I am enjoying the show so far quite a bit. I like it better than 30 Rock. Feels more like *Scrubs *to me oddly enough. Carol Kane and the actress playing Kimmy are the best part of the show so far. (Ellie Kemper, I just looked up)
I have loved Carol Kane in everything she has done except Taxi. But that was more about Kaufman I think.
Ms Kemper is really good at playing this quirky character. I love the like jokes in this show like referring to her as the Wendy’s Burger Girl.
SO I finished the show this weekend, and yes, I agree that the humor of the last two episodes really dropped.
I was really made uncomfortable by how much the Preacher was winning over the courtroom and how incompetent the two attorneys were. I guess that was all supposed to be part of the joke, but it just didn’t seem as funny as Kimmy trying to adjust to life in NY. While real life men of this caliber exist and probably don’t always get convicted in court, it seems not right to make a big fat joke of it.
It was entirely too predictable that they’d get locked back in the vault.
As others have said, the stepfather character is terrible.
Look, I love girl power shows as much as anybody. But that doesn’t mean we have to make all of the men useless, do we? I started making a list of the men in the show and their competence:
That being said, I will definitely watch the second season. Hopefully they will leave Durnsville behind and go back to NYC.
I watched the whole season this weekend, I really liked it. Very similar to 30 Rock in some ways, with the absurdist sense of humor for some stuff and the music. Ellie Kemper is great as Kimmy, Titus is great too, I loved him as D’Fwan on 30 Rock.
I like how it’s a bright, colorful, optimistic show, but with the streak of darkness. Kimmy definitely has PTSD, and things that she’s working through. Waking up choking Titus, finding herself in the shower with a knife, and being afraid of Velcro were all funny but worrying.
I’ve read comments on other pages from people who had escaped from cults who found the show hilarious and relatable. I like how the joke isn’t on Kimmy or the other women; there is humor to be mined in their situation, but they aren’t the butt of the joke.
Yeah, the stepfather is a bit much for me, but I wasn’t too bothered by everyone outside of NY being a moron, because it’s shown that in this show most of the people in NY are morons too. Sometimes more from self-absorption instead of lack of education, but still there aren’t too many bright characters on the show. Jacqueline is dumb, partly because she’s never needed to be smart. All the rich people haven’t been shown as necessarily dumb, but none of them have seemed smart or admirable. Lillian is focused on her prejudices so she does some stupid and crazy things. Titus is somewhat smart, but still reliant on some prejudices. Dong is smart (and good at math). The GED teacher might be smart, but he’s definitely not an admirable comparison to other characters. Really the characters who seemed the smartest to me though they haven’t been on much are Jacqueline’s Native American parents, and they aren’t New Yorkers.
I agree with it being uncomfortable about how the preacher was winning over the court, but I liked them making a joke about it. There have been some other harsh jokes in the show, that are funny but also sad because of the harsh truths, like Titus finding it easier to live in New York as a werewolf than a black man. Or Jacqueline changing everything about herself to pass as a white. Or Kimmy and the other women from the bunker leaving the Today Show in the first episode and being given their gift bags and being told “Bye victims!” There are a lot of things in the show that are funny because they are true and sad.
I will agree that I found Kimmy’s stepfather pointless, mainly unfunny, and a total distraction. Did we really need to take up time with him in the tree with that cat?
Titus is the character of the show and should be up for an Emmy this year. It’d be a shame if he did not win. Is the actor gay? Is he already famous? I’ve never seen or heard of him to my knowledge. His name is Titus, though.
My favorite moment is that big tough dude teaching Titus how to “act straight”. When he grabs his face and says things like “Madonna’s overrated”, I nearly died.
He’s mostly a stage actor: Tituss Burgess
And when Kimmy and Titus are on the bus, Titus is reading a copy of a “Land Mall” catalog.
