Was ‘2 Broke Girls’ the filthiest show to ever air on network TV?
On a recent episode of “2 Broke Girls,” Max (Kat Dennings) complained to her fellow waitress, Caroline (Beth Behrs), that work at the diner was boring because they had no customers.
“First of all, you’re forgetting the pack of dogs that wandered in, had an orgy and left,” Caroline said.
“Probably easy for me to forget, ’cause I wasn’t the one they tried to have sex with!” Max replied.
The laugh track roared over that exchange, which occurred in the first 10 seconds of the episode. As far as shock-value, it barely registered. In fact, it’s more challenging to stumble upon a scene from “2 Broke Girls” that doesn’t have a lewd comment. The sitcom, canceled last week after six seasons, will be remembered — more than anything else — for its sheer quantity of raunchy jokes. Glamour once ran an article titled “So Exactly How Many Sex Jokes Are There in an Episode of ‘2 Broke Girls?’ ” (There were 42.)
So now that the comedy was officially scrapped by CBS, which unveiled its new fall schedule on Wednesday, we offer a farewell to the filthiest show on network television — which sparked quite a few FCC complaints — with a Q&A that will clear up any questions for confused viewers.
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Q: Was the show based in some sort of sex-crazed setting?
A: You might think so. In the opening scene of the pilot, a diner customer asks Max where his waitress went. A loud scream is heard from off-screen, because as it turns out, the waitress is having sex in the kitchen. “She’s coming!” Max replies. The episode also has a joke that the waitress’s uniform has a stain that’s clam chowder, or it could be something else. (Get it?)
But no, the show is set in a regular diner, even though the off-screen waitress is a prostitute. She gets fired and is replaced by the glitzy Caroline, newly broke because her rich father was just busted for a Ponzi scheme. Even though Caroline is Max’s polar opposite, they become friends and roommates, and embark on a dream to open a cupcake shop.
Max Black (Kat Dennings), Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs) and Andy (Ryan Hansen) on “2 Broke Girls.” (Robert Voets/CBS)
Q: This aired in prime time on CBS. How did they get away with all the jokes?
A: The scripts were filled with references to sex acts and genitalia but they were conveyed through (heavy-handed) innuendo. “Old Hollywood rule — never follow sausage,” someone tells Max and Caroline in the series finale before they walk a red carpet. “Oh, I’ll go. Following sausage is kind of my thing!” Max says, her approximately one-millionth dig about her own promiscuity. (Dialogue in Season 3 about a Salvation Army donation bin: “You’re just going to crawl into the dirty box?” Max: “Dirty box was my nickname in continuation school.” And earlier, Caroline: “I’m not as easy as Max.” Max: “Said every girl in my seventh-grade class.”)
