Broke girls Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs at the Williamsburg Diner. Photos: Monty Brinton/CBS.

You’ve known about the concept of being broke in Brooklyn for years. But with this fall’s CBS show 2 Broke Girls, the lifestyle is getting Carrie Bradshaw-ed. The show, co-created by Sex and the City’s executive producer, focuses on two cash-strapped waitresses, Max and Caroline (played by Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs), at the Williamsburg Diner, a dive that recently changed ownership from the Russian mob. Max has been poor her whole life while Caroline suddenly finds herself without money after her dad gets busted in a Bernie Madoff-type scandal.

So how does the show’s portrayal of broke-in-Brooklyn life compare to the real thing? Brokelyn got a screener of the pilot before it debuts Sept. 19 to investigate. Here are some of the most accurate, and most confounding, representations of outer borough brokedom:

KEEPING IT REAL

On the streets of "Williamsburg."

Subway indifference: When Max gets accidentally tasered on the subway by a sleeping Caroline, she collapses to the ground while the other train riders completely ignore her. When she gets up, she shouts, “I’m good. Thanks for the help, New York.” Sounds about right: The activities that subway passengers will not take out their earbuds for are boundless.

Cupcake wealth: A cornerstone of the series is the marketability of Max’s homemade cupcakes, which the girls try to sell at a high mark-up to make enough money to improve their situation. It’s true that the people of Brooklyn aren’t afraid to drop money on delicious treats. If only Max found a way to start showing up in bookstores, her Brooklyn customers would really flip out.

Hipster inception: The show does a sloppy job trying to establish the diner’s hardcore staff and privileged young patrons as coming from opposite ends of the hipster spectrum. For instance, Max explains to a rude customer: “I wear knit hats when it’s cold out, you wear knit hats ‘cause of Coldplay.”

All the characters sort of talk like sassy Junos (see: previous sentence), wear clothes that could have been bought at Urban Outfitters (including the waitress and kitchen staff uniforms), and some of the relationships are founded in being ironic (Max tells everyone that she and the 75-year-old cashier are in love). While this is a weakness, it has the accidental benefit of replicating that feeling of uncertainty that can pop up when you suddenly look at a passerby and wonder, “is that a hipster? Are you a hipster? Am I?”

UH, WHAT?

Backyard bitching: When Caroline says that Max’s backyard “looks like a really nice place to relax and do crack,” Max kind of shrugs her off and quips, “It is!” But in Brooklyn we love our backyards, and the world loves us for having them! It’s the one thing that any fancypants Manhattan-dweller will almost always understand the value of, and will harbor appropriate jealousy.

The job hunt: Caroline finds her job at the Williamsburg Diner by typing into Monster.com, “place where nobody from the Upper East Side would ever go, ever.” Monster.com? Who finds waitress (or any) jobs there these days? Try looking really cool and being friends with other cool waitresses.

The broke girls enter Max's apartment.

Jacket police: When leaving the Diner after a late shift, Max tells Caroline that it’s too dangerous wear a nice leather jacket while walking outside. But the diner has been filled with obnoxiously-dressed hipsters the whole episode, and is supposedly right across from an Arcade Fire concert.

Are there really parts of Williamsburg where it’s not safe to wear a fashionable jacket? This reminded me less of real life and more of an old episode of Family Matters where a girl gets shot at the high school for wearing fancy sneakers. Remember that? It was very intense. But I don’t know…be safe out there!

LOL: The show uses a pretty hearty laugh track that’s sometimes jarring, like when the diner owner mentions that a former meth addict waitress’ teeth fell out. Ha? Maybe a silent awkward eye contact track would be more Williamsburg.

In conclusion, while it would be silly to watch a new show from the SATC executive producer/showrunner Michael Patrick King and comedian Whitney Cummings and expect (or want) an extremely accurate depiction of New York life, 2 Broke Girls is disappointingly less nuanced, specific and silly than the former show. In fact, it might be less nuanced, specific, and silly than Brian Williams’ famous video rant.

There’s a thrill to seeing Brooklyn life in primetime, but maybe Hollywood should leave being broke to the professionals.

2 Broke Girls premieres Sept. 19 at 9:30pm on CBS. 

Follow Ariel: @arielkarlin.

