Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Having concluded House of Cards, my Netflix viewing has moved on to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Ellie Kemper plays the titular Kimmy, a 29 year old woman attempting to build a life for herself in New York City having spent 15 years underground as part of an apocalyptic doomsday cult. She becomes room mates with Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess), a struggling would-be actor, finding employment as the nanny for the wealthy Voorhees family. It is, to be honest, a totally ridiculous premise.
This is Tina Fey's new project and for anyone familiar with her work, that will be apparent from the off. Comparisons with 30 Rock are inevitable, not least as the two shows seem to share an almost identical setting, very similar incidental music and Jane Krakowski. Krakowski plays Jacqueline Voorhees, an affluent, pampered, vain matriach who is not a million miles removed from her character in 30 Rock, the diva Jenna Maroney. The dialogue is also a reflection of the scattershot style of joke writing first pioneered on that show.
Kimmy too is a spiritual cousin of Fey's Liz Lemon, although far more eccentric. The outlandishness of the set up aside, it's a typical "fish out of water" story, with the laughs deriving from her inability to adapt to the modern world and big city life. She's a likeable heroine with a heart of gold and Kemper and Burgess possess a strong chemistry on screen together. And if nothing else, the sight of a large black gay man in an Iron Man costume is undeniably funny. I'm two episodes in and will be sticking with it for the moment at least.
This is Tina Fey's new project and for anyone familiar with her work, that will be apparent from the off. Comparisons with 30 Rock are inevitable, not least as the two shows seem to share an almost identical setting, very similar incidental music and Jane Krakowski. Krakowski plays Jacqueline Voorhees, an affluent, pampered, vain matriach who is not a million miles removed from her character in 30 Rock, the diva Jenna Maroney. The dialogue is also a reflection of the scattershot style of joke writing first pioneered on that show.
Kimmy too is a spiritual cousin of Fey's Liz Lemon, although far more eccentric. The outlandishness of the set up aside, it's a typical "fish out of water" story, with the laughs deriving from her inability to adapt to the modern world and big city life. She's a likeable heroine with a heart of gold and Kemper and Burgess possess a strong chemistry on screen together. And if nothing else, the sight of a large black gay man in an Iron Man costume is undeniably funny. I'm two episodes in and will be sticking with it for the moment at least.
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