New Girl is an American television sitcom created by Elizabeth Meriwether and starring Zooey Deschanel as Jessica "Jess" Day, a well-liked, bubbly woman in her late 20s who moves in with three guys while trying to get over her breakup with her boyfriend after he cheats on her.
A comedy series from executive producer and writer Liz Meriwether (No Strings Attached), New Girl features a young ensemble cast and takes a fresh look at modern relationships.
After a bad break-up, Jess Day (Zooey Deschanel) needs a new place to live. An online search leads her to a great loft...and three single guys she's never met before.
But Jess moves in, and through her upbeat personality, unique sense of self and the unlikely support of her new roommates, she learns to move on.
Nick (Jake Johnson) is the most grounded of her new roommates...and also the most jaded. A law school dropout, he spends most of his time hiding his feelings under his hoodie and tending bar.
Schmidt (Max Greenfield) is a hustling young professional who's pretty proud of his own abs. Winston (Lamorne Morris) is an intensely competitive former athlete who doesn't know what to do next - but whatever he does, he wants to win it.
Rounding out the group is Jess' childhood best friend, Cece (Hannah Simone). A model with a killer deadpan, Cece is extremely protective of Jess and the target of Schmidt's inept passes.
As their relationships progress, these five realise they need each other more than they thought they would and end up forming a charmingly dysfunctional - or strangely functional - family.
Guest stars in the first season include Ryan Kwanten (True Blood), Lizzy Caplan (Party Down), Rachael Harris (The Hangover), Jeff Kober (Sons of Anarchy) and June Diane Raphael (Bride Wars, Year One).
Other first season plotlines include Jess taking charge when plans for Schmidt's 29th birthday party fall apart; Nick dating an attractive lawyer (recurring guest star Caplan) with anger management issues; Jess befriending the gang's cantankerous landlord; and on Valentine's Day, Jess is determined to have a no-strings-attached one-night stand with a handsome stranger (guest star Kwanten).
The single-camera comedy received a Writers Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Television - New Series and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
Series star Deschanel also received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical.
New Girl is produced by Chernin Entertainment in association with 20th Century Fox Television. The series was created by Elizabeth Meriwether.
Meriwether, Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Jake Kasdan, Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope are executive producers, with Meriwether, Baer and Finkel serving as co-showrunners/writers and Kasdan directing multiple episodes of the series.