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Forget whatever it is you’ve agreed to do this Friday, because things are about to get fudging exciting: ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’ is back on Netflix for season three. Only the genius that is Tina Fey could make the story of a group of women kidnapped by a doomsday cult leader and kept in a bunker for 15 years extraordinarily funny. But it’s not just the lols – of which there are oodles – or the super-catchy theme tune (viral meme-based, obvs) that will make you want to literally Netflix and chill.
There’s Kimmy herself…
She was kidnapped as a 15-year-old and dressed in a nineteenth-century gown when she was in the bunker, so her style never evolved. Cut to Kimmy navigating New York dressed like a box of crayons, with light-up shoes and colourful accessories. Unashamedly girly, relentlessly cheerful and remarkably innocent, Kimmy’s ultra-feminine qualities aren’t at odds with how tough she is – it’s like the theme tune says, ‘females are strong as hell’. And while Kimmy has plenty of admirers, her love life is by no means her main story arc. Kimmy saved herself from that bunker and it’s her independence that makes her so strong. Truly, she is the hero that the world needs in these trying times.
Netflix
Then there’s her squad…
Comprising her gravelly voiced landlord Lillian (Carol Kane), who campaigns against gentrification and is flexible about which side of the law she finds herself on; incredibly spoilt boss-turned-best friend Jacqueline Voorhees, played by the brilliant Jane Krakowski; Phoebe from ‘Friends’ (Lisa Kudrow) as Kimmy’s estranged and immature rollercoasting mother; and Tina Fey as a superbly unhinged boozy psychiatrist.
And not forgetting Titus
Kimmy’s all-singing, all-dancing flatmate, Titus Andromedon, played by Broadway’s Tituss Burgess, is perfection. Teasers for season three show the ‘star on the rise’ exacting revenge on his construction worker boyfriend Michael, who he suspects of cheating (say it ain’t so – these two are Darcy and Elizabeth for the Netflix generation) by ‘lemonading’. Complete with yellow dress and baseball cap, he is the only bald man alive who can pull off a convincing hair flick.
Netflix
Even the baddie is great
In a role diametrically opposed to dreamy, damaged and psychotically charming Don Draper in ‘Mad Men’, Jon Hamm stars as the kidnapping reverend. He was funny and deranged in earlier seasons, but clips from season three see him petitioning our heroine for divorce from prison, and looking dashing even in an orange jumpsuit.
So, that’s our weekends sorted. For those of us on this side of the pond, there’s just one question: when will we get our hands on Titus’s pinot noir?
Need a break from the binge? Here are some things to do in London this weekend that involve getting dressed and leaving the house.
In other telly news, did you know that Netflix has loads of secret genre categories?