Kat Dennings did such an exceptional job as Max Black in the TV series 2 Broke Girls that I think of her as the true center of the show, even though the series was structured around two equal leads with Beth Behrs as Caroline Channing. I genuinely enjoyed the series, but I am convinced that without Kat Dennings in that role it would have been canceled well before the end of its first season. The personality she brought to the character, the sharp humor, and her presence on screen made Max irreplaceable. My wife even commented on how attractive she was, she’s bi but rarely compliments women. Kat Dennings is also one of the rare actresses who can wear bold, vivid lip colors and make it look completely perfect rather than overdone.
Whitney Cummings, the comedian who created the show, modeled Max primarily on herself. It is actually surprising she did not take the role, but looking back it is difficult to imagine anyone inhabiting the character the way Dennings did, and maybe that instinct is exactly what kept Cummings behind the camera. Max as a character, the sharp-tongued, foul-mouthed working-class waitress with a dry wit and a hard edge, stands as one of the more memorable television characters of that era.
For a significant stretch of the series, the prospect of financial stability for Max was tied to her talent for baking. Her homemade cupcakes eventually turned into a small bakery, which later closed, and was eventually revived as a window shop attached to the diner before that too ran out of momentum.
One of the show’s genuine strengths is the friendship at its center. On paper it makes very little sense that someone like Max would bond so naturally with a woman who had grown up wealthy and sheltered. But the two complement each other in a way that works, much like how certain opposites simply click.
Max was the more grounded and stubborn of the two, but she was not without her own questionable decisions. Probably her lowest point was continuing to pursue Johnny when it was obvious he was still attached to someone else.
Her romantic life had its highs and lows throughout the run, but nothing felt quite right except possibly Johnny, at least until the writers started introducing complications involving engagements and kept him around as an unresolved loose end anyway.
She does eventually get something resembling a happy ending at the tail end of the series with a lawyer named Randy, even if it takes the entire run of the show to get there. It should have been straightforward enough for Caroline to simply date her way back to the life she lost, and in some ways the same logic applied to Max. Landing someone from old money might have been a stretch, but a successful self-made man? With her looks and her personality, that is entirely believable. So she gets engaged to Randy.
The show also did well by her in terms of a fantastic wardrobe, back when producers still acknowledged that their audience included people who appreciated that kind of eye-pleasing effort. Kat Dennings is genuinely one of the more undervalued talents in Hollywood, and it is good to see her profile rising in recent years.