I just watched the first episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Insert sad face emoji.
Oh dear what’s happened to Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt? The first series was one of the funniest TV shows on television – okay Netflix – is that classed as television these days?
It was rather glorious. The female lead sitcom which blasted on to our screens in 2015, was a breath of fresh air, colour – and return to sublime absurdist comedy. It’s about a woman, Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) who after being bunkered by a religious zealot for 15 years is finally freed and makes a new life for herself in New York collecting on her travels an assortment of outrageous characters, each more offensive than the last – but the second season’s first episode just left me with a huge sad face.
I maybe late to the party with season two, which was released earlier this year, but I’ve made it a house rule that we can’t have anymore than three TV binges happening at once – we have to complete something before we can start something new – so I made my housemates rush finish Camping Julia Davis’s brilliantly cringey new offering, HappyIsh Steve Coogan’s brilliantly insightful new dark comedy and the latest series of Person Of Interest – it’s a guilty pleasure – don’t ask.
After all that binge watching maybe I was tired. Tired as Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s script, which is worrying at this every early stage in its lifetime. It should still feel fresh and with Tina Fey’s brilliant mind this is a TV show that should run for many series.
Sad to say, the comedy that brought Kimmy out into the open feels rather bunkered. The first episode didn’t even raise a polite titter (and I laugh at dog videos on YouTube, so the bar is pretty low).
What has happened to our beloved Kimmy? Maybe I’ll give one more episode.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is available to stream on Netflix now.
