Preface

• Ironically the entire first season of this show was available on the same day in March.
• Completely contrary to that, here’s my review of it three months late!
• But nevertheless, Kimmy Schmidt is a super quirky, likable, and FUNNY show that dropped its first season on Netflix a few months ago.
  • Yeah I’ll have that Daredevil Review to you guys three months late too…

Premise

• So Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is, as I said, a Netflix show originally ordered by NBC (more on that later) which seems kind of strange that a network would order a show of this premise.
• The show is about a young woman, Kimmy Schmidt, who has been in underground captivity with fellow members of a cult for the past 15 years or so.
• Then she’s rescued and decides to head to New York, because since she doesn’t really fit into modern society she might as well go to the place where no one really fits in.
• Then from there we go into her different escapades in the city including romances, school, jobs, and more.
• And it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in a long while.

Cast and Characters

• Any successful sitcom needs the cast and characters to sell their show which this show does.
• First of all we have Ellie Kemper as the titular Kimmy Schmidt.
  • She was in 21 Jump Street as the teacher and she was sweet and charming there, and she’s even more peachy in this.
  • My main concern going in, as I saw from the trailer, was that she seemed TOO peachy but in the actual show she was just peachy enough but still realistic and relatable.
  • A character like this should wear on you after a while but she doesn’t, or at least hasn’t yet!
• Then we have Tituss Burgess as Titus Andromedon, a flamboyantly gay performer and Kimmy’s roommate.
  • Most of the episodes he’s in, Titus is SUPER funny.
  • He’s a great foil to Kimmy’s innocence yet he presents himself as unassuming in some ways.
  • There are a few episodes where I wished his story was a little bit more contained and just seemed a little too off the rails, but ultimately he was a really funny character that’s the favorite of almost anyone I know who’s seen the show.
• But my personal favorite is Jane Krakowski as Jacqueline Voorhees, a rich woman with several kids who hires Kimmy to be her nanny.
  • I loved Jane Krakowski in 30 Rock, and she still has some similar mannerisms to Jenna but her separation into this new character was extremely well done.
  • Jacqueline has this RIDICULOUSLY hilarious backstory too that I love anytime they flash to it.
  • My only problem is that she isn’t in a few episodes, though I suppose that kinda means less is more, since she’s still my favorite…
• The last character I’ll talk about, who had a supporting role in Season 1 but I think will be a main player in Season 2, is this guy Dong Nguyen who’s Kimmy’s friend and study partner.
  • This guy, oh man…
  • All of his jokes hit perfectly, and he’s just this likable guy that you can’t help but love.
• There are other characters in the show too, including some pretty cool guest stars later on, but I’ll let you discover those for yourselves.

The “Netflix” of It All/Writing

• As I mentioned earlier, this show was originally picked up by NBC but then they decided to cancel it before it even aired.
  • I think production hadn’t even fully gotten into high swing yet…
• And that just shows two things to me.
• First: NBC continues to make very dumb decisions in their broadcasting of comedies because my two favorite comedies (including this one) are ones that they’ve canceled and have found second lives on the Internet.
• Second: a model of how Netflix sitcoms should work going forward, and that brings me into the writing.
• If this show were on NBC, I guarantee it would not have been remotely the same show.
• The writing for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is not just awesome because of how well built each character is, or how hilarious the dialogue is, or how great each episodes sets up, executes, and concludes its premise, but it’s also great because it isn’t your traditional week-by-week “here’s the issue, let’s resolve it, let’s not tie into next week.”
  • Shows like Friends did that and it worked. Hundreds, no thousands, of shows after that have done the same thing and it has utterly failed.
  • Shows like How I Met Your Mother have the serialized continuity that I like, but if you miss one episode you’re ultimately lost for the next one. And though I do love that a lot, it can be a little too much sometimes especially in re-watching (you kinda need to remember what was happening in each season to re-watch one episode)
• Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt walks the line on those two remarkably. It has continuity from the previous episodes, like you should know what happened, but it doesn’t rely on you to completely remember.
• Adding to that, the style of the show is so unique and feels different in its 25 minute episodes where it isn’t as short and clean-cut as a 22 minute episode of How I Met Your Mother, but it also isn’t too long or occasionally raw like these 28 or 29 minute episodes of Community.
• Netflix does 25 minute episodes and makes each minute count, expanding some scenes out where it’s beneficial but not overdoing it.
• Kimmy Schmidt is just the example of where television is heading, and if this is the model for the Netflix sitcom, lock me in for the next dozen.

In Conclusion

• In Conclusion, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is a show with awesome characters, great snappy writing, and a model on Netflix that is completely unique and unlike anything I’ve seen before.
• It isn’t a perfect first season because it is a new show and still has some kinks to work out, but in all honesty I absolutely can’t wait for Season 2.
• I will say Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 1 is Awesome and Worth Having the Experience of Multiple Times!
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So guys, those are my thoughts on Season 1 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. What are your thoughts on this show, and who’s your favorite character? Let me know in the comments down below and as always, thanks for reading guys.