Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

I agree with Kad re the self-referential humor. I think the density (and continuity) of the humor is one of the main reasons why ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT did much better on streaming than it did when it aired once a week on network TV. I never really binge watch shows since there aren't really many shows I love enough to binge-watch, so it was pretty exciting when I realized KIMMY SCHMIDT was so good that I didn't want to do anything else that day but watch the show, which I rarely have time to do anyway.

Re the 30 ROCK pilot, while I agree it's not nearly representative of what the show would become in its heyday, I thought it was a great pilot at the time and still think so to this day (I've seen it countless of times over the past 9 years or so since it first aired). It's not genius the way ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT's was and not as confident as KIMMY SCHMIDT's, but it's genuinely funny.

[CarlosAlberto]

I watched every episode on Saturday. Fvcking hilarious! Too bad we have to wait another year for the next batch of episodes.

[FindingNamo]

The dark side of instant gratification.

[themysteriousgrowl]

^I keep thinking this new paradigm can't be sustained somehow, that the audiences are going to get frustrated with it and/or Netflix/Amazon/whoever will realize that if they air an episode every week or two, people will still watch it -- and, hell's bells, maybe even prefer that. I dunno. Maybe not.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

To be fair, even if you parcel them out once a week, it's still going to be nearly a year before you get new episodes either way. When I was growing up you only had to wait three months between the end of one season and the beginning of the next!

I guess because I've been watching entire series on dvd at my own pace for years, this doesn't really faze me.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

How about once a month with bonus episode on your birthday?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Then you might actually be finishing up after the new season starts!

[themysteriousgrowl]

“I guess because I've been watching entire series on dvd at my own pace for years, this doesn't really faze me.”

I’ve been doing the same for about 10 years. Maybe part of the reason this has been on my mind is that I’m watching “Better Call Saul” week by week, something I haven’t done with any show since LOST, and I’m being reminded of the pleasures of investment and patience.

I binged all of “Kimmy Schmidt” this weekend, and which made my Saturday and Sunday afternoons fun, but it left me feeling kind of empty once it was over.

And maybe that's a minority feeling and this paradigm is sustainable. It just seems to have happened so quickly. Like, Netflix shattered the TV model of weekly programming that's been operating as the standard for so long. I feel like any big change that happens that quickly is due for a comeuppance since it excises adaptation process. So, like, there has to be some cultural backlash, right? And in that way, it's also very impressive. Just so unusual.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Maybe because I've already been there with Orange is the New Black, I just don't really think anything of the new model. It's becoming a tradition that I spend a week in the summer watching that, knowing (without complaint!) that it's going to be another year before we get new episodes.

I've got two episodes of Kimmy left. Last night I watched "Kimmy is in a Love Triangle!" which I think is the best episode I've seen so far. I know it sounds silly, but the way the show and Ellie Kemper are able to evoke real pathos about Kimmy's situation is impressive.

I wonder what, if any, possibilities will be opened with the storytelling with the creators knowing next season is for Netflix.

And apropos of nothing, I just read that Jane Krawokoski's role was originally cast with someone else. At this point, if I were a woman, I'd be hesitant to take a supporting role in a Tina Fey comedy until I was certain Krawkowski had already locked down a role.

[Jordan Catalano]

I love how Jane's role is the perfect combination of Jenna Maroney & the Trop50 woman.

[Kad]

Someone somewhere described the role as "Jenna Maroney, but as a decent person."

I had heard it was re-cast as well- you can sort of tell in the pilot that the Jacqueline scenes were shot later. I'm surprised it wasn't originally Krakowski- it seems completely tailored to her.

[dtzumbrunnen]

Kad - You're right, it was originally Megan Dobbs from CSI: NY in that role. I can't really imagine that - it's perfect for Krakowski.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Jane Krakowksi has made a career (at least her television career) of playing variations on the same theme. I think the variations between Elaine of Ally McBeal and Jenna and the Tropicana Lady are all pretty slight. Jacqueline seems less sexualized than the characters she usually plays, but she still feels like an extension of Jenna Maroney.

