Fans have had a roaring good time watching the characters from the Fox comedy "New Girl" make fun of themselves and commit silly mistakes, but showrunner Liz Meriwether said it's about time Jess and her friends take a step towards maturity in season 5.
"It's time for the characters to grow a little bit," she told Entertainment Weekly. "They're not good at being adults."
Meriwether is right - during the season five premiere, Jess (played by Zooey Deschanel) hijacked her neighbor's scooter while Winston (played by Lamorne Morris) came up with a terrible prank. Nick (Jake Johnson), on the other hand, accidentally kidnapped someone.
"We're like 'Scandal,'" Meriwether jokingly said. "Just twists and turns and constant surprises."
The showrunner said that Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Cece (Hannah Simone) will actually be the ones who will show a good example as far as maturity is concerned.
"This year, Schmidt and Cece are taking this big step forward and getting married and taking a step forward to being adults, and we wanted that feeling to be for everybody across the board, for all the characters to take a step forward as adults," she said. "But we are talking about these characters. They're not good at being adults. Just because they're taking a step toward being adults doesn't mean they're good at it."
Despite their intent to get married, Schmidt and Cece will encounter several difficulties, biggest of which is her mother who opposes the marriage.
"The bond that they have with each other is really strong and there's an amazing kind of love that grows between them this year and as they're preparing for the wedding, their relationship is getting deeper. But there are external factors that are making the engagement difficult, starting in the premiere with Cece's mom not approving of the marriage," shared Meriwether.
At the same time, it is very difficult for Schmidt to maintain a budget for the wedding since he wants to fulfil his dream wedding.
"I think them having to throw the wedding on their own creates some money issues, especially because Schmidt has been dreaming about his wedding since he was a little boy. So Schmidt takes over the wedding planning, and he has to constantly rein himself in because of their budget. But for all the problems that they face putting the wedding together, their relationship just keeps getting stronger. They've had enough drama as a couple over the years," she said.
