Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Everything We Learned (Almost) From the ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’
We spent six and a half hours together in a studio apartment in Manhattan binge watching Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s new comedy on Netflix, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. So we could spoil it for you. In addition to snacks and special commentary from a dog named Casey, these are our real reactions to the story of a woman kidnapped and forced to join a doomsday cult, a comedy in 13 episodes.
Episode 1–9:30AM
Jessie: It’s ironic that we’re watching a TV show about Mole Women and we’re going to be trapped in your studio apartment for the next six and a half hours.
Courtney: From the first episode, this reeks of Tina Fey. I’m enjoying it but having a hard time not imagining every joke coming out of her mouth instead of Ellie Kemper’s.
Jessie: First 10 minutes made me think of Elf, especially the candy-binge.
Courtney: I’m giving my thumbs up to the random Baby Sitter’s Club reference. Solid.
Episode 1–9:30AM
Jessie: It’s ironic that we’re watching a TV show about Mole Women and we’re going to be trapped in your studio apartment for the next six and a half hours.
Courtney: From the first episode, this reeks of Tina Fey. I’m enjoying it but having a hard time not imagining every joke coming out of her mouth instead of Ellie Kemper’s.
Jessie: First 10 minutes made me think of Elf, especially the candy-binge.
Courtney: I’m giving my thumbs up to the random Baby Sitter’s Club reference. Solid.
Jessie: Best lines of this episode. “All the good colors were gone,” in reference to the fake gang the banana boys. “Escaping is not the same as making it,” which is obviously the theme of this show. And “beef jerky in a ball gown.”
EPISODE 2–10:15AM
Courtney: In the b-story of this episode the mystery of why there are so many off-brand costumes running around in Times Square is solved. It’s a scam being run out of Ray Ray’s Costume Depot. This is one of the most important events in history. And was the reason we got guest appearance from Horatio Sanz.
Jessie: And the second b-story (c-story?) is that New York City teenagers are the worst. Between Xanthippe’s (really? how is that a name?) “texting and sexing”, and Buckley’s brooding, Kimmy might have her hands full with her babysitting job. On the upside? Buckley has a great pedigree for being an actual super-villain in the making, you know being a neglected right kid. He’s also got a stellar name picked out: Doctor Genocide. A+.
EPISODE 3–10:50 (delayed for food)
Jessie: Now that we’re in the third episode, we’re starting to notice some narrative threads running through the course of the show. Xan is emerging as the series’ main antagonist thus far–she’s on a mission to find out what exactly is Kimmy’s backstory and to destroy her. Teenagers amirite? While Jacqueline is somewhat of a surprise ally for Kimmy, she tells her stepdaughter in no uncertain terms that “women have secrets, and that Kimmy’s past doesn’t matter” as she herself is hiding something. That something? She’s Native American, passing as caucasian. So far this is the hardest thing for me to swallow. Alright, later days, buuuuudy.
Courtney: This was Casey the dog’s favorite episode so far or she really liked the food we ordered. Meanwhile, back at the Titus b-story (this poor guy is always the b-story), there’s an epic scene at a Korean funeral where he sings Boyz II Men. No, not “End of the Road.” The other, deeply in appropriate hit single by the group, “I’ll Make Love to You.” Jessie remarked that Koreans do love their R&B and as she is Korean I will choose to believe that is true. Also, important visual gag below.
EPISODE 4–11:30AM
Courtney: This whole series keeps referencing 30 Rock in little ways but this had the moooooost referential/major fan nerd moments one so far. There was “Kimmying” which is obvi derivative of Lizzing. Then the bum fights DVDs came up. There was a Law & Order star, Richard Belzer, in a fake spin-off (shades of Liz’s boyfriend and Law & Order guest star Dennis a.k.a. Dean Winters). And there was an Actor Emergency!, something Tracy and Jenna used to yell out as often as they yelled Actor Announcement. Oh and there was the 30 Rock favorite move of making fun of stupid New York City things. In this case, the Spider-Man musical by way of Spiderman Too: 2 Many Spider-Men.
Jessie: So many things in this one! There’s the Spider-Man musical (itself a reference to Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), fake commercials where we learn to “Buhbreeze our problems away”, and an uncredited Marty Short! Favorite moment however, might be the weird throwaway gag with the self-aware talking children’s television show puppet in the opening. Also, “scream lines”?
Courtney: This whole series keeps referencing 30 Rock in little ways but this had the moooooost referential/major fan nerd moments one so far. There was “Kimmying” which is obvi derivative of Lizzing. Then the bum fights DVDs came up. There was a Law & Order star, Richard Belzer, in a fake spin-off (shades of Liz’s boyfriend and Law & Order guest star Dennis a.k.a. Dean Winters). And there was an Actor Emergency!, something Tracy and Jenna used to yell out as often as they yelled Actor Announcement. Oh and there was the 30 Rock favorite move of making fun of stupid New York City things. In this case, the Spider-Man musical by way of Spiderman Too: 2 Many Spider-Men.
