20 Broken facts about '2 Broke Girls'

Updated on July 27, 2022 18:09 PM by Anthony Christian

The American Sitcom aired on CBS, "2 Broke Girls," from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017, was produced by Warner Bros Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cummings. Right from the initial days of the show, it received a lot of criticism from the viewers as the show relied upon sexualization, racial humor, and stereotypical concept. The show was nominated for 12 Emmy Awards, winning in 2012 for its art direction. “2 Broke Girls” was aired for six seasons over 138 episodes, and on May 12, 2017, CBS canceled after season six. The show was initially titled 2 Broke B***$.

The show is set in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City; the show runs around the life of two friends, Max Black (Kat Dennings) and Caroline Channing (Beth Behrs). Two friends have many differences, and their perception of life is so different, but they are still together; they work in a local diner while trying hard to save money to start a cupcake business. Caroline Channing was raised as a billionaire's daughter, whereas Max Black grew up in poverty.

20 Broken facts about the show

The bidding war happened between television networks like Fox, CBS, and ABC to telecast the "2 Broke Girls," and everyone finally knows who won. The show's creators stuck to their cord as they never say any hardworking 20-year-old on television and especially never saw any hardworking female characters so far. In his interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Whitney Cummings, Co-creator, said that Fox gave them feedback: "Why can't be two broke boys?" but it never worked out. He added that he wasn't willing to budge on the characters.

Both the characters of “2 Broke Girls” are very close in real life, just like the way they appear on the show, so it was easy for Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs to use overtly sexual and borderline offensive as it was not awkward for them. Kat Dennings told Entertainment Tonight that she and Beth Behrs are best friends in real life, and she even credited their friendship with helping the show become a success. Not just Kat Dennings, even Beth Behrs, feels the same about their relationship as she calls her "bestie" and "bae" on Instagram. In one of her previous posts, she created the hashtag #BehrKat. And fans think they are not faking their friendship and are genuine.

The critic called the show racist

The fifth season of “2 Broke Girls” averaged 6.42 million viewers, with a point that the show oven went problematic. There were risks involved with hilarious jokes as part of the show, but the most significant trouble was relying the entire show on stereotypes. Emily Nussbaum of the New Yorker television critic called the show as "so racist it is less offensive than baffling."

Well, she was not wrong; the critic was so right, as three of the four supporting cast members of the show Jonathan Kite, Jennifer Coolidge, and Matthew May, are the actors playing people of different ethnic backgrounds who complete with phony accents. Another critic, even though that had the stereotyping been dropped, the show would have been more successful.

Matthew Gilbert, the TV critic for the Boston Globe, compared the show's constant jokes to "getting slapped across the cheeks repeatedly with a rubber ducky."

Along with him paired Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter, also dubbed 2 Broke Girls."the most disappointing new sitcom of the fall."

Though the show came across furious balls of criticism but still, the show was nominated for an Emmy Award 12 times and won once. The count viewership was also relatively high at the very end.

Strict law on usage of words

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came up with a pre-defined standard regarding what can be said and what cannot be said on television. Though it was never easy for the “2 Broke Girls”, they got to be careful about just like the buzz word "vajayjay," which was popularized by Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes after not being allowed to call the female reproductive organ by name on primetime television.

The script of popular Sitcom basically had everything related to sex, but still, the scriptwriters were clever enough not to mention that directly to the audiences; instead, the writers used their skills to craft a ton of innuendo, thus bypassing the rule. Never think that the viewers didn't complain as they did. And by the end of the sixth season, The Federal Communications Commission received 91 formal complaints due to “2 Broke Girls”.

“2 Broke Girls” maintained a steady rating throughout the entire season, but at the end of season 6, after 138 episodes, the CBS network pulled the show from airing. Kelly Kahl, the Head of scheduling for CBS, explained to Deadline that."2 Broke Girls” was a really good show for us for a very long time. Our comedy development this year was very good... [and that] puts a lot of pressure on some of your older shows." Kahl said it felt like the right time to "create some space on the schedule and try something new."As a result, the “2 Broke Girls” finished the show in season six.

