Halloween 2018 TV Binge: The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell (Season 1, 2018)

Moving onto another spontaneous TV Binge. I’m starting to divert away from inital plans (as I had foresaw), however, this new Netflix series which I know nothing about before is right up my alley so I gave it a go. Plus, its pretty dark and has some bizarre creepy Halloween elements so it fit well with the half-baked Halloween marathon that I’ve been having this month.

Let’s check out The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell!

The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell (Season 1, 2018)

Cast: Christine McConnell, Colleen Smith, Michael Oosterom, Mick Ignis, Adam Mayfield, Dita Von Teese

Part cooking show, part sitcom in the vein of the Addams Family and the Muppet Show set inside the enchanted home of Christine McConnell, who has attracted hundreds of thousands of social media followers with her creepy edible creations. – IMDB

I watch a lot of the cooking and/or food related shows on Netflix. I haven’t heard of Christine McConnell before this show despite her Instagram fame. Now that I have that out of the way, The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell is a neat concept. She is definitely talented. Her creations are weird but detailed and definitely requires a lot of skill and artistic talent to do. The concept of using a crossover with puppets like The Muppets Show also adds a different vibe to the overall show. However, this isn’t a show for children at all. As the show moves along, it gets dark over its six episodes currently available in the first season.

With that said, I like weird but the overload of oddity and strangeness made it a little hard to find where it wanted to set its tone. I didn’t find the sitcom aspect worked for myself but it all comes down to humor being very subjective. Even with six episodes, it felt a little bit of a chore to get through. There is no doubt there is something to take away from her creations, be it a skill or two about how to assemble something with that amount of grandeur and over the top. It also has a wide variety of things to teach with some crafts and both dinner, appetizers and dessert creations. Its all about the construction which is where this falls apart a little. As pretty as it is, its not really a cooking show if I look at something and admire its craftsmanship but think to myself, for example, when will I have time to craft a chicken pastry for a chicken pot pie… With that said, the second half of the show that settles into the odd world does work better than the first half. Maybe its getting used to the humor or the tone or the characters but whatever the reason, it felt more compelling to watch with also a constrained direction for each episode which works. The 20 plus minute episode is its saving grace as it keeps things paced well.

Overall, its a hit and miss for me. I like the concept and the creativity behind each of her ideas and acknowledge the skill and appreciate being able to learn some decorating skills and craft skills, there is too much of a mixed world of weirdness that surpasses my limit. The humor sitcom part also doesn’t quite land well for myself. However, its not a long first season with 6 episodes of 20 plus minutes long which makes it a series that even if you were to try because you like the style and odd things, it won’t take up too much of your time. The creations alone (even if not a lot of people, I suppose, really has time to do about 90% of her stuff) are worth looking at, which is great because this is called The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell so it delivers on its title which is always a good thing. Plus, Christine McConnell has a fantastic wardrobe and the house its set in also is so very pretty.

TV Binge & Netflix A-Z: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [Season 2, 2016]

In true TV Binge glory is the next Netflix A-Z selection for U.  You got it! The newly released Season 2 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  In case you missed it, I was a huge fan of the first season. You can read the review HERE.  I was literally counting down the days to when this would be available on Netflix and I started it up right when I got home from work that Friday night.  I know its already a month or something since its been out but I’ve been working on this new system of having a lot of backlog ready to be written so it gives me time to give whatever I watch a chance to sink in and think about before writing about it.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt [Season 2, 2016]

Creator: Robert Carlock & Tina Fey

Cast: Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski, Carol Kane, Sara Chase, Ki Hong Lee, Mike Carlsen, Tina Fey, Lauren Adams, Amy Sedaris

Its hard to not fall in love with Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.  The characters are too lovable in their silly and outrageous way.  Its fantastic to open up the show with the same theme song that caught me in the first season.  It really shows the tone this series is aiming for.  I just absolutely love it from its hilarious characters to Netflix letting us Kimmy-fy the page which makes it all sparkly and awesome.  I’m not a pink person but Kimmy Schmidt and its characters are all just sparkly and infectiously fun! 🙂

In Season 2, we pretty much pick up from where we left off in the first one.  Titus is still dreaming about pursuing his career in singing on Broadway or something along those lines.  Kimmy is adapting to her new life in New York and the modern technology and getting over Dong who married to an older lady to not get deported.  Titus and Kimmy’s landlord, Lillian is still awkward and hilarious and this season, she’s all about saving the change in her neighborhood. While, the ex-Mrs. Voorhees goes back home to live with her parents and embrace her roots but that is a whole new life to her also, while avoiding her divorcee life of having not been split with more money and scared with the reality she will have to face if she returns to New York.  Of course, she eventually does and with Kimmy’s encouragement, tries to be independent instead of a gold digger.  While this is Kimmy growing up from her 15 year old mentality to a grown-up and her adventures, its equally about the people around her and their adventures because in a way, even if they have been living in this reality all their lives, they still each have their own delusions and live in their own fantasy and they are each growing as a person as well.  Each is as naive as Kimmy is and its funny to watch their endeavors.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt always seems to surprise us with some popular cast, just like Tina Fey who is the show creator takes on a much more involved role this season and no one delivers her content quite like she does. I’m a huge fan of Tina Fey so it was a welcome addition to see her as a psychiatrist that helps Kimmy Schmidt but also has her own issues.  At the same time, we have Lisa Kudrow that comes in as Kimmy’s mom that the season trickles with information that its building to her facing her eventually.  At the same time, we have Anna Camp drop in for a few episodes.  If you don’t know who she is, she’s in one of my favorite movies, Pitch Perfect. And there’s Jeff Goldblum who plays a Dr. Phil-esque type of guy.  Funny how he’s gone such a long way from what I remember him in Jurassic Park. Then, there’s David Cross.  While I haven’t seen a whole lot of movies that I remember him profoundly other than maybe Alvin and the Chipmunks, I know I’ve seen in other stuff that has made me laugh.

You know what? I don’t want to ruin Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and let you just have fun! If you haven’t checked it out, you should! Overall, Season 2 was a ton of fun.  The cast is still as fun and charming as always.  The comedy works (for me).  Yet, there’s still a lot of good things that we can learn from this series.  Plus, it has a ton of really great cameo roles.  Maybe some of them will return. Who knows, right? Right now, I just can’t wait for the next season, which is going to feel so long!

Have you seen Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?