Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

You’ve likely heard the term “Peak TV” floating around of late, expressing the exhaustive amount of must-see series floating around on every platform these days, and Netflix in particular. They’re certainly not going to make it any easier for you either, as Netflix plans 31 original series premieres in 2016, up from this year’s 16.

The 2015 Emmy Awards have made us laugh all night, but now it’s time to recognize an actual TV series for such an honor. 'Veep' has officially taken home the statue for Outstanding Comedy Series, beating out some impressive competition.

Finally no longer dumping the announcement at 5:30 A.M. PT, while half the critical populace sweat through Comic-Con, the 2015 Emmy nominations are here! A few major surprises and omissions, as well as some well-deserved chances at the gold, but who's up for at 2015, as presented by Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg? Let's find out!

It’s not just the theme song from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt that gets stuck in everyone’s heads (the mere mention of it guarantees it won’t leave your brain for at least a week) — let’s not forget Titus Andromedon’s amazing pop song and accompanying video for “Peeno Noir.” In the spirit of all that is fierce, a fan has made a mashup combining Titus’ song with one of our favorite secondary Game of Thrones characters: Jaqen H’ghar.

Perhaps we should have seen this coming — one of those things that’s so obvious that you’ll wonder why you hadn’t thought of it earlier. We all know Furiosa is the real badass star of Mad Max: Fury Road, a film that shows you that females are strong as hell. And in keeping with that idea, some genius took to YouTube to publish their mashup of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt opening/theme song with footage of Furiosa and the tough ladies of Fury Road. And just when you got that damn theme song out of your head.

When you are a known quantity, a famous face or maybe a guy well known for working on famous faces, you open yourself up to parody. That’s the number one rule of comedy: nothing and no one is off limits. And yet the news that infamous “celebrity dermatologist” Dr. Fredric Brandt has passed away so shortly after being ruthlessly (and let’s be brutally honest here, hilariously) mocked on Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is sad news ... especially since it is now being implied that the show’s take on him may have contributed to his death.

Welcome back to another installment of the Monday Morning Critic. In this space each week, I’ll be looking at the week that was in addition to the week ahead in television. The format will shift each week, as the world of TV will dictate the form and content of each piece. In this week’s installment: shows that are in danger of falling into my DVR abyss.

While it bears the distinctive markings of a show that would be right at home in that immortal two-hour stretch of comedy magic, it’s not on NBC. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt may be the latest series to debut on the ever-growing, all-consuming streaming behemoth that is Netflix, but its goofy spirit and whimsical characters feel like they could only exist because of what aired before ... on NBC. Specifically: it’s no coincidence that this show shares so many writers, directors and producers with 30 Rock.

Netflix snapped up one of NBC’s surely-doomed sitcoms in that of ‘30 Rock’ star Tina Fey’s ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,’ already renewing the Ellie Kemper apocalypse comedy for a second year. The first trailer for the new series has arrived, but did Netflix make the right call in picking up NBC’s loss?

Netflix keeps adding to its reputation as a savior of cancelled shows, most recently picking up a fourth season of ‘Longmire’ after A&E’s cancellation, but their latest acquisition proves even notably weirder. Prior to ever even airing on NBC, Tina Fey-Ellie Kemper comedy ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ has set a March 2015 premiere on Netflix, where the show has been picked up for two full seasons.