Lifelong friendship

After CBS announced the show's ending, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs released a joint statement on Twitter, thanking all the show's fans and giving credits to the show for bringing both actors to retain a "lifelong friendship."

Throughout the show, viewers were unclear about Max's estranged mother as no accurate information was given during the six seasons. Though fans were very eager that someday they would get to see her mother as it was planned in season 7 by the creators but never came out as expected.

The team of the show “2 Broke Girls” said that the character of Max was written by keeping Kat Dennings in mind. The writer Michael Patrick King said he and co-creator Whitney Cummings essentially pursued Dennings when they were able to cast “2 Broke Girls” in 2011.

The main reason for the writer Michael Patrick King to cast Kat Dennings in “2 Broke Girls” was because he had worked with her before when he was a writer for "Sex and the city." In 2000, a 13-year-old Kat Dennings hired Samantha to plan her Bat Mitzvah in one of the episodes of the popular show.

Before Beth Behrs was cast as a spoiled Caroline in "2 Broke Girls,” she worked as an impoverished waitress. At the time of auditioning, she worked three jobs, and later she was cast in Sitcom.

China descends made to act as Korean

Actor Matthew Moy was born in San Francisco, yet on "2 Broke Girls," the actor was made to speak with an Asian accent and behave effeminately. However, his character Han Lee is supposed to be Korean, even though his family is originally from China.

Both the show's characters start as waitresses and soon come up with their business plan of making and selling cupcakes. To have a clean, authentic look, Kat Dennings took lessons and learned how to do cupcakes and icing on them.

“2 Broke Girls” won Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series. The show won the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Tv Comedy in 2012.

Kat Dennings hit on the extensive list only after “2 Broke Girls” and her supporting role in Thor movies, but as a child, she was home-schooled and was not even allowed to watch TV. Her parents advised her that acting was the wrong carer choice, and now her parents are very proud of her success.

Max and Caroline were heavily criticized for wearing high-heeled shoes while working at the Williamsburg Diner. With Caroline, one can precisely say that wearing heels is merely symbolic of her desperately holding onto the person she felt like she was before she lost her fortune. She is desperate to hold onto her past; this is evident in her as fans see her wearing a pearl necklace and beige seven-inch Louboutin heels for the show. And Max is all about toughness as she wants to boast about how tough a girl she is.Though Beth Behrs admitted, the pain was confirmed when she shared a photo in an Instagram post in 2014 featuring various forms of pain-relief products. In the caption, she wrote,

"7-inch Louboutins + physical comedy + episode 21= lotsa this. And lotsa [Epsom] salt baths — which I will not post photos of."

A small slip in the show

Some viewers might not be aware of this, as those who watched it periodically would have known that in season three, Caroline helped Max get her High school diploma since Max didn't graduate high school after learning that she just needed to pass one exam. However, in Episode 5 of season 1, Caroline and Max were raising money to pay off Max's student loans?"You can't run away from this bill," Caroline scolded Max, which is proof that Max went to college? How do you think Max has student loan debt from going to college without graduating high school?

Nick Zano, who played Johnny Max's love interest on "2 Broke Girls," as Johnny is an attractive bartender as Max was a friend and later fell in love with him. Their relationship is like a roller coaster ride in the first two seasons. But Nick Zano's dating was accurate, and in 2012, Kat Dennings confirmed the news to Glamour that they both were dating.

When she was questioned about her relationship, she replied to Glamour, "It's hard because now I'm like, 'Yes, yes, Max and Johnny should get married!' if I separate my own feelings from it, I actually do think there is a story there, because he is the only man that has gotten that kind of response from Max. I think if he doesn't come into her life again, he'll be that one that always breaks her heart. So I hope something happens, but either way, I've got him."

Kat Dennings appeared in 'Raising Dad' where she took up the role of daughter of a widowed dad played by Bob Saget. She was born the same day as the Olsen twins, who played Saget's daughter in another television show. She was cast for a lead role in 'Everwood' but unfortunately was replaced by actress Nora Zehetner. Her early film roles included 'Raise Your Voice' starring Hilary Duff, and 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin'. And also has voiced characters on cartoons like 'American Dad' and 'The Simpsons.' She was even nominated for her role in 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist but still won none. She even blogged for many years, including video blogs.