“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is a truly original sitcom – what a concept! Written by the show’s star, Rachel Bloom, and Aline Brosh McKenna, it’s Amy Schumer meets “Galavant” – yes, there are hilarious musical numbers.
Truthfully, I’m not sure if the show will appeal to men, but as a woman, I find the humor daring and refreshing. Rachel walks right into territory that few have trod, including showing herself before and after Spanx.
Rachel plays Rebecca, a woman who is brilliant in her professional life but completely off the rails in her romantic life. While that premise may not sound so unusual, it’s the combination of the musical numbers and just how far the writers and actors go with the premise that make it new and different. And the music works because Rebecca is largely living in a fantasy world.
Rebecca is beautiful, but she’s beautiful like a real woman and is no size zero. The show’s hunk, Josh Chan, is Asian-American (played by Filipino-American actor, Vincent Rodriguez III), and the “good guy” that Rachel just can’t see is played by Santino Fontana, who was the prince in Broadway’s “Cinderella.”
The rest of the cast is great, with a special shout-out to Donna Lynne Champlin as Rebecca’s depressive friend/sidekick. Donna is a terrific comic with an equally terrific singing voice.
The bummer is that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” was originally written for Showtime, which bailed out. I’m glad that the CW picked it up, but that meant rewrites. I can only imagine how much farther still they could have gone if the show had remained on cable.
Check out the videos below. The show is certainly not for the squeamish, but if you like Amy Schumer’s sexual frankness and her ability to laugh at herself, you’ll love this. The show airs on the CW on Monday nights.
To your comment about whether men would like it, my husband and I watch together and he loves the show at least as much as, if not more than, I do. Granted, he’s not your “typical man,” but I think there’s plenty there for guys to love, if they’re open-minded.
That’s great to hear!