Interview with Abe: Kristin Chenoweth

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Kristin Chenoweth below!

Interview with Abe: Dove Cameron

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Dove Cameron below!

Interview with Abe: Aaron Tveit

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Aaron Tveit below!

Interview with Abe: Ann Harada

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Ann Harada below!

Interview with Abe: Jane Krakowski

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Jane Krakowski below!

Interview with Abe: Tituss Burgess

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with Tituss Burgess below!

Interview with Abe: Cinco Paul

I had the pleasure of speaking with a good chunk of the cast of the fantastic Apple TV+ series “Schmigadoon” for Awards Radar. Watch my conversation with showrunner Cinco Paul below!

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episode 3 “Bells and Whistles” (B+)

This episode featured some pretty fantastic performances, with its title indicating the show-stopping number featuring Jane Krakowski’s Bobby explaining just what it is that she does to dazzle the jurors and the crowd. She’s a phenomenal actress, and this was an excellent showcase for her that really allowed her to be put to tremendous use. There’s a certain hilarity to the concept of these hippies getting naked and telling parables for months without noticing any change, which has modern-day relevance for the echo chambers people create for themselves that don’t actually result in them transmitting their message beyond like minds. Josh’s reaction to the nudity was expected but humorous, along with his commentary that there were moles he was concerned about when he saw everyone’s bare bodies. When I had the chance to speak with a number of actors on this show, they all said they wished they could share scenes with Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming, both of whom had great scenes in this episode. Melissa’s analysis that Miss Coldwell was selling the children was a fitting wrap-up for that appearance, and it’s really so striking how different Cumming’s character is this season. I am a fan of “Sweeney Todd” and appreciated the parody here that was still dark and chilling but also pointed out the flaws in his revenge plan that wouldn’t in fact accomplish the goals he truly wanted to achieve, focused instead on making everyone miserable when outright happiness and fulfillment might be much easier to attain.

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episode 2 “Bustin’ Out” (B+)

This season is definitely darker, but I do appreciate the way in which it fully commits to the absurdity. The narrator doesn’t know if he’s omniscient or not, and Jane Krakowski’s Bobbie was intent on blaming jazz for inspiring Josh to without a doubt have committed murder. Josh’s refusal to play along doesn’t help matters at all, and the fact that the law is ten percent precedent and ninety percent “wow” doesn’t work if people don’t like the accused. Josh was also convinced that the happiness bus wasn’t real and that Aaron Tveit’s magnanimous hippie Topher was just tripping, but then they busted out and had a lot of fun fleeing from the law. Melissa somehow managed to get the part out of a troupe of dancers after she held up her driver’s license while the rest of them had headshots to show, and that chain dance with Jenny and Emcee was probably the standout musical number of the episode. Krakowski was the MVP, however, and did a great job sending up Billy Flynn from “Chicago” (one of the only references I immediately got since I’m hardly a musical theater expert). The song about needing to eat and how last night dinner was a candle was rather disturbing, but, again, this show commits. I was also intrigued by Sergeant Rivera telling Melissa not to stick her pretty little nose where it doesn’t belong since we don’t typically see Jaime Camil in such a villainous role, especially in season one of this show.

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon (Season Premiere)

Schmigadoon: Season 2, Episode 1 “Welcome to Schmicago” (B+)

It’s a nice treat to have this show back, especially since Apple TV+ kept us in suspense for a while about whether it was actually going to be renewed. The lead-up to the characters’ decision to try to find Schmigadoon again was both entertaining and dispiriting, with Melissa being bluntly told “No one said corn pudding” in the supermarket and the endless montage of “There’s the foot” / “Does it hurt?” as they sleep-walked through their lives. The new town they found is definitely not Schmigadoon, and while it’s not nearly as shocking or scandalous as its performers would like to think, it is quite dark. It’s fun to see how Josh isn’t able to recognize anyone that had a different role in season one, while Melissa is definitely paying attention and wants to make sure that they don’t cross the wrong people. Dove Cameron is this season’s early standout as Jenny Banks, whose “We’ve Gone Kaput” was the musical highlight of the episode. I’m very happy with the two notable cast additions in this episode: Tituss Burgess as the Narrator and Patrick Page as Octavius Kratt. Things didn’t go too well for Josh as he ended up as the prime suspect in a murder, and the leprechaun cutting their car wires only made things worse. This is going to be a gloomy adventure, one that’s sure to have some comedic and otherwise just bizarre moments as Josh and Melissa struggle not just to find happiness but to make it out of this miserable place with their lives.

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon (Season Finale)

Schmigadoon: Season 1, Episode 6 “How We Change” (B+)

I’m choosing to regard this as a season finale rather than a series ender since, even though there’s no word yet about whether it’s been renewed. I do think that, if it doesn’t end up getting picked up, which would be sad, this serves as a strong and wonderful conclusion. I liked that both Melissa and Josh came back around to the idea of being with each other without much difficulty, and that Doc and Emma were very understanding that they weren’t the ultimate choice of romantic partner. Emma in particular made that realization that Josh wasn’t coming with them to New York City, which of course meant that she and Carson weren’t leaving Schmigadoon after all, but it was nice to see her proudly tell the whole town that Carson was actually her son, something that she wasn’t ashamed to admit after all this time. Just as Mildred was about to be reelected by a landslide, it was a delight to see so many in the town confess their dirty secrets, including Danny’s desire to be a member of the community. Howard expressing his love for Mayor Menlove and then kissing him was the true highlight, and I loved that Melissa pivoted right away to helping Mildred see that she could be redeemed and have a better attitude going forward. ending with them about to cross the bridge but not knowing if it actually happened was great, and as I said earlier, I would be ecstatic about a return trip to this show’s world. The music and dance numbers have been terrific, and this show has been a blast.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Cecily Strong as Melissa

