'2 Broke Girls' Garnered Strong Views Again Despite Lack of Focus

COMMENTARY | The second episode in CBS's new series "2 Broke Girls" aired Monday and provided a slightly larger backdrop to the potential plotline of the entire season should the show get picked up. Monday's episode pulled in a 7.9 in overnight metered market rankings compared to the 12.7 enjoyed after last week's "Two and a Half Men" intro.

Going into the second week, anything was possible. The show could have decided to continue establishing the characters and laying the foundation or it could have steamrolled ahead into the business plans for Max's cupcake shop. It chose the former, which was simultaneously good and unfortunate.

It was good in that it more firmly established the way Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs) will manage to live, work, and plan together in the coming weeks while attempting to hustle enough cupcakes to meet a lofty savings goal of $250,000. On an Entertainment Weekly story, comments suggest that viewers from the first week really connected with the idea that two broke girls hatched a business idea within hours (TV hours, mind you!) of meeting. When the savings calculator popped up at the end of the episode showing how much closer the girls were to reaching their goal, I applauded CBS for cleverness.

It wouldn't be clever to stay away from deeply exploring Max and Caroline earning money for the fund now that the audience knows enough about everybody to roll with the punches and one-liners. We get that Caroline was rich, but we like that she is smart and kind. We get that Max wasn't rich and love her zingy humor, but we could do without a delivery method that leaves one waiting for a drum sting at the end of each line.

Despite the occasional issue, the characters of Max and Caroline seem to be spot-on. Beth Behrs reminds me of a blonde, non-singing version of Lea Michele as Rachel Barry in the first season of "Glee" - all spirit and "Don't Stop Believin'" - a genuinely fun, if not slightly clueless, character. Kat Dennings puts me in mind of a dark, sardonic third Duff sister with a lot more shape! Together the two of them could be a true dynamic duo.

The series needs to spend the next few episodes working on the delivery between these two actresses and should skip the cheap sex jokes a 10-year-old could write. Well-crafted dark and adult humor is one thing, but adult Laffy Taffy wrapper level humor is another. As a fan of "2 Broke Girls" so far, I need it to hit the business planning side of life really soon, or I may have to pull my investment.