-witted brother (Kroll) and a loud cousin (Burr) who works for the TSA.

Viewers will meet these family members - along with Ellen Abertini Dow as Nick's partially deaf aunt and Margo Martindale as his mother - on New Girl Season 2 episode that airs in March.

It will revolve around a roommate trip to Chicago and the stunning realization for Jess and company that Nick is the most mature Miller out there.

"Parking Spot" was a New Girl episode about fighting, but the actual fight over a parking spot was the least of it.

Nick and Jess fought about the ways The Kiss changed their relationship; Schmidt fought with both of them about the ways The Kiss changed the dynamics of the Loft; and Winston fought an unjust system that refuses to sell a man a condom, just because he has no money and also is wearing sweatpants that say "Yum!" across the butt.

And who came out the winner in all of this? Well, we did, because "The Parking Spot" was delightful.

Not just because it was hilarious - though I am not going to be able to get the text of the "No-Nail Oath" and some other choice New Girl quotes out of my head for a long, long time - but because it examined, with sensitivity and depth, the confused, tentative steps Jess and Nick are taking towards trying to understand what happened during "The Cooler."

I'll out myself as someone who was annoyed by New Girl when it premiered. Who's that girl? It's a weirdly one-dimensional character! For that reason and others, New Girl Season 1 was an even mix of hits and misses for me.

But in New Girl Season 2, Jess has come into her own. She's no longer just some gorgeous goofball who loves Curly Sue; she's a gorgeous goofball who loves Curly Sueand mourns the end of her parents' marriage, and has a complicated relationship with her lifelong best friend, andknows what men like (that's why she's wearing wool tights, guys). She's a relatable human being.

This development has not just raised the comedy stakes (though I do think this season has been consistently hysterical because of it) but opened the door for some emotional realness about life, dating, and romantic confusion, all of which came into full bloom tonight.

For two people who run around spying on plumbers and ruining Indian wedding conventions like it ain't no thing, Nick and Jess are surprisingly cautious while exploring their own attraction. And it's not just because it's hard to find decent real estate in L.A. (although I'm sure that that factors in, too).

Nick and Jess are both royal messes, who have steered clear of each other out of fear of what kind of mess they could create together. In "Parking Spot," we (and they) got a taste of what that mess could be: and it's full of "invisible shirts," hard candy, peed pants and forced Schmidt-kisses.

Was that mess enough to keep them from the becoming the hot-mess power-couple that seems to be their destiny? Only time shall tell, but I am eager to find out.

Are Jess and Nick going to be able to go back to their old dynamic? Should they even try? And, really, why did Schmidt tell them about the spot?

Who are any of us, really? I mean, really?

And how good are we at judging what we want? I'm not trying to channel that girl from your freshman dorm who smelled like trail mix and bong water here; I'm simply pondering the questions that "TinFinity" stirred up inside me.

Ever since The Kiss shook up the New Girl-iverse, the show has become a study in how people deal with the difference between what they want, and what they think they should want. And tonight's episode turned that study into a master class.

From Jess's belief that a manly pro football player (played with delightful screwiness by Shameless's Steve Howey) would keep her from having to really think through how kissing non-manly Nick made her feel; to Cece's thinking that agreeing to a marriage proposal from a guy she barely knew would make her feel like a stable adult; to Nick's certainty that buying a port-a-potty that looked like it was used in the filming of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre made him a small business owner... everyone made assumptions about what they needed to be happy.

And everyone was wrong. Because everyone was wrapped up in denial about who they truly were and what they really needed.

Listen, I am trying very hard not to quote Billy Joel's "The Stranger" here, but you have to work with me.

Aside from confronting the questions that haunt the heart of modern young adulthood, "TinFinity" was also just a lot of fun.

Jess's recent embrace of her bombshell nature has been comedic gold (mostly because it was the elephant in the room for all of New Girl Season 1), and watching her work it for Jax during the touch football game was a goofy delight. Jax's revelation as basically the Isla Fisher character in Wedding Crashers was also a slapstick-y treat.

