Who else loves Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? If you liked Ellie Kemper as Erin on the Office and haven’t seen this show you definitely need to subscribe to Netflix! (Yes, I know that I am late to the party but maybe one of the readers of this weblog has been stationed in Antarctica for a year and hasn’t heard about the show.)
The show captures the inequality Zeitgeist well. Schmidt is mocked for thinking that a “millionaire” is wealthy or “looking like a million dollars” is a compliment. Even the cheap shots at the South are funny. When Schmidt asks her roommate to tutor her in math, he says “I went to school in Mississippi; we learned that the dinosaurs went extinct because a meteor impact turned them gay.”
The spoiled helpless Manhattan lifestyle is on display here, as Schmidt gets a job assisting a rich stay-at-home mom. In a flashback she tells her parents that she is “Dating a rich older [married] man and lying about my birth control.” She advises Schmidt to bring “a condom and a pin” on a date with a wealthy young man (consistent with the New York chapter of Real World Divorce, describing that child support profits above $2 million can be challenging to obtain, the goal of the accidental-on-purpose pregnancy seems to be marriage). A therapist is on call to collect a share of the family’s income for allowing the parents to “talk to the shame puppet.” Consistent with the attorney’s comment in that chapter, “A person’s decision to divorce is primarily financial. Of course there are people who are concerned about the kids, but they are not very common. Sad to say it is all about money here in the U.S.,” when a divorce is contemplated on the show the only consideration is the plaintiff’s potential post-divorce spending power. Neither she nor any other character expresses concern for the possible impact on the children.
For a series set in Manhattan there isn’t much of Manhattan on display. Nearly all of the scenes are indoors.
Readers: What do you think/like about this show?
I think the best thing about the show is Jane Krakowski as an improved, even more over-the-top version of her character from 30 Rock — she really steals the show. The one character I found unbelievably annoying was Titus, the obligatory sassy black gay man. When will the entertainment industry get tired of this trope?
Love that show. Ellie Kemper and Jane Krakowski are both fantastic, as are many of the guest stars (e.g., Carol Kane). Agree with PN that the Titus character can be a little annoying, but as the series progresses (and more characters are introduced) I found him less irritating.
No spoilers, but if you haven’t yet reached the “Daddy’s Boy” episode, I think you are in for a treat.
I love it. I particularly enjoy the nearly-nonsensical Xanthippe/Kimmy exchanges.
Sorry to spoil the lovefest. I only watched the 1st episode but I found it unwatchable. I could not suspend my disbelief enough to think of the characters as three dimensional humans (albeit with flaws) and not just as premises for gags. It was sort of a one-joke setup (or one joke per character) – not enough to build a series on. NBC thought the same because they cancelled it. Great comedy requires humanity and not just gags – Chaplin knew that, Fey doesn’t.