Jump to content

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt


Sir Thursday

Recommended Posts

Anyone else watching this, on Netflix or through some other means?



I started watching it last night and got five episodes in, really enjoying it so far. Got some good laughs and I find the characters fun to watch (particularly Kimmy - they've managed to hit on just the right blend of naivete and practicalness to make her an easy character to empathise with).



Also, was it just me or does the landlady character seem very similar to the equivalent from Spaced? Although the personalities involved are very different the dynamic in the apartment does seem to have some similarities.



Troll the respawn, Jeremy!



ST


Link to comment
Share on other sites

For anyone missing 30 Rock, this is for you. It's pretty damned good and so far has one of the best burns I've ever heard in my life:



"1996 called, it wants it's catchphrases back."



"2090 called, you're dead and you wasted your entire life."


Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much like the 30 rock is it?? I didn't like that show but I loved the office and Erin was a favorite

Dialogue-wise it's very much like 30 Rock, snappy little one-liners that come and go. There are times when characters will say something and it's something that absolutely would have come out of Liz Lemon's mouth. Also Jane Krakowski plays basically the same character as on 30 Rock, just slightly less crazy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This show is amazing. Tiny Fey pulled off a show that feels like 30 Rock, but that is thematically extremely dark and serious.* Ellie Kemper absolutely kills at as the lead character, a manic pixie dream girl driven by post-traumatic stress disorder.




* All of which is hidden in the negative spaces. This show is about surviving abusive relationships. The R word is never mentioned but floats above the entire concept.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the pilot, and thought it was good, not great, but has a lot of potential. I'll be watching more to see whether it can step up.

Really like the lead; pleased that it's mostly avoided screwing her over as a consequence of her naïveté, since that kind of thing bums me out instead of making me laugh, but was disappointed when it did reach for that sort of plot device.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

* All of which is hidden in the negative spaces. This show is about surviving abusive relationships. The R word is never mentioned but floats above the entire concept.

The way it was just put out there and then gone was amazingly well done.

"And yes for the record there was weird sex stuff." And then done and not mentioned again.

Also, Carol Kane reminded me almost immediately why I love Carol Kane.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the pilot, and thought it was good, not great, but has a lot of potential. I'll be watching more to see whether it can step up.

Really like the lead; pleased that it's mostly avoided screwing her over as a consequence of her naïveté, since that kind of thing bums me out instead of making me laugh, but was disappointed when it did reach for that sort of plot device.

I felt like it really kicked into gear around episode 3, FWIW. It's around the time they start exploring Jane Krakowski's character's backstory that I got into what the show was trying to do, I think.

ST

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't stop watching Ellie Kemper's face. It's hypnotic. Just when I think it can't stretch out anymore the next scene comes along and she looks even happier. It's amazing


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait, carol Kane is in it???? Like a regular cast member???,

Yep, she plays the landlady. And is great:

Lilian: I can't support this. You know I will not bury another beautiful black man. You know my husband Roland was killed in our very own apartment.

Titus: Yes, I've heard this story before.

Lilian: He got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and he was shot in the face.

Titus: By you, Lilian.

Lilian: Well it was dark out, and a black man was trying to get in bed with me! It was the 70's!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Burned through the rest of the episodes tonight. While I enjoyed them a lot, there was one thing that took my enjoyment down slightly:



My biggest pet peeve in comedy television is the idea that incompetence is funny. It's possible to put things around it to make it funny, but in and of itself 'not being good at something' is not an intrinsically funny idea. I felt like particularly in the last few episodes they leant on this too much with Kimmy's step-dad and the incredibly irritating lawyer pair. Rather than being humorous, the latter's unwillingness to be in any way serious about the trial was actually quite distressing when contrasted with the emotions of the 'Mole Women' (I know, they hate that). It seemed jarring for that kind of comedy to be sharing the screen with a story that was getting to the serious bit. Not even Tina Fey doing the honours could really change the way I felt about those characters. I dunno, maybe the intent was to satirise the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system in getting closure for its victims, but it really didn't work for me.



Things that I really liked though:


- That Dean Norris cameo was GOLD! Nearly fell off my chair when he came out from behind the screen.


- Titus' becoming an internet celebrity was interesting. I think it's a pretty rich phenomenon to mine for jokes and seriousness and I liked the way they were taking inspiration from the real life guy who found himself in that spot.


- I really liked Kimmy's battles with Xanthippe. The development from mutual loathing to eventual grudging-respect was a fun ride.




ST


Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is the most ridiculous complaint ever, but the show is waaaay too colorful. And bright. It hurt my eyes. Not just Kimmy's outfits. Everything. Central Park is too green, unnaturally so. There was one point when they were in the apartment and there was so much bright contrasting color going on that I started to feel nauseous. Thought my tv settings might have been off but same issue on ipad and macbook.


Link to comment
Share on other sites

Burned through the rest of the episodes tonight. While I enjoyed them a lot, there was one thing that took my enjoyment down slightly:

My biggest pet peeve in comedy television is the idea that incompetence is funny. It's possible to put things around it to make it funny, but in and of itself 'not being good at something' is not an intrinsically funny idea. I felt like particularly in the last few episodes they leant on this too much with Kimmy's step-dad and the incredibly irritating lawyer pair. Rather than being humorous, the latter's unwillingness to be in any way serious about the trial was actually quite distressing when contrasted with the emotions of the 'Mole Women' (I know, they hate that). It seemed jarring for that kind of comedy to be sharing the screen with a story that was getting to the serious bit. Not even Tina Fey doing the honours could really change the way I felt about those characters. I dunno, maybe the intent was to satirise the ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system in getting closure for its victims, but it really didn't work for me.

I agree with your complaint, the step-dad especially was just cringeworthy most of the time and not particularly funny. And the lawyer couple were also more cringe than funny.

My biggest complaint about the series, and this isn't even a major one, is that it gets weird in the last couple episodes. There was one episode in particular where I remember turning to my wife when it was over and saying, "what in the hell just happened? Am I dreaming right now or did I really just see that?"

Also, I loved that they got the actor they got to play the cult leader. I figured they'd go all out and get a big name and I wasn't disappointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...