And Nick and Schmidt's port-a-potty war worked as a great commentary on the "pissing contest" element of their friendship, while also being filled with great port-a-potty jokes (I mean, you pee in them! These jokes basically write themselves). In fact, the episode overall was a hotbed of excellent New Girl quotes.

But "TinFinity"'s deft use of all these silly comedy tropes to explore serious emotional issues was what made it one of the stand-out episodes of the season.

While New Girl Season 1was mostly a fun puff-pastry of clever jokes and ostentatious party dresses, New Girl Season 2 hasn't been shy about examining the hazards of extended adolescence. It's been getting its hands dirty tackling the big issues that arise when you're in your late 20's, but still dress like a Muppet and don't have a real job (what, me, over-identify?).

The gang's abject terror of making that one huge decision in their lives, for fear that it will be a mistake that will ruin their lives forever - and, in the process, making a million little decisions that might also mess up their lives forever - rings true with a brutal emotional honesty that you really don't expect in a show that also makes such excellent use of a fat suit.

But New Girl has been nailing it all season long. I hope the rest of the season maintains up this level of quality, and comes to some conclusions that I can use - I mean, conclusions that my friend, Mabrielle Goss, can use. Her life is a straight-up mess.

Do you think Nick and Jess will ever suck it up and admit that they loved sucking face? Are Schmidt and Cece going to realize the error of their ways and get back together? Does owning a port-a-potty actually make you a small business owner?

Fox has unveiled its calendar of season finale air dates, so set your DVR, plan your schedule accordingly and read on to learn when your favorite network program will bid farewell until the fall...

FRIDAY, APRIL 26
Touch Season 2 finale

MONDAY, APRIL 29
Bones Season 8 finale
The Following Season 1 finale

TUESDAY, MAY 7
New Girl Season 2 finale
The Mindy Project Season 1 finale

THURSDAY, MAY 9
Glee Season 4 finale

SUNDAY, MAY 12
Bob’s Burgers Season 3 finale
American Dad Season 8 finale

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15
American Idol Season 12 finale, Part 1

THURSDAY, MAY 16
American Idol Season 12 finale, Part 2

SUNDAY, MAY 19
The Cleveland Show Season 4 finale (two episodes)
The Simpsons Season 24 finale (two episodes)
Family Guy Season 11 finale (two episodes)

Fox has announced the renewals of four shows for the 2013-2014 season, with one drama and three comedies receiving the great news today.

First, Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly sang the praises of The Following in announcing a second season for the Kevin Bacon thriller:

“From the very beginning, we felt Kevin Williamson and Marcos Siega had created a high-quality, edge-of-your-seat drama that could break from the pack, and it is exciting to see the audience responding. Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy have given us two of the most compelling characters on television and the entire cast is incredible. I’m delighted to have this thrill ride continue on FOX for another season.”

Next, Reilly also picked up a trio of sitcoms - New Girl, The Mindy Project and Raising Hope - saying of these three hits:

“We love working with these talented producers and casts who, week after week, create some of the funniest work on television. These shows are creatively vibrant, they have established a loyal and passionate audience and they will continue to define and grow the FOX comedy brand next season and beyond."

All four series will air new episodes this week.

Will Jess and Nick ever get together? Is there hope for Schmidt and CeCe? How did each character on New Girl lose his/her virginity?

The cast and creator of this hilarious Fox comedy gathered at PaleyFest last night, dishing out Season 2 spoilers that centered on an upcoming road trip, the return of a certain wise Asian man and more...

Who is dying? As previously reported, the crew will head to Nick's hometown in a future episode, meeting family members that include Nick Kroll as his brother and Margo Martindale as his mother (Nick is the "smartest of the bunch," Jake Johnson said). But the basis for the road trip isn't exactly uplifting? Nick's dad is dying.

Who is returning? Nick's older, water cradling Asian friend from "Menzies."

Will we ever learn Schmidt's first name? There was a plan for the reveal this season, but creator Liz Meriwether axed it at the last second. Said Max Greenfield: “I like just Schmidt. I don’t ever want to know what it is.”

Who lost it and when? The sitcom is filming a flashback episode in which we learn how each of the roommates lost his or her virginity. SPOILER ALERT: Schmidt's experience nvolved an excessive amount of lubricant.