[Kad]

She is very, very good at that schtick. She can deliver a totally absurd and self-absorbed line like no one else.

[theatreguy]

Krakowski had her own pilot for Fox last year called Dead Boss which made her unavailable for Kimmy Schmidt. When Fox didn't pick it up, Fey and Carlock very quickly hired her to replace Megan Dodds.

http://deadline.com/2014/05/jane-krakowski-tina-fey-robert-carlock-comedy-nbc-728650/

[givesmevoice]

She is very, very good at that schtick. She can deliver a totally absurd and self-absorbed line like no one else.

It's a real treat to have Carol Kane and Jane Krakowski, two masters of naturally delivering absurd lines, on the same show. I loved that they finally got lots of time together in the last episode.

[E.Davis]

Also you can tell that the role was slightly rewritten between the pilot and the second episode to make her more human. She was kinda presented as a monster in the pilot. She also has great recurring jokes that are so subtle like Julians Foot Fetish and the water bottles.

[themysteriousgrowl]

"Also you can tell that the role was slightly rewritten between the pilot and the second episode to make her more human."

Yeah, watching the pilot, I thought, “There’s no way they can sustain this,” and sure enough the turnaround came very quickly. The character we were introduced to wouldn’t have tolerated any of the Kimmy shenanigans we saw shortly after.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

I suspect that the original actress probably played her closely to Laura Linney's character in The Nanny Diaries. However, they softened her up a bit and played more with the zaniness once Krakowski stepped in.

[Jungle Red]

Started watching this tonight and was sucked in immediately. Hilarious.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I finished the last two episodes last night and, while I still think overall it was a great season and a great show, I thought it kind of stumbled a bit at the end. The trial stuff was just a total dud, and the extended Marcia Clark/Chris whoever thing was painfully unfunny. It also makes me feel more solid in my theory that while Kimmy was kidnapped at 14, she was kidnapped from the world of 14 year-old Tina Fey, not 14 year-old Ellie Kemper.

But overall, I think it's marvelous. And I think Tituss Burgess deserves an Emmy nod, because he is just spectacular.

[FindingNamo]

I haven't watched the last episode but I agree the trial stuff hasn't worked. Clearly, Fey and Carlock wanted to give free reign to the Green Acres tendencies that used to surface on 30 Rock.

Titus's work in the next to last episode was exemplary.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Also, Jacqueline's backstory is weird, right? I'm just not sure what to think about that.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Yeah, that whole trial thing fell flat especially with the lame Marcia Clark/Chris jokes (though I did like it when Clark cross-checked Kimmie after her failed testimony). Even the attractive/charismatic evil guy bamboozling the media, judge, and jury wasn't executed well. And I still don't get why Cyndee is so mad at Kimmie. I mean Kimmie was also under duress and coercion. However, it was worth it just for Titus's pre-interview meltdown.

[FindingNamo]

I get why NBC had no idea what they were going to do with the show. I also really enjoyed the series but I am not going to wish a year of my life away because I can't wait to find out what happens next! I'm sure I'll enjoy it whenever new episodes roll around again.

The trial stuff was right in that unmoored zone that 30 Rock ended up in eventually. I sort of get that they want to treat the very format of the situation comedy with no respect, but they don't seem to be finding new ways to get there. The arduous courtroom stuff made me think maybe they're going for a Kentucky Fried Movie thing, but they never came close.


KFM a short excerpt

[EricMontreal22]

I was only a mild fan of 30 Rock--I found it funny when I'd watch an episode, but it never hooked me...like this has. Wow My twin sis flew over this week and we marathoned it over a few days. Brilliant and hysterical stuff--I look forward to seeing what is done next season when they have less restrictions, especially about length (from what I've read, Tina Fey has said the hardest thing has been keeping it in the 22 minute sitcom format.)

It sounds like NBC did the right thing by not pursuing this. The reasons given were that they didn't have a good block of scheduling to fit it into. That obviously hasn't been a problem before-and most of those shows failed by network ratings standards, so....