"2 Broke Girls": Jonathan Kite dishes on finale, season 3
What will become of the cupcake shop on "2 Broke Girls"? Will it survive, or close its doors for good?
The season 2 finale of the CBS comedy may provide some answers. In the episode, airing Monday at 9 p.m. ET, Max (Kat Dennings) and Caroline (Beth Behrs) get a piece of information that just could revive their Brooklyn, N.Y., business.
Jonathan Kite, who portrays Ukrainian cook Oleg on the Emmy-nominated series, told CBSNews.com, "I think this season we've come a long way with the girls and the cupcake shop and what that means to them. Those who have been following the show know that they have the cupcake shop and they have to not necessarily get rid of it, but it kind of got too big for them this season. I think that the cool thing is that there's a lot of ebb and flow in the show -- things don't necessarily get wrapped up in a tiny little box."
Kite says that little nugget of realism helps keep "the reality of the show...just because they have success, it doesn't mean it's going to last forever. It's the same thing as the end of the season."
Fans of the show will be in for a few surprises during the season finale dubbed "And the Window of Opportunity." "There's going to be some nice progression with where the characters are at and where they're going to go next season," Kite said.
Exactly what kind of progression is still unclear, as the stars of the hit series are often the last to know what executive producer Michael Patrick King has in store.
"We don't find out what's happening in the episode until literally the night before," Kite said. "So, we table-read Wednesdays and we shoot the following week, but we don't get the script until Tuesday night. I think they are setting up some possible choose your own adventures for next season, but it wouldn't surprise me if they don't have anything set in stone -- just some options."
Kite said he can sometimes sway the script and induce his own humor, but it's rare. "The script is so tight and there's so many jokes per page...I think the writers have really established a style and a presence. It's real," he said. "There will be a lot of jokes, and it's fast."
Kite described the "2 Broke Girls" set as "professional," noting that although they're working on a sitcom and have a good time on the set -- everyone arrives ready to work.
"The episodes are dense, they're complicated, and that's something that we really love. It's a really fast-moving show -- not just the dialogue, but kind of the magnitude of the stories. Every episode seems like an important one. It feels like there's not one to be missed," he said.
As for his character, Kite is excited to see what will happen next. "When we saw his apartment, it was like nothing we ever seen on the show," Kite said of Oleg. "I'm always curious to see what he does outside of work or to meet his family. Every now and then, the writers will mention that he has all these jobs. I look at him as an entrepreneur and a really smart guy...I know he has so many irons in the fire, and I'm always curious to see when we are going to bring some of those out."
And when he's not cracking jokes on "2 Broke Girls," Kite is either busy writing, or doing stand-up comedy. He's been taking his comedic style, which includes 70 impressions from Vince Vaughn to Tom Hanks, on the road this spring.
"I thoroughly enjoy stand-up...it's really cool to go out and meet a ton of people and hear their reactions," he said.
Kite, meanwhile, is happy that "2 Broke Girls" is on the CBS slate for another season, but says he and his fellow cast members don't get overly worried about ratings -- even though they know their jobs in large part depend on those viewership numbers.
"I think that maybe it speaks to how we're kind of like a bio-dome," Kite explained. "I'm sure the numbers get talked about on Tuesday, but from us, we're not really concerned. The only way that we can ensure that we have a job is that we're proud of what we do and that we do a good job every show...the most important thing is that we believe in each other and we believe in the work."