As for Nick and Jess... ? Meriwether said there is no immediate plan to make these two official, with both Zooey Deschanel (“You question whether they’re ready for each other.”) and Johnson wondering if the time is right. Concluded the latter: “I think they’re very good together, but I personally don’t know if they’re ready to be in a long-term relationship.”

At PaleyFest this week, the cast of New Girl teased an upcoming flashback episode that would show the audience how Jess, Schmidt and company lost their virginity.

And now TV Guide has identified the lucky young man who made it a very pleasant night for Ms. Day: Teen Wolf star Dylan O'Brien will appear on the April 30 installment as Jess' former prom date, a guitar-playing 18-year old who promises to make the experience special.

Isn't that sweet?

It's unclear which actress will stop by as Schmidt's first lover, but creator Liz Meriwether said his initial between-the-sheets romp involved a lot of lubricant. Because he was very fat back then.

New Girl has been many things in its nearly two seasons on the air: a frustrating mess of uneven adorkability, a polished comedic gem, an effective reminder that Natasha Lyonne is still among the living - and your numer-one source for jokes about Rusted Root on network TV.

But on this week's "Quick Hardening Caulk,"New Girl went where it has never before dared: guys, this show has gone Full Screwball! Full-on fish-throwing, aquarium-breaking, power-drill-as-a-penis-metaphor screwball, I tell you!

On one hand, it was surprising that the sitcom decided to jettison its veneer of hipster cool and go full-tilt into double entendre penis gags that your parents could laugh at (I mean, not in front of you. I mean, your parents don't know what penises are! I mean, you know what I mean).

Though I found this episode roundly hilarious, I was a little shocked to find a joke or five that wouldn't have felt out of place on The Big Bang Theory (also in this vein: that breaking-the-expensive-aquarium bit was straight out of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo. I know, I know I'm ashamed that I know that, too).

On the other, it is even more surprising that it took this long to get here.

From the show's very beginning, Zooey Deschanel's Jess seemed like a project intended to merge the spirits of Lucille Ball's Lucy and Rachel from the first five seasons of Friends. And many of New Girl Season 1's missteps seemed to stem from scripts that were clever, but not quite in step with that character; scripts that took that kooky, polka-dot-wearing cartoon of a woman and asked her to deal with a thoroughly mundane world filled with parking tickets and mean businesswomen and Justin Long.

Her rubber face and Mel Blanc pipes were not only not an asset in these episodes, they were a detriment (an annoying, annoying detriment).

The friction created by these early mismatches seemed to encourage New Girl to tone it down a lot and to try on a lot of different stylistic hats - from the hyper-realism of "Eggs" to the strangely touching melodrama of "TinFinity."

"Quick Hardening Caulk" wasn't short on any of the show's usual attributes. If anything, the blistering New Girl quotes were flying at an even faster pace than usual. But I was most taken by the sheer fearlessness of its physical goofery.

In those moments at the hardware store, New Girl slipped off its need to be the smartest kid in the room and opened its arms to the sheer pleasure of being smartly dumb. And I thought it was an utter success.

The show's tone has varied so much from episode to episode, there's no way to tell if next week will take the show back to more cerebral territory or keep exploring this new world of screwballery. I'd like to see the latter, personally - I think Zooey Deschanel has it in her to channel the spirit of Madeleine Kahn, another breathtaking beauty who didn't let her wholesome good looks keep her away from a decent dick joke.

And, oh, yeah, it was satisfying to have confirmation that we haven't seen the last of Jess and Nick sucking on each other's faces. Phew!

What did you think of this episode's screwball vibe? Do you feel bad for that fish that Schmidt dropped? Are you irritated that I barely even talked about the face-sucking?

New Girl is on a winning streak. Uh-huh, thank you very much! (Sorry. I literally could not stop myself.)

For a show that's greatest weakness has long been its wild and obvious indecision about what it wants to be, for at least the second week in a row, New Girl has hit a perfectly consistent tone.

"Chicago" offered more of everything that's made New Girl Season 2 so appealing, including over-the-top silliness, sharp-but-warm humor, and tender emotional moments slightly undermined by Schmidt rubbing his face on a dead guy.

