Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

[Huss417]

Just an FYI all episodes are up on Netflix as of today. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl4bOuGNMwo&spfreload=10

[Marianne2]

Been watching all afternoon. Watching episode 10 now. It is hilarious. Will not say more as to not wanting to spoil it for people who are not as far as I am.

[HorseTears]

God, I hope I really like it. I haven't enjoyed a single thing Tina Fey's done post-30 Rock. I mean, other than the Golden Globes.

[Kad]

I'm halfway through, and I am absolutely loving it.

[FindingNamo]

Watched the pilot. LOVED it.

[Marianne2]

Finished it. Such a good show. And now I'm sad that I have no more episodes to watch.

[MaddieBB12]

Just started it about three minutes ago; the TODAY show scene was great!

[Huss417]

Up to episode 7 and it keeps getting better. Favorite line so far. "He's not gay. Gay hasn't even gotten to indiana yet. Theres been rumors in Ohio." :)

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I just finished the third episode and I love it.

[Huss417]

Watched up to episode 8 last night. Seems to me each episode gets better.

[Kad]

Just finished! This is the best new sitcom in a while. Maybe even edges out Broad City for me, though they're obviously very different.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

A hoot.

I'm pacing myself though, don't want to binge.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Just watched the whole thing in one day, it's fantastic! I wasn't sure I'd love it so much considering that 30 ROCK is my favorite comedy. It's its own show while displaying the sharp writing of 30 ROCK. Ellie Kemper is genius in her role, it's such a tricky part and she plays it perfectly. Titus Burgess and Carol Kane are terrific, and of course Jane Krakowski nails it. Very happy this ended up on Netflix, can't imagine NBC having any clue as to what to do with something this smart and original. I hate that we have to wait a year for the new season but at least there's going to be a new season!

[Fantod]

Watching the pilot now. Super funny. I like it more than 30 Rock.

[Kad]

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's pilot is hands down better than 30 Rock's, to be fair.

[FindingNamo]

I agree when comparing those two apples.

[Fantod]

I've only seen the pilot to 30 Rock because I didn't like it.

[Jay Lerner-Z]

^ Sometimes things are worth sticking with.

Anyway, about Kimmy, I wonder if they can keep up the whole "knowing absolutely nothing" conceit over a few seasons.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I'm still loving it, and since it's a comedy that takes place in a fantasy world, I cut it some slack, but sometimes it seems like Kimmy went missing in 1980, not 2000.

[FindingNamo]

Like the 20 somethings in Looking going through 1991 HIV panic in 2014 San Francisco?

I've been trying to parcel out the episodes by restricting myself to no more than 2 a day, which is still weird because isn't binge watching TV just such a profoundly American way to go about things? I don't think this is a great trend, to be this gaping consumption maw downing the viewing equivalent of a Big Gulp in one sitting and then complaining about having to wait a whole year to find out what's next. I think it's going to end up giving us all pop culture brain freezes.

Having said that, I ADORE the faux product placements like the box of Frosted Maniax cereal in one of the episodes.

[Plum]

I see binge watching as a compliment to the show being binged. Yes, it's a different experience than watching once a week, and of course it's a product of the availability of DVD sets (and now streaming services), but if I find myself saying "okay, one more episode" and then watching 5, it's because what I'm watching is really fun. As this show was, which in combination with sickness is why I finished it in two days.

[FindingNamo]

I get that. I think both things can be true. It's a good thing and a bad thing.

[Plum]

There are things that are lost with binge watching as opposed to old-fashioned weekly viewing: The distinctiveness of each episode, the knowledge that other watchers are at the same place in the story as you are, perhaps some mental connections that can only be made if you put down the show for six days and then pick it up again.

But I felt the need to defend the binge - I've been doing it since a friend sat me down with the first season of Veronica Mars something like ten years ago, and I think when you have a show with continuity and arcs, binging is like ripping through a really good novel. Yes, you'll pick up more details if you read slowly, but who hasn't stayed up until 3am to see what happens at the end?

Kimmy Schmidt isn't quite so plot-heavy, admittedly, and maybe if I'd let it do a slow burn then "Kimmy Makes Waffles!" would have been even more satisfying.

[Kad]

It isn't plot-heavy, but it is- like 30 Rock or Arrested Development- very dense with jokes, with a few that might not pay off for several episodes. It benefits from watching in bulk or even immediately re-watching.

[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.