‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ was more revolutionary than anyone realised
It’s a sad week for fans of — as some have described this particular style of TV comedy — the ‘live-action cartoon’. Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s audacious, outrageously-funny Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt quietly released its final few episodes and exited the world with as insultingly little fanfare as it has received since premiering in 2015. For 51 episodes, it used a remarkably consist comic timing and a cast of adorable but complicated characters to preach the message that you don’t have to abandon cynicism to exhibit kindness. It may never have achieved the singular genius of a show like Fey/Carlock’s 30 Rock, or the even superior Community, but the coherence of its message and terrific premise held together more tightly than either of those shows, and with the final episode in the can, one imagines the 4 seasons will work extremely well as a single binge-watch.
In choosing its quartet of lead characters, Unbreakable opted to redefine what archetypes a sitcom ensemble needs to include. There’s no Ross on this show. There’s no Rachel either. These are four extremely 2010s types interrogated and flushed for comedic potential by the writers to truly outstanding results. We have the eponymous Ms. Schmidt (Ellie Kemper), rescued from a bunker after being abducted as a teenager and missing out on years of…