Email PestExterminatorCasting@gmail.com with a brief description of your infestation along with any photos/documentation if possible. In the subject line of the email, write what kind of pests you have. The name/location of your business or home can be kept confidential too. Here’s the full details from the call for applicants:

PEST PROBLEM? — A NEW TV SERIES WANTS TO FIX IT FOR FREE

A new documentary science series on a prominent non-fiction TV Network is looking to solve pest problems and infestations in all 5 Burroughs. They’ll set you up with an accredited local pest control company that will tackle your pest problem FOR FREE, and follow the process of making your home or business pest-free. They’re looking for severe pest infestations of any kind, from cockroaches and bedbugs to rats and raccoons. No infestation is too severe for their team. All correspondence will be kept strictly confidential AND they won¹t even need to mention or show the name or location of your business or home/apt. This is a great opportunity to have some of the best experts in the business put an end to your infestation. If Interested, please send an email to PestExterminatorCasting@gmail.com with a brief description of your infestation along with any photos/documentation of the problem (if possible). In the subject line of the email, please indicate what kind of pest you’re having a problem with.

Cicada‘s up against two other films on Reel 13′s site, where voting is open until this Wednesday, Aug. 25. The winner will be broadcast Saturday, Aug. 28, between Father’s Little Dividend (with Spencer Tracy & Elizabeth Taylor) and the indie Shades of Ray.

As of writing, Cicada does have a slim lead (265 vs. 250), but there’s plenty of time left. So do your part to get this tiny slice of Sheepshead Bay into the Saturday night spotlight. Watch the film and vote here.

via Sheepshead Bites

These days, a whole lot of us are ditching the money-sucking cable subscriptions to save what we can. It’s a financial no-brainer in a world of Netflix, Hulu, rich friends with fancy TVs… But, of course, this means we’re not being counted—at least not in the world of Nielsen ratings—those narrow night-of-the-broadcast numbers that often dictate eternal TV glory or premature cancellation (most recently, Party Down), and leave television actors begging for viewers to tune in live on their Twitter accounts.

So… since our internet views still aren’t counted by TV execs, we want to know—for the sake of all the shows we love: How do you  take your Mad Men?

Brooklyn Kinda Love?

What is Brooklyn love? Is it some near-impossible fantasy ideal? Or is it something else entirely, something a few roses shy of ideal? Whatever our borough’s own brand of love is or isn’t, it’s going to be the subject of Brooklyn Kinda Love, an upcoming documentary (read: reality show?) searching for a few game Brooklyn couples to be its stars. We don’t know all the details, but the show’s being produced by some of the folks behind HBO’s Taxicab Confessions, and the call’s out for “Brooklyn couples, ages 18-35, to follow their real lives for a new documentary series.” That was about all from the cartoonishly-cryptic postcard in our mailbox. So we called to “apply” and learn a bit more.

We called… and learned the name of the show (it was nowhere on the card), and that it will follow four to six Brooklyn couples over four months, filming all the “ups and downs” of their relationships—the “personal side,” interaction with relatives and friends—the whole deal. Coverage won’t be around-the-clock, but a film crew will be in and out for four or five days a week.

Casting is open to all ethnic groups, ages (between 18 and 35 that is) and sexual orientations. The first step is a 10-minute phone interview, then, assuming you’re Brooklyn-enough, in-person meetings will follow (we suggest wearing these to the interviews). Finally, those selected for the show will get paid… some currently undisclosed amount.

So, that’s Brooklyn Kinda Love—an HBO-producers-produced documentary looking to spend some serious together-time with the quintessentially-Brooklyn you and yours. What else are they looking for? We don’t know, but maybe you’ve got it. Call 877-402-2278 to apply.

Broke? Jobless? Hair's Donny! image via dealbreaker.com

Quit your arduous job search, stop the interviews and pull down that LinkedIn profile, brokesters, because your get-rich scheme has finally arrived. A tipster passed along this casting call:

NBC is casting for its new edition of The Apprentice and is looking for business professionals who have been affected by the economic downturn and are ready to go to work again. People of all ages are welcome to apply from recent college grads to executives who are 40+.

There will be national open casting calls and more information can be found at nbc.com. Candidates can also apply by sending an email to ginacasting@yahoo.com and include a recent photo, updated resume and a brief personal and professional bio explaining how the economy has affected your employment, lifestyle and family. The show’s producers are looking for real stories from business pros who are eager to turn their lives around.

It’s unclear as of press time if this is to be filmed in NY or elsewhere, but their criteria is broad enough to encompass, oh, everyone we know. NBC apparently wants to give viewers an alternative to Donald making famous people more famous (The celebrity version is apparently sticking around too), and make the show distinctly Horatio Alger again. Trump says in an appropriately overblown statement:

“I hope this economic downturn can begin a turnaround, and we’ll do our best with ‘The Apprentice’ to see that it starts happening. I’m proud to be putting people back to work, and to positively changing the psychology of America.”

Does this mean we won’t be rooming with Sinbad and Rowdy Roddy? That would be true success.

Too early to tell if the show’s any good, but can Ben possibly be as nice as he seems in this video? Does anyone know him? And, um, how do we get him a Brokelyn t-shirt?