A lot of things felt like they finally settled into place in this episode, including the ongoing slow burn of Jess and Nick's relationship, along with the ongoing slow burn of Nick's maturation into a full-on adult.

But the most important was Jess's solidification into a character that we laugh at because she does funny things, not a character that we laugh at because she herself is the punchline.

New Girl Season 1 seemed a bit confused about this particular issue. One second, the show was ridiculing Jess for being a glitter princess who lived on Cake Island; the next, it was taking down a character for making those same exact criticisms of her. Just when it would seem like the show had settled on having her be a neurotic who happens to wear frilly dresses, they'd have her mindmeld with a coyote.

I mean, personally, as a neurotic who wears frilly dresses but who would never mindmeld with a coyote (too awkward), perhaps I was extra sensitive to this issue.

But even if you're an even-keeled rationalist who wears sensible slacks, you can't deny that much of the engine that's been powering New Girl Season 2 has been the revelation that Jess is just a funny character who does funny things - not a child-like goon, not a saint-like weirdo, not Mork from Ork. Just a clever neurotic who nails many of the best New Girl quotes each week (and, yes, has clearly been dropping way too much cash at Anthropologie).

Nick's family was played for some fairly easy working-class laughs - for a house that was supposedly in Chicago, they seemed to be located a little bit closer to Lanford, Illinois - but I do have to give special props to Bill Burr for his portrayal of Nick's surly Boston cousin Bobby. You may recall Burr from his turn as Saul Goodman's most hilarious thug on Breaking Bad and his work here was not dissimilar. But, again, who's complaining about more of a good thing?

It may be premature to call this, but I think we've now passed the point where New Girl will have a bad episode. Sure, some will be better than others (and yeah, there will probably be a drop off in a few years, when all the original writers have gone on to other projects, and Jess will be a faint shell of the glitter princess she once was).

But I think we've hit a point where we can expect something consistent from this show. New Girl appears to have finally found its permanent groove.

And, yes, it just so happens that that groove is slightly reminiscent of a certain group of...chums...whom we all remember so fondly from the 90s. But so what? No shame in that game. If a billion nihilisticshows can model themselves after Seinfeld, why not have on show take a page from Friends and suggest that sometimes, on occasion, life is not completely terrible, and we can all..be there...for you?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll show myself out.

Did you like the peek at Nick's extended family? Was Jess's Elvis impersonation totally cute or way too much? Did you even notice Nick Kroll (he played Nick's brother)?

One of the world's biggest artists has signed on for one of television's funniest shows.

The Hollywood Reporter states that Taylor Swift will play a role on the New Girl Season 2 finale. In what capacity? Consider yourself spoiler warned and read on for the answer...

The artist will portray an "important guest" at the wedding of Cece and Shivrang, network sources confirm.

The episode will air on May 14 and, for the sake of Schmidt, let's hope these two never make it all the way down the aisle.

Swift has acted on the big screen in Valentine's Day, hosted Saturday Night Live and also appeared on an episode of CSI.

So this is how you're gonna keep us on the hook for the rest of the season, eh, New Girl?

And you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. With its clashing relationship expectations, confusing non-date dates, and awkward upper-boob touches, "First Date" took New Girl's Confused Twenty-Something Realness Quotient (C) to new heights.

I found it impossible to not wince with recognition--painful, painful recognition--as Jess and Nick went about their convoluted evening (if your own twenties didn't involve a guy who asked you out and then acted like he was angry about having to take you out/ a girl who made fun of you for trying to dress nice and treat her nicely, well, good for you, but also: go to hell).

With reappearances of characters ranging from Fancyman himself to Outside Dave, and callbacks galore, it seemed like tonight was going to be the night--that this thing that we've all been working so hard for (I mean, as hard as people passively watching a TV show can work) was finally going to happen. Except...no.

Yet, that anti-climax wasn't anti-climactic. It felt like the right ending. It felt real. Yes, a show that featured a B plot about a homeless guy taking over the Loft's bathroom, has quietly transformed itself into the realest comedy on television.

