Schmigadoon! (S1) Review
Review of season one of Schmigadoon! on Apple TV+
I will admit, I’ve had an obsession with Aaron Tveit ever since I watched a bootlegged version of what is now my favorite music, Next to Normal. Seriously, if you’ve never heard of Next to Normal, and are interested in representation of mental health in theatre, then who are you? Absolutely stunning show. Anyways, I heard Tveit was in a new show on Apple TV+, and so when I was given it for free for three months, I loaded up on the first and only season of the show (at the time, who knows if they’ll make another).
I will also admit: I know nothing about the Golden Age of Musicals in Hollywood, which this show is based on. Each of the characters within the town of Schmigadoon are based on someone in a Hollywood musical. According to the Internet, we have Oklahoma, The Sound of Music, and The Music Man, among others. If you had this base knowledge, I imagine spotting these archetypes would be a lot easier for you, because each person in the town plays a certain role and only sticks to it until literally the final episode, unless you count the Mayor.
Well, I’ve said quite a bit already, so let’s dive into this review!
Content
Our main characters in this one are Josh and Melissa, two individuals from New York City who are out in the woods hiking when they come across a random stone bridge. They cross it and find themselves in a town called Schmigadoon, which is vaguely set in the past. Judging from a comment Carter, a boy who narrates all of the scenes with a lisp, makes, I’m getting early 1900s vibes because he mentions going to a nickelodeon. The costumes look vaguely late 1800s, though, to be honest, some of the costumes reminded me of Civil War-era America.
Anyways, when our couple turns around to go back to where they came from, they find that the bridge just leads to, well, more Schmigadoon. A little leprechaun has this really weird song about finding true love to pass and then disappears for the rest of the show. And, suddenly, our couple is stuck in a town that is run by a really religious woman screaming about tribulations (run by Kristin Chenoweth, which is the best part to me. Imagine Glinda the Good Witