Schmigadoon!

I stumbled across this show one night flipping through streaming services. I have always been a fan of Cecily Strong and still miss her in SNL so...why not watch this strange show called 'Schmigadoon!' I loved it from the very beginning! I have always been a big fan of musicals...the more showy and over-the-top the better and this show starts out strong and stays that way through both seasons. Some people might say it's satire but I think instead it pays homage to the shows of decades past. For the most part I always knew what musical they were stealing from during both seasons (and so glad they got in 'Phantom of the Opera' at the end with the chandelier finally landing on someone!).

The jokes are smart, the musical numbers are spot on and I love how Cecily Strong admits that as a size 12 she can't compete with the skinny girls but...there she is...singing and dancing and showing them all how it's done.

Loved Patrick Martin in 'Spirited' and I hope he's found a home on Apple TV.

My favorite part was watching the actors change characters between season 1 and season 2 with Dove Cameron and Alan Cumming as my favorites.

I can only hope that there is a season 3...

The intelligence of this show is encased in the fact that it's unmistakably a musical with song and dance, and yet is also a parody of musicals. There may be a dark side that emerges only at the end of the first episode, but until that develops, it's a story filled with amusing ironies. Two of the songs in the first episode are clearly meant to resonate Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. The opening song is a riff on Oklahoma and another a riff on Carousel. But they are at one and the same time well-written and well-rehearsed numbers, and yet are funny because of their self-conscious acknowledgment that they are musicals. Hard to explain, perhaps, but you'll see what I mean when you watch. Parts are laugh out loud funny.

Was I a theater kid? Yes! And this show was just the kind of funloving meta musical sitcom my little musical soul needed. It's filled to the brim with great actors (and great singers), the songs are beautifully written and the story is different but still recognizable. If you don't like musicals, this probably isn't for you...But if you do, than OMG this is sooooo good... It does border on parodying the musical greats rather than pay homage, but I honestly don't mind.

If you truly hate musicals, then you won't like this show. Likewise, posting a 1-star review because you hate the genre makes no sense. As for me, I've seen several musicals. Some I liked. Some I did not.

But Schmigadoon is different. After watching the first few episodes, all I could think of was the great series Galavant that aired in 2015. The songs are all tongue-in-cheek parody. What makes Schmigadoon so endearing is the acting done by the two leads, Cecily and Keegan-Michael. They are trapped in this world and are often shocked or disturbed by what's happening around them.

The songs are highly inventive. The supporting cast is also spectacular. This is a unique and fun show with catchy tunes and laugh-out-loud moments. The script constantly plays up the fish-out-of-water setting, with moments such as Cecily's character trying to explain an IUD to the brash young man singing to her.

If the first episode doesn't hook you, then the show isn't for you. But if you were a fan of Galavant, I think you will enjoy Schmigadoon.

I liked the first season and am absolutetly loving the second.

In the first season we get some really oldy musical vibes from the 1930s to 1950s. Falling in love with no sense what so ever ... and lots of frills, pastels, and plastic trees. And what else would you want?

In the second season we find our selfs in more reasent years and musicals. Like Hair (70s) and Sweeny Todd (00s). It becomes a weird mix of the dark streets of 1800s London, the smoke filled lokales of 1920s Chicago, and all the flower-power you can handle from the 1970s (actually a bit more than that, to be frank).

The songs and dancing numbers are (at least in my opinion) well written, and well performed by the actors.

If you plan to watch this, do so with an open mind.

This is not meant to be a masterpiece. But to entertain and make us laugh.

Which I think the creators and the cast succeeds perfectly.