‘New Girl’s’ Max Greenfield talks Schmidt’s growth, Kevin Reilly exit

Hey, “New Girl” writers: Max Greenfield has an idea on how to open the fourth season of the Fox comedy.

The 33-year-old actor stopped by the L.A. Times to reflect on the arc his character, endearing D-bag Schmidt, experienced in the recently completed third season — but we found he’s already looking ahead.

He’s having visions of a cold open, and it involves Schmidt and Winston (Lamorne Morris) entering the loft, finding everyone gathered around the TV. And …

“And we go, ‘Guys, we have big news. Winston and I joined the Kiss Army’ — and then it cuts to the ‘New Girl’ song,” he said, referring to the hardcore legion of Kiss fans.

“But that’s a season-long arc that I’d be pitching,” he continued.

Brainstorming aside, Greenfield did look back on Schmidt’s journey this season. It can be hard to see past the character’s eccentric ways at times, but the third season showed growth for him. The finale saw Schmidt come to terms with the idea of letting Cece go. But will it stick this time?

“He’s been trying for so long now, and I obviously have no control over this,” he said. “But I would like to see him be OK with being with himself for a while. That would be the route that I would take.”

Greenfield also spoke on the exit of Fox entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly (“It’s not like that guy is going to go into the ether. He’ll be running the Internet, I’m sure, in about three-four months, discovering some new digital platform”), his journey from being the “guest star” actor to being a regular character on a popular show, and his obsession with coffee mugs.

Take a look at the video above and soak it all in.

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