Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

[Her]

so I just finished torrenting the first season of this and I'm watching the opening scenes now - it certainly wants to make itself known it's a Tina Fey show instantly.

for those of you who have watched it, what have you made of it so far? what do you think of the lead, ms. ellie kemper? would you recommend it?

 

[blue]

Yes.

I'm currently watching this show on Netflix and I love it, Kimmy is just adorable. Not that too far in but it's definitely a binge watching type of show.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

Best theme song ever. Females are strong as hell.

 

[Her]

Best theme song ever. Females are strong as hell.

it's a mira-kel!

so I finished binge watching this about 5 minutes ago and I have a few thoughts

- 13 episodes and not once could I recall the middle aged landlord's name. not once. she as a character (and an actress, really) is the weak link.
- not sure how I feel about jane krakowski playing the whitest native american ever. the scenes featuring her interactions with her parents gave off a pretty racist vibe. it's nothing new for tina fey, though.
- ellie kemper actually surprised me by being able to lead a series and not become extremely annoying after four episodes! given her facial structure I suppose the woman will always have to play overly perky late-20s teenagers, but she took what made her perfect for the role (her turn on the office) and adjusted it so that it's endearing instead of chirpy. her cluelessness is not due to her being oblivious, it's due to her literally being inside a bunker for 15 years, so we appreciate her spark.
- titus.... better actor than character.
- weak points w/ the children but given that it's only 13 episodes and most of the screentime is given to kimmy & titus it's forgivable.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

it's a mira-kel!

so I finished binge watching this about 5 minutes ago and I have a few thoughts

- 13 episodes and not once could I recall the middle aged landlord's name. not once. she as a character (and an actress, really) is the weak link. Carol Kane is a good actress (Annie Hall) but I completely agree that her presence on the show was always accompanied by a weird tonal shift.
- not sure how I feel about jane krakowski playing the whitest native american ever. the scenes featuring her interactions with her parents gave off a pretty racist vibe. it's nothing new for tina fey, though. I've read enough thinkpieces on this to tide me over until the end of time but, more than anything else, I just didn't find that plotline at all funny.
- ellie kemper actually surprised me by being able to lead a series and not become extremely annoying after four episodes! given her facial structure I suppose the woman will always have to play overly perky late-20s teenagers, but she took what made her perfect for the role (her turn on the office) and adjusted it so that it's endearing instead of chirpy. her cluelessness is not due to her being oblivious, it's due to her literally being inside a bunker for 15 years, so we appreciate her spark. I've always kinda liked Ellie Kemper even at her most 'irritating', so I wasn't as surprised as you that she was able to hold her own in a leading role. That she did so with such aplomb was a bit of a surprise, but she was definitely the best part of the show by far.
- titus.... better actor than character. Yeah. Pretty much every character except Kimmy was like that, IMO.
- weak points w/ the children but given that it's only 13 episodes and most of the screentime is given to kimmy & titus it's forgivable. There was more than one kid? Oh yeah, a brother to Xan. I guess that says everything.

Thoughts to your thoughts above.

I liked it overall, but I definitely don't think it's the second coming of comedy or anything like that. Much like 30 Rock, it seemed to have its central character completely understood but the rest of the characters surrounding her were very inconsistently drawn, to put it mildly. Still, we'll always have Pinot Noir and the theme song (both actual and extended) and, come to think of it, the music was probably the best part overall, helping to unify all of the craziness. Sorry Ellie Kemper. And by Mr. Tina Fey, no less!

 

[Grey Wind]

Yeah Lillian (?) annoys me too. I think she'd work better with sporadic appearances rather than as a main character. Titus could do with being toned down a bit too, although i'm not sure if this is a problem with the acting or the writing.

Aside from that I like it though, very Tina Fey but still witty and interesting enough to keep me watching. Jacqueline and the opening are the best things about it imo.

 

[Jayce]

I just finished it last night, it had some issues, of course (which everyone has already touched on), but overall I really enjoyed it. I liked Kimmy's character a lot, which was a bit of a relief because I wasn't so sure of her for the first couple of episodes. I thought Titus was a nice addition, as well.

But the weakest point for me was Jane Krakowski's backstory. Meh.

 

[Psychic]

I just finished the series too, and it was very light and fluffy. I thought it was good, but it wasn't quite great. It was very witty and silly, but I feel like the comedic timing wasn't always where it could have been. Jackie's storyline was amusing, but the racism was unnecessary. I enjoyed Fey as the incompetent lawyer, though.

I'm also admittedly surprised that there will be another season. I felt like this is the kind of series that could wrap everything up in one season and be just fine.

~Psychic

 

[mikey]

It was better than I thought it would be. I started it out of boredom in my dorm last week and was pleasantly surprised. I thought it would be dumb but I did laugh a lot and thought the acting was pretty good for the most part. I will definitely be watching season 2 when it comes out next year.

And yes the theme is awesome.

 

[TopleyBird]

I do like it a lot, but this is the internet after all. Time to to critique what I genuinely enjoyed.

- Jane Krakowski's character being native American. I feel like the writers are going to regret this one, potential race issues aside. They're stuck with that now, y'know? It doesn't even make that much sense because she plays a character (funniest character on the show) who seems to have lived such a pampered life she doesn't understand how the world works.
- The courtroom scenes towards the end of the season *sigh*. I know the tone of the show is goofy and bizarre, but I really think they needed to turn it down considerably here. They should have allowed for Kimmy to have an emotional moment here. Jon Hamm being suave and making people forget what a monster he is, Tina Fey and Jerry Minor playing ridiculously incompetent lawyers. It all felt like something we had seen before. Parks and Rec was such a memorable show to me because it could mix the goofiness with heart so seamlessly. I would have loved to see something like that here, Kimmy testifying in a long speech that shows off Ellie Kemper's acting. That would have been memorable.

I have other thoughts, but its late will edit later.

 

[Golurks Were Meant to Fly]

urtroom scenes towards the end of the season *sigh*. I know the tone of the show is goofy and bizarre, but I really think they needed to turn it down considerably here. They should have allowed for Kimmy to have an emotional moment here. Jon Hamm being suave and making people forget what a monster he is, Tina Fey and Jerry Minor playing ridiculously incompetent lawyers.

To be honest I found the last few episodes almost painful to watch. I didn't find the whole drawn out courtroom stuff funny or interesting, and it just felt kind of shallow.

I liked the show overall - and it had a lot of enjoyable moments for me - but I definitely agree with the sentiment that a lot of the characters aren't fleshed out enough. Too many of them feel like caricatures, predominantly Lillian, Titus and Xan. Hopefully with a second season it'll grow into a fuller and richer comedy.