Jessie: So many things in this one! There’s the Spider-Man musical (itself a reference to Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), fake commercials where we learn to “Buhbreeze our problems away”, and an uncredited Marty Short! Favorite moment however, might be the weird throwaway gag with the self-aware talking children’s television show puppet in the opening. Also, “scream lines”?
EPISODE 5–12:05PM
Jessie: The 30 Rock references continue with an opening music cue that seems straight out of the show’s playbook, in addition to the 30 Rock/Sex and The City callbacks with catcalling construction workers (“When It Rains, It Pours” and “The Drought” respectively). However the a-story centers on Kimmy’s Mole Woman bunkmate, Cyndee, and her “straight” boyfriend, Brandon, and the paths they’re both taking to achieve their goals. Highlights include: “Am I a Huxtable?” as a brand new gay sub-category, “Rear Windowing” as a practice (god, I love you landlady Carol Kane), and the giving of “traditional meat and flowers” of Indiana courtship.
Courtney: Cyndee Sandee gets all the best lines in this ep but there are two Titus sight gags that must be seen and not explained. Casey the dog buried her head under the covers during this one and I think it’s because she felt let down that it was titled Kimmy Kisses A Boy! and while it started with a bang (er, a kiss), it ended with “troll the respond, Jeremy.”
EPISODE SIX–12:40
Courtney: A lot to process here. There were like five stories at once. Obviously “Pinot Noir: Ode to a Black Penis” was the crowning grace. The return of Xan was welcome, she’s kind of becoming a breakout character in the Voorhes family (teens!).
Jessie: I’m still disappointed that the Voorhes patriarch isn’t named Jason, btw. Also, this episode where Kimmy makes good on her promise to better herself by furthering her education, and the neon yellow purse she carries gives credence to my theory that yellow is indeed Kimmy’s power color.
Fun fact: Kimmy’s high school is Automotive High School right across from McCarren Park.
Highlight: Titus’ gay detective skills ala Legally Blonde in deducing that Xan’s lip-gloss is from “Kesha’s after-hours collection available at Hess gas stations.”
Lowlight: “Hello, I am Dong.” Noooooo.
Fun fact: Kimmy’s high school is Automotive High School right across from McCarren Park.
Highlight: Titus’ gay detective skills ala Legally Blonde in deducing that Xan’s lip-gloss is from “Kesha’s after-hours collection available at Hess gas stations.”
Lowlight: “Hello, I am Dong.” Noooooo.
EPISODE 7–1:51PM (Casey insisted on going outside to rub her face in the snow)
Jessie: We’re about halfway through the season at this point and while things are progressing nicely, I wish we could get a little more backstory on supporting characters like Titus. This is the second instance of his marriage being mentioned. In the meantime, I’ll settle for a makeover sequence complete with a bucket of “household glitter”, and a robot bent on revenge! More Japanese robots please!
Courtney: I am eagerly anticipating finding out who the father of Beekman, Kimmy’s new love interest, is. Or someone actually muttering “who’s your daddy?” Kimmy’s ongoing competition with Xan is basically my favorite thing about this show, if only for Kimmy’s badass comebacks. Her fake rich person name, Kimmy Tiara Von Lobster, is going to be the fake name I use next time I check into a hotel. Now meet the shame puppet.
Courtney: This episode was uneven, comedy-wise. For me, practically none of the Dong (the Vietnamese guy in Kimmy’s GED class who teaches her math) jokes landed and there were too many tilt-your-head-sideways-because-did-they-just say-that? moments both on-screen and from my couch. That said, Amy Sedaris nailed her guest role as a rich divorceé with over the top everything. And Jessie, what neighborhood to Kimmy and Titus live in?
Jessie: As of right now, it’s unclear but based on the Carol Kane’s landlady–I’m assuming Greenpoint? Someone please let us know. Also can someone let us know if the actual Jekyll & Hyde in Manhattan (where Titus moonlights as a werewolf server at a loosely-viewed restaurant with the same schtick) has singing waiters? I choose not to comment on Dong, but instead will try to focus on the nice things like the super informative “copicer” or Logan Beakman’s aka budget Jude Law’s pleasant fake English accent.
EPISODE 9–2:55PM
Jessie: We’re smack dab in the middle of a birthday episode for Kimmy, who’s turning 30. 30, we learn (according to Titus) is when women start going baby crazy and make a list of things they haven’t done, like go to Africa. But, Africa is far, and none of us are going. We also get introduced to Kimmy’s family like her stepdad Randy (the worst), and her stepsister Kymmy, who we wish we can set up with Xan because we like they would be both awesome and terrible together.
