TV Binge: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [Season 1]

I love TV series! Its really nice to sit down and binge watch them, especially these Netflix ones. So far, the ones I’ve watched are pretty decent.  Although I still need to get back to Daredevil.  I needed something fun and light and I figured this one was: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Its sitcom episode lengths at around 20+ minutes per episode and there’s like 13 episodes in season 1.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
[Season 1, 2015]

Creators: Robert Carlock & Tina Fey

Cast: Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess,  Jane Krakowski, Carol Kane, Lauren Adams, Sara Chase, Dylan Gelula, Ki Hong Lee

After 15 years trapped underground by a doomsday cult, Kimmy Schmidt (Ellie Kemper) is one of the four women to be rescued.  Knowing that the world hasn’t end, Kimmy Schmidt decides to stay in New York City and face new challenges to kickstart her life again.

Comedies are one of those TV series I’m always a little hesitant to give a shot. For one, I’m really bad at laughing at comedies and their jokes because I like smart and punny jokes, sarcastic humor/dark humor.  That sort of thing really appeals to me.  But life gives us a lot of dumb humor and I just don’t laugh at those things. Its not for me. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt definitely is not in the latter category.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is very fun.  For one, Kimmy Schmidt was a teenager when she was caught so her mentality is still right there in the 90s and learning about all the changes we’ve had from language, slang, technology, etc.  At the same time, she has to learn how to move on, stay happy and essentially be an adult.  Even though the way she chooses to stay positive is exactly the reason we laugh because its so silly and we know she’s hiding something more or just coping with what happened, we can’t help be fall in love with her. Ellie Kemper is fantastic and bringing Kimmy Schmidt to life. Just her cluelessness is adorable 🙂

But no show even if you are the central character is great without fun supporting characters and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt has a barrel of them.  Each of them live in their own fantasy. Starting from her roommate Titus (Tituss Burgess) who is an aspiring actor. With every character, they portray oodles of stereotypes in a quirky witty joking way.  With him, he’s a little awkward but also very charming to watch.   Another wonderfully weird but hilarious character is the less frequently showing up (kind of) land lady, Lillian (Carol Kane) who has oddest lines from talking about killing her husband to views on women status.

Right after that is possibly one of the funniest characters in this show, Mrs. Voorhees played by Jane Krakowski. She’s a lady married to a rich man, suspects that her husband is cheating and doesn’t know how to control her stepdaughter.  Her views of the world and hiding her background and fearing to face the future without money or status makes her find the most absurd ways to define happiness.  You don’t know if she’s ignorant or silly or plain ridiculous but there are lots of laughs to be had.

What’s nice is that all the characters have their fair share of back story, conflicts and while its about Kimmy  Schmidt, its not completely centered on her character.  It shows that the creators gave a good thought that all the characters matter.  This helps us to care more about each of them more.

I could go on about Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  Its all sorts of fun and the humor is really witty and smart, slipping in a lot of sarcastic humor about societal stereotypes (if thats the right way to say it). Regardless, the characters are a hilarious blend and while Ellie Kemper is fantastic as Kimmy  Schmidt, great performances can be found in Jane Krakowski as her employer Mrs. Voorhees and Tituss Burgess as her roommate, Titus Andromedon. Just the opening scene of the show sets the perfect tone for what to expect and that theme song is so awesomely addictive.  And that’s where I’ll leave this write-up!

Have you seen Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?