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 1, Episode 5 “Tribulation” (B+)

I don’t like the fact that this is the second-to-last episode of this show, especially since every indication is that it’s just a limited series and won’t be back for more. I’m not sure I’m quite well-versed enough in musicals to get every reference this show throws at me, but fortunately, it can be enjoyed on many levels. Honestly, I’m content enough getting to see talented actresses given fantastic showcases. Jane Krakowski, who I did see on Broadway in her Tony-nominated performance in “She Loves Me,” was just as great as I would have imagined as The Countess, and I enjoyed every moment of her interactions with Melissa, peppered with great commentary as always from the much more knowledgeable musical lover. I was also thrilled to see Kristin Chenoweth get a perfect musical number that explained her distrust and dislike of outsiders, and her plans to oust the mayor so that she could keep Schmigadoon just as pure and unevolved as it’s always been. Josh may have been fine with Emma’s big revelation, but that’s now how Carson should have found out. Danny punching Josh in the woods so that he could find something to connect him back to Melissa was a helpful end, but they’re going to have to overcome more obstacles in what I’m sure will be a fun and memorable (hopefully season) finale. There are just so many great characters and musical opportunities to be explored here, and the talent enlisted deserves at least a few more seasons to regale audiences.

What I’m Watching: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 1, Episode 4 “Suddenly” (B+)

This episode was a really fun opportunity to get to know the two new characters that we’ve barely seen, played by Ariana Debose from “The Prom” and Jaime Camil from “Jane the Virgin.” I like that Josh was so overconfident as to think that he would be able to do any job Emma needed him to and then promptly got ridiculed and fitted with a dunce cap by her students when he gave up almost right away on trying to fix the door. It was also entertaining to see how Emma reacted when Betsy’s father burst in with his shotgun and she made the two of them leave after snatching it away from him. Doc Lopez was a bit more of a disappointment, not interested in hearing any of Melissa’s opinions and not around to help any of his patients with any actual medical issues. The song that she sang about how birthing and body parts work was pretty terrific, and while I’m not sure exactly how we got from that to her and Doc dancing while Emma and Josh were too, it was clever that they were shown on a split-screen when they weren’t actually together as this passion suddenly took hold of their two romantic interests. It was both reassuring and incredibly uncomfortable to see Mayor Menlove use the funeral as an opportunity to declare – in song, of course – that he was gay, a very public admission that surely will not sit well with the image-obsessed and rather medieval Mildred.

Take Three: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 1, Episode 3 “Cross That Bridge” (B+)

The opening flashback to an earlier time was highly informative, both for how Josh so casually noted what he didn’t like doing without caring at all what she didn’t like and how he was able to co-opt a sweet story he heard there and use it to his advantage to try to get the hell out of Schmigadoon. Melissa woke up to a friendly and lavish reception in the morning from Danny, who was singing passionately about her being pregnant and wasn’t listening when she kept telling him that she wasn’t pregnant and in fact had an IUD. Josh’s situation was somewhat more nightmarish, but Melissa didn’t have much sympathy for him given how quickly he had managed to find himself engaged to someone very young. Theorizing that he just needed to find what Schmigadoon considered true love in order to escape it wasn’t a fabulous plan, and it backfired spectacularly as he managed to move through the entire female population of the town and then find an angry Melissa even madder at him than she was before. The name of Mildred’s group, Mothers Against the Future, was very spot-on, and I also enjoyed Florence’s spot-on song about that queer man of hers. I’m intrigued to see that, after these initial antics with Betsy and Danny, Josh and Melissa have both now become enchanted by different prospective partners, Emma Tate, played by Ariana DeBose from “The Prom,” and Doc Lopez, played by Jaime Camil from “Jane the Virgin.” I’m excited to see more of both of them.

Round Two: Schmigadoon

Schmigadoon: Season 1, Episode 2 “Lovers’ Spat” (B+)

I very much enjoyed this second installment, and I like that there’s a good amount of time spent on the reality of this situation and its inescapability, which of course means very different things to our two protagonists. Melissa picked up quickly on the fact that Josh didn’t think what they had was true love, and he handled every part of that very poorly. Finally getting into the spirit of the town and suiting up to go to the auction because Betsy had indicated her interest was not a good look, though Melissa didn’t respond too well either, drinking a lot of the punch meant only for gentlemen and then getting up there awkwardly to auction herself off. I like that she embraced the chance to get her own musical number with Aaron Tveit’s impossibly charming Danny, while Josh found himself in an intimate situation with Betsy just as he was growing more and more concerned about how young she was, which was made even more problematic by the arrival of her father with a shotgun pointed right at him. I’m thrilled that Alan Cumming is getting such good material on this show, and his mayor fully missed the point Melissa was making when she asked him outright if he was gay. I’m not sure there’s actually some magic recipe for how things might change if both Melissa and Josh find happiness or true love in Schmigadoon, but I’m loving seeing how they both approach their truly bizarre state in very different ways.

Pilot Review: Schmigadoon

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.