How did this happen? How did this show turn from an annoying and forced-feeling "hipster-com" into one of the more genuine TV representations of what it actually feels like to be lost in your twenties? Guys, I have a theory.

During New Girl Season 1, there was a lot of hemming and hawing about Zooey Deschanel (that's what we did in the olden days, before we had Lena Dunham to hem and haw over). We all asked: could this doe-eyed indie sweetie, previously best known for being an ethereal indie sex goddess/ adorable singer/ imaginary girlfriend to every guy in a Radiohead t-shirt, carry a sitcom?

And so New Girl Season 1, especially at the beginning of the season, tried to answer this question by building a sitcom based on depicting Deschanel as a doe-eyed indie sweetie. Sometimes it worked, but when it did, it was often in spite of itself and in spite of Deschanel's Jess.

But the problem, it turned out, was not Deschanel. The problem, as we are discovering in New Girl Season 2, was expectations. We expected a sitcom about a hipster cutie-pie, and the writers gave us the best sitcom about a hipster cutie-pie that they could. But, as we can now see, Deschanel was always more than just that. She's a charming and gifted comic actress, who was boxed in by our expectations of her, based on her past work.

This season, the writers and cast of New Girl have fought those expectations in the most effective way possible: by pretending that they didn't exist, and moving Deschanel squarely into the physically comedic actress turf that's been inhabited by everyone from Lucy through Alyson Hannigan.

And not only has it worked for Deschanel--freeing her up to show off her formidable comic chops and ability to land a strong percentage of the best New Girl quotes--but it has freed up the show to be real, to be truly funny, and to invert comedic conventions to tell some striking truths about twenty-something existence.

I'm so glad I stuck around and gave New Girl a chance to change my mind. I'm glad I waited for that, and I'm happy to wait for Nick and Jess to give us not what we want, but what feels real.

Also, that whole thing about it being weird when you hang out with your best friend's other best friend? Is such utter truth, oh my god, I can't even.

Did you like the way this episode left things between Nick and Jess? Did you buy the awkwardness of Winston and Schmidt hanging out together? Have you been attacked by a homeless guy wielding shaving cream lately?

In a way, New Girl's transformation into a well-oiled comedy machine this season has been bad news for me as a reviewer.

Before, there was stuff to complain about. But how many weeks can I get by with just saying "This was pretty freakin' funny?" before the reading public calls for my head?

Well, there are only three more episodes left of New Girl Season 2, so I hope you'll forgive me for noting that "Bachelorette Party" was indeed pretty freakin' funny.

This half hour was a light confection with pretty low stake, however. I mean, Cece is just not getting married, not even if you believe in that theory of multi-verses where every single thing that could ever happen is happening in some universe right now.

Still, the installment landed nicely on its feet, with just as many Schmidt fat suit flashbacks, awesome New Girl quotes and horny lesbian gynecologists as you'd like to see on a Tuesday night.

But for an episode with low stakes, it did shed some interesting light on Cece. Though the show has always given Cece a lot to do, it has only been in the second half of this season that we've gotten a look at who she really is - and that is a successful model who somehow still hates herself so much that she'll marry a virtual stranger and change everything about herself.

This is yet another example of New Girl sneaking some innovative characterization in through the back door, without making a big deal about it. Male self-loathing is never in short supply on TV (in that it is, you know, basically the backbone of modern humor), but spinning comedy out of a beautiful girl's self-hatred is a pretty unusual move.

Comedies are often most comfortable giving self-loathing female characters some traits that society also finds unappealing in women, so that their negativity "makes sense" (The Big Bang Theory's Amy Farrah Fowler jumps to mind). But Cece has almost everything that's supposed to make you happy: she's beautiful, desired by men, and lives a glamorous lifestyle. And still she can barely stand herself... just because that's the way life is sometimes. It's ballsy, and I hope other shows are sitting up and taking note.

Of course, there can be no mate for a lady with that much self-loathing, except a guy who spends every flashback scene in a fat suit (should we start calling them "fats-backs"?).

