30 Rock executive producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock partner again for Netflix comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The sitcom stars The Office alum Ellie Kemper as Kimmy, a woman who is saved from an underground Midwestern doomsday cult and moves to New York City. Kimmy, which also features Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess and Carol Kane,was originally developed for NBC before moving to Netflix. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.
“The show was created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and it has a lot in common with30 Rock. Kimmy shares some of Liz's squareness, and Krakowski's Jacqueline could easily share a dog masseuse with Jenna Maroney. (I won't spoil her actual backstory here, but it's one of my favorite comedy subplots in living memory.)”
—Margaret Lyons,Vulture
“What infuses the entire series with sweetness and positivity is Kemper’s never-flagging, completely endearing portrayal of Kimmy, who doesn’t want to be a victim and doesn’t want to waste another day of her life. She wants to live, and she’s damned upbeat about it — which, of course, puts her at odds with most everybody else in New York.”
—Tim Goodman, The Hollywood Reporter
“The show’s feminism is even more pronounced than 30 Rock‘s; even Mrs. Vorhees (Krakowski) has become who she is out of low self-esteem and desperation to hang on to her always absent, philandering husband.”
—James Poniewozik, Time
“There are bumps: The creepiness of the premise — women really have been kidnapped and held underground for years, after all — is played with but never quite looked at straight on. Kimmy might as easily have been rescued from a desert island or come out of a coma.”
—Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times
“The net effect, though, has a slightly tired feel to it — or at least, one that doesn’t feel wholly worthy of Netflix’s premium-TV niche. Indeed, in terms of laughs, the show essentially peaks in its first few minutes, which feature [a] Today bit and a mock news headline that reads, 'White Women Found.'”
—Brian Lowry, Variety