Courtney: Not to get ahead of our place since the next episode is called “Kimmy Is In A Love Triangle!” but Beekman and Dong are both as wrong for Kimmy as their choices of ice were for her 30th birthday party. Meanwhile, back at the closing scene, Titus’s pep talk to Kimmy is an A, Titus stealing Katy Perry’s “Firework” and presenting it as his original song written for Kimmy’s birthday present is an A and Kimmy’s critique of the song (“I don’t don’t think people say ‘a firework,’ it’s fireworks”) is A+++++++++.
EPISODE 10–3:30
Courtney: The best thing about Tina Fey and Robert Carlock taking this show to Netflix is that they are not necessarily constrained to 22 minutes per episode–and thus many promising jokes are fully delivered on. Here we get Daddy’s Boy, the 1938 fictional musical that’s a throwaway reference joke from self-proclaimed daddy’s boy Beekman. The minute and a half or so of it we see plus the explainer from Turner Classic Movies channel host Robert Osbourne is literally the gold standard of comedy at play. And all you need to know about how the love triangle turned out is the screen grab below.
Jessie: Another great thing about this episode is that it quickly resolves the love triangle that Kimmy finds herself in without too much fanfare. I just wish we’d find out what happened to Buckley’s tutor, whom I had assumed was going to be Kimmy’s love interest. Also, can we stop having that Pan-Asian flute play every time Dong has a moment? You know what, scratch that I’m afraid it’ll get replaced by a gong. Gotta say, a little disappointed we didn’t get to meet Beekman’s parent. Show us “The Daddy!”
Courtney: Here’s Le Loup’s (the tutor) wall of gayleberties/inspirations. Shout out to Entourage 2. And my new guess is that Titus and Kimmy live in the Bronx.
EPISODE 11–4:05PM
Jessie: I might need a shower to wash the image of Nick Kroll’s disgraced spiritcycle teacher/guru’s fake zits from my brain. That and the image of him sitting on the can with IBS is something that will live with me at least until the next episode rolls around. This episode kills it with celebrity cameos though, in addition to Kroll, we get Tina Fey (!!!) and Jon Hamm as the evil reverend. Oooh spooky. Also why didn’t anyone tell me that Hamm has a beautiful singing voice? Thank Gosh, Jeepers and the Holy Spirit for that dude.
Courtney: Tina Fey’s fake mole stars as attorney Marcia Clark. That is all I have to say. Best episode yet.
EPISODE 12–4:30PM
Courtney: Fun fact learned from this one: the way a person becomes gay is not by choosing it. They are not born that way either, necessarily. If you watch Magic Mike in an electrical storm…anyway. The evil Reverend Jon Hamm is getting the best of Kimmy Schmidt here, until she and the sister wives make their way back to the underground bunker he held them in to make a startling discovery about the mysterious hand crank (crank you for being a crank). And if you’ve been thinking to yourself it wouldn’t be so bad to be in an end of days cult doing weird sex stuff with Jon Hamm, here’s what he looked like when he was running the kidnap cult.
Jessie: I was with him even with the ponytail and beard, until he mentioned the Jesus parable about there being three footprints in the sand from Episode 11. We could’ve had it all, evil Reverend Jon Hamm with your Tom Petty and John Cougar Mellencamp defense. Also this episode wins for confirming my personal belief that Lucille Roberts is also another cults. Cults cults cults.
Things No New Yorker Says: “Look at this marbling on this corned beef.”
How to Talk Your Friend Out of Hulkamania: “Huckster, it’s me, Macho Man Randy Savage (RIP)…”
So many text-based gags.
EPISODE 13–5:10
Jessie: Wow. So we reached the end of the trial, I won’t spoil you on that, and it seems most of the loose ends tie up. We get introduced to Titus’ ex-wife, Jacqueline reclaims her Native American ancestry, Randy is the worst, and I finally realize that the “bad judge” is actually Judge Bad. Can’t believe it took me three episodes to realize that. Also I’m pretty sure that we saw a glimpse of Brooklyn based on the dude who scooted by on his penny farthing.
Courtney: As a full viewing experience, we rate this a must-watch for people who have said “I am Liz Lemon” at any point in their life, for former cult members and for people who have a bucket of house glitter. Not so much for dogs, as Casey slept through almost all of it. The one-liner game is strong throughout, the guest stars are top notch and Ellie Kemper’s physical comedy chops really sell the show. To leave you with one final fun fact: there is next to no cussing in this show. Most show runners who go to HBO or Netflix use it as an opportunity to break all the network TV rules. Fey and Carlock choose to run up the dang meter instead. We suggest using it as a drinking game during your binge-watch.
source : radio.com
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