Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Is A Hit

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Netflix Streaming
Produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock
With Ellie Kemper, Carol Kane, 
Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess
Five Scoops of Bosco

Revewed by Allen Bacon, The Daily Bosco

The most amazing thing about Tina Fey's latest television project Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is not the story line but the fact that NBC passed on this project.

The show currently streams on Netflix with a two year full season commitment.

NBC, who originally owned the rights to the show, only offered a half season of 13 episodes.

If you're keeping track at home, that is at least three comedies that featured established and proven NBC alumni  that the Peacock network has passed up on.  The list includes Andy Samberg's (SNL) Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and Mindy Kaling's (The Office) The Mindy Project.

If you put those three shows together you could have had at least one night of "Must See TV".

From the same team that brought us 30 Rock  and some of the most memorable writing on Saturday Night Live (Tina Fey, Robert Carlock), Unbreakable... moves at the frenetic pacing of 30 Rock but with a great underlying message.

Unbreakable is the story of Kimmy Schmidt who is rescued from an underground bunker with three other women.  As members of a Doomsday Cult, they were duped into believing that the World had gone through an Apocalypse and they were the only survivors living in an underground bunker.

After being discovered and rescued by the National Guard in the first few minutes of the opening show, the women are free and the show takes off from there.

You couldn't find a better actress to play Kimmy than Ellie Kemper (The Office) unless it was Tina Fey herself.  Kemper performs with a wonderful mix of naivety and wide-eyed wonder of her new found freedom.

The supporting cast is a great mix of established comedic talent and newcomers.

Carol Kane (Taxi) plays Kimmy's landlord.

Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) is Kimmy's boss, a rich wife and mother who after firing her takes her back and eventually calls Kimmy "Her Best Friend".

Tituss Burgess, a relative newcomer to television save for an appearance on 30 Rock, does a great job of portraying Kimmy's new room mate.

I like the underlying messages of the show.

Sure, it uses the Cult aspect as comedic springboard, but it shows the difficulty and challenges of breaking free from Cult mentality.  It also shows how you can achieve things with positivity even in the most adverse situations.

If you liked the fast pace, rapid fire jokes and punchlines, the flashback device, and the parade of cameos (Jon Hamm plays the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne and Horatio Sanz pops up as a Mariachi in the first episode) that was in 30 Rock, you are going to love this show.

Expect Emmys for at least Best Comedy and Best Comedic Actress in September for this show.