New Girl going to keep casting guest stars until it starts to feel better

By William Hughes | April 7, 2015 | 9:28pm

Aux Features TV

Like a recently dumped thirtysomething trying to fill the Damon Wayans Jr.-shaped hole in its heart, New Girl continues to joylessly binge on announcing a slate of high-profile guest stars for the show’s fifth season. We already knew that a Selfie-free John Cho was set to appear, along with family unit Henry Winkler, Julie Hagerty, and Taran Killam. Now, one of Killam’s former SNL co-stars has also signed on for at least one episode: Portlandia creator and TV guest star extraordinaire Fred Armisen. Armisen will play an Airbnb renter who ends up staying in the loft as part of the roommates’ money-making schemes, and who will definitely turn out to be completely normal, because why else would you cast Fred Armisen?

Also adding their talents to the show (and possibly holding various pillows and vases in front of Zooey Deschanel’s pregnant stomach) are The League’s Stephen Rannazzisi and actress Ally Maki. Rannazzisi will prove that the five-year-old show is still capable of tapping into the zeitgeist by playing an old “frenemy” of Nick and Schmidt, while Maki will be renting Nick’s room in another one of the show’s zany violations of Los Angeles tenant law. They’ll also presumably be required to look on sympathetically when the regular cast members suddenly ask, “Coach? Who’s Coach?” before stumbling off the set to weep.