My guess would be the absurdity, maybe? This show does not take itself seriously at all. The continuity is even shot between episodes 3 and 4, where the lesson in 3 is that you can’t fake your happiness, and the lesson in 4 is that it’s okay to be fake if that makes you happy. Not even a token acknowledgement that Cyndie will wind up unhappy like Mrs. Voorhees.
On TV, I’d have assumed they aired out of order. But here I think it was intentional. I mean, it would have taken a one line fix, but they didn’t do it. (“You may not be happy in the future, but, hey, it’s your life and you get to live it. That’s what it means to not be in the Bunker.”)
This led to one of the biggest in-joke laughs for me. Titus Burgess got his big break on Broadway starring as Sebastian in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. His rival on the show, Coriolanus Burt, is played by James Monroe Iglehart who just last year won the Tony for playing the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin!
I loved seeing so many familiar Broadway faces show up! Christine Ebersole, Jefferson Mays, etc.
I for once look forward to seeing Jacqueline embrace her Native American heritage next season while still being Jacqueline.
Kimmy: “Why are my shoes going through the floor?”
Lillian: “It’s definitely not because the floor is just pained dirt; this is a real apartment!”
I’m in the middle of the season and having great fun.
One thing I love is the name jokes - every time someone says “Mrs. Vorhees” I giggle - never mind the middle names, Lannister and Rommel. I’m also enjoying the commitment to side jokes that was typical of 30 Rock.
Oh, and Fat Rhonda appearing on the plane was great: “I get mine.”
I was glad they didn’t have a line like that. I think the message is there without it being spoken. You knew what the real message was and they didn’t have to state it. It works and it’s better writing to not be explicit with the message.
I loved the show, but yes, the last two episodes were much weaker. It’s like they wrote themselves into a corner with the dumb bumpkins courtroom and didn’t know how to get out of it, so they just went even more over the top with it.
Ellie Kemper is fabulous in this role though. She stays bright and appealing without being unbelievable. (I have a friend who’s as chipper as Kimmie, but thankfully is a bit more worldly wise and up to date.)
The theme song was the work of the genius Gregory Brothers. Here’s the video they made shortly after the Ramsey interview. They split their share of the revenue with Charles Ramsey. They are also known as “AutoTune The News” “Schmoyoho” and “Songify”.
They got a lot of attention when they did the same thing for the “Backin Up” lady the “Rent is too damn high!” guy the “Boogity-boogity-boogity Amen!” preacher and the guy who caught the “Bed intruder”.
They find music in stuff people say, and are (obviously in my opinion) the most amazing pop songwriters in years.
I always end up getting on the band wagon late, so I finished binge watching the series last week and I was amused. The theme song is the best, and yes I was still singing/humming it as I tried to fall asleep. Lillian is my favorite character but I really don’t like Dong,
Best episode, IMHO, has to be the spirit cycle episode, although I agree that sometimes they go to far with a joke and to make it worse, they keep on running even farther to where its just, eww, no.
I’ll watch season 2.
I LOVED the werewolf part. “That poor werewolf is suffering! Let’s help him!”
“Would you hold my baby?”
Seriously people, click on the links in my last post. The Gregory Brothers (Micheal, Andrew, Evan and Evan’s wife Sarah) have been turning turning people talking into music for nearly a decade, and they have a rare gift for pop melody.
Just popped in to see if there was any interest in starting a thread regarding the death that may have been spurred on by Martin Shorts depiction of an over the top plastic surgeon, a thinly veiled jab at Dr. Frederic Brandt.
Anyone? Anyone?
First I’ve heard of it and first I’ve heard of him. You’d think that much Botox would thicken your skin a little…
:BUMP:
And now is has been nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmy’s! And Titus gets a nod for best supporting actor!
And Jane Krakowski is nominated for best supporting actress. She’s really good but that Carol Kane might be more deserving. Maybe her role is too small? I have no idea what the criteria are.
Jon Hamm and Tina Fey were also nominated for guest appearances.