Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

[mrspickles]

Mar 13, 2015 22:30:13 GMT -4 @roisin54 said:

I have to say, I was very impressed by Ellie Kemper in this. I'd only seen her in Bridesmaids and 21 Jump Street before this (not a fan of The Office) so I didn't really have a good idea of how talented she is. She's totally nailed the kind of speech and mannerisms common among teenage girls in the late 90s. I'm tickled by how much she says "Doy!" I said that all the freaking time back in the day.

ETA: Jon Hamm was her acting teacher in high school. Whoa.

I just remember a BI reveal about her stopping to help a family with a flat tire in the rain. It was one of those super nice things to do, so she's on my 'wish her all the very best' list.

[Spinderella]

I love everything about this show.

It did start to slow down a bit as it came to the end of the season, so I hope that they'll continue with random and fun "Kimmy's clueless about [insert pop culture reference here] or [this doesn't exist anymore]", etc.

Because really, what would the Care Bears have to say about that? It really depends on the bear.

As for her love interests, I think it's totally fine given that at 30, she's really still a trapped 15-year-old girl that was stuck with a bunch of crazy chicks for all those years. She's bound to have that crazy love infatuation come about.

Titus is amazing-balls. AH-ma-Zing! I didn't care for Kimmy's step-dad at all and hope he doesn't return. He's just a waste of time and space, but I wonder if they'll ever find Kimmy's mom? And Carole Kane & Jane K. are adorbs.

[Deleted]

I gotta watch this. 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows of all time.

[FotoStoreSheila]

Ellie Kemper is terrific! Her mannerisms were reminding so much of Reneé Zellweger in 'Nurse Betty'.

I love watching Kimmy spar with Xan.

But D'fwan Titus was my absolute favourite. I found myself rewinding so much of his dialogue because it made me laugh out loud. The scene where he's shooting Pinot Noir in the abandoned chandelier factory and all the bats attack, was glorious. When Randy brings the grumpy prostitute into the apartment and then she kind of lingers behind, The way Titus dismisses her with "Okay, bye Vicki!", cracks me up. Also loved the gag with Titus seeing his 'old man' reflection in the window, only to be told off and punched by his elderly neighbour.

[Hamatron]

I have a lot of side eye for Jane Krakowski's Native storyline. It puts me on edge, and I don't quite know how I feel about it yet. I also super hate that step-dad. He just stresses me out.

But I am enjoying the show overall. Carol Kane always makes me happy, and the moment where Titus flips out because they broadcast him singing about his skin tags on the news made me laugh out loud.

[chonies]

Mar 15, 2015 14:43:33 GMT -4 Hamatron said:

I have a lot of side eye for Jane Krakowski's Native storyline. It puts me on edge, and I don't quite know how I feel about it yet.

I haven't gotten here in the episodes yet, but I've read about it elsewhere, and I agree. I love Tina Fey in general but for a long time there's been this kind of off-putting racial subtext with her--she uses lot of references to ethnicity or race where it wouldn't have been until she introduced it.

I like the style of the theme song, but it also sort of made me uncomfy because of the "wacky black neighbor goes viral" joke. I suppose that could work as social commentary, too, but I didn't see that work out that way.

[prisma]

Mar 15, 2015 14:55:33 GMT -4 chonies said:

I like the style of the theme song, but it also sort of made me uncomfy because of the "wacky black neighbor goes viral" joke. I suppose that could work as social commentary, too, but I didn't see that work out that way.

The Gregory Brothers put the opening together. They're the ones responsible for The Bedroom Intruder Song that went viral a little while back. The events in this song took place in my hometown and it caused all kinds of ruckus around here because some people thought it made our city look bad. Huntsville's a very military industrial complex kind of town--NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Space Camp are here and you can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone who bills himself to be a rocket scientist. So lots of people freaked out that we were getting attention for an incident that took place in THE PROJECTS! So in that respect I got a little kick out of the original song because, well, there are indeed housing projects here and why should we pretend that there are not.

But, stepping back a bit, I do think the "wacky black neighbor goes viral" joke in the series opener is uncomfortable because Antoine Dodson (the guy in the original song) did get put on a roller coaster and I'm not sure he's the better off for it. Last I heard he had come back from California, gotten religious, renounced his homosexuality, gotten married, and was expecting a kid. There's something unfunny about recreating a fictionalized version when I think about it hard. When I'm not thinking about it hard though, the song is insanely infectious.

[chonies]

I can't remember where I read it (Slate? Wired?) but the primary issue was that the theme song was kind of a problem because it calls back directly to Antoine Dobson, Sweet Brown, and even Charles Ramsey, who is arguably the source material for Walter Bankston. The popularity of the memes is uncomfortable for me because they tap into a vein of modern stereotypes, and that's possibly why they became funny--it's the element of laughing at because of race and class stereotypes, rather than, "oh my, yes, I do totally understand--no one has time for a house fire, after all."

Anyway, interesting back story on Antoine Dodson. I remember that he was a celebrity, then was in the news for other reasons, like you said.

[Ladybug]

The Native American story is so weird. I guess they needed to give Jane Krakowski a different backstory than she had in 30 Rock. But yes, it is inappropriate and mildly offensive.

I'm enjoying the show, but not as much as 30 Rock. But I love the scenes with Titus and his friendship with Kimmy. Also enjoy the bunker cult scenes.

[kostgard]

I see the viral video opening as a commentary on how this stuff shakes out as well as how we can't help but dig them because they are so catchy (they got the same people to do the theme as the Dodson song for a reason). And they didn't completely shy away from the negative side of being a viral video star (though in a funny way). Walter Bankston kept trying to warn Titus that the wave of fame won't be fun and awesome forever and the other shoe will drop.

Tina Fey has always walked right up to the line on this stuff. That's what a lot of comedy does - it's a high wire act to shine a light on this stuff and to make us laugh at the darkest, ugliest parts of ourselves and society, and it's hard to not fall over onto the wrong side. Fey avoids that by keeping things absurd.

I personally think the show is pulling it off. I'm fine with Jacqueline's backstory, because we are not supposed to side with her on this. Her parents are good people. They are funny and can't figure out what is up with their daughter because what she did is utterly ridiculous. I think people are mostly taking notice because you don't see this much with Native Americans much in TV and movies. After all, so much of Titus' story revolves around his race/sexuality. He decides to live as a werewolf because people treat a werewolf better than they do a black man. He gets mistaken for Samuel L. Jackson despite looking nothing like him. He starts to wonder if cab drivers are hitting him on purpose. He takes "pass for straight" training because he gets passed over for roles for being too gay. Then there is the whole class difference with people in Jacqueline's world completely unaware of how people like Titus and Kimmy live.