I loved this episode's latest chapter of the Tale of Fat Schmidt - revealing that, contrary to the emasculated Fat Schmidt we've seen so often in flashbacks, Fat Schmidt was a better boyfriend and may have even been a happier human being than Skinny Schmidt. What will come of those three pizzas that Schmidt brought to Elizabeth's house? This is seriously a The Killing-level cliffhanger for me.

Okay, I was wrong about this episode being a light confection. "Bachelorette Party" was actually a pretty compelling investigation into the meaning of self-loathing and self-worth, somehow set on a stage flanked by male strippers and dick pics. I don't know how you do the voodoo that you do so well, New Girl, but please, keep doing it.

Do you think Cece is actually going to get married? How do you think the Schmidt-Cece match-up compares to the Jess-Nick pairing? Which New Girl character would you invite to your bachelorette party?

From the return of Pelant... to a race for Ryan Hardy... to a wedding for CeCe, Fox has sent out a press release that sums up a number of season finale storylines.

So consider yourself spoiler warned - and check out similar CBS season finale teases now - and scroll down if you dare...

Monday, April 29
BONES (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) – “The Secret in the Siege” – Season Finale
When evil tech genius Christopher Pelant (guest star Andrew Leeds) returns to toy with the Jeffersonian team in their newest investigation, they discover a string of murders tied to FBI agents close to Booth (David Boreanaz). Meanwhile, as the investigation unfolds, Sweets (John Francis Daley) realizes that the evidence seems all too familiar to him, and Brennan (Emily Deschanel) starts evaluating her relationship with Booth as signs begin to point to him as a potential target of Pelant’s.

THE FOLLOWING (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) – “The Final Chapter” – Season Finale
In the explosive first season finale, Ryan (Kevin Bacon) races to stop Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) before his endgame reaches a deadly conclusion.

Tuesday, May 14
NEW GIRL (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) – “Elaine’s Big Day” – Season Finale
Cece’s wedding day finds Jess and Nick making a decision about their relationship. Meanwhile, Schmidt schemes with a typically overenthusiastic Winston to sabotage the nuptials, although a shocking announcement may be bigger than anything he plans. Taylor Swift and Rob Reiner guest-star.

THE MINDY PROJECT (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) – “Take Me With You” – Season Finale
When Mindy decides to go to Haiti on a volunteer mission with Casey, Danny and his ex-wife, Christina, throw a party for them that they will never forget

Thursday, May 9
GLEE (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) – “All or Nothing” – Season Finale
The members of New Directions travel to Regionals. But the competition gets tough when they go head-to-head with the Hoosierdaddies and lead singer Frida Romero (guest star Jessica Sanchez). Meanwhile, Rachel finds out if she gets the callback for “Funny Girl” on Broadway.

Sunday, May 19
THE CLEVELAND SHOW (7:00-8:00 PM ET/PT) – “Crazy Train” / “Wheel! Of! Family!” – One-Hour Season Finale Event
Freight Train unexpectedly invites Cleveland to the upcoming Lowrider Convention. But Dr. Fist (guest voice Bryan Cranston) reveals that the elder Brown’s surprising behavior may be the result of dementia. Then, Freight Train takes Junior to the local YMCA, where the athletically challenged teen discovers he’s a pole-dancing savant.
 
THE SIMPSONS (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) – “The Saga of Carl Carlson” / “The Man Who Came to be Dinner” – One-Hour Season Finale Event
Homer, Moe, Lenny (Harry Shearer) and Carl (Hank Azaria) win the Springfield Lottery. But when Carl takes off to Iceland – his homeland – with all the winnings, the guys embark on a Nordic adventure to rescue the cash. Then, the Simpsons board the wrong ride on a trip to “Dizzneeland” and are transported through the galaxy to Kang and Kodos’ home planet, where the inhabitants try to eat Homer in a giant fondue.
 
FAMILY GUY (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) – “Road to Vegas” / “No Country Club for Old Men” – One-Hour Season Finale Event
Stewie and Brian use Stewie’s time machine to go to Las Vegas for a Bette Midler concert, but chaos ensues when the machine malfunctions and creates alt-versions of the pair: a “lucky” version and an “unlucky” one. Then, the Griffins are invited to join the prestigious Barrington Country Club and, of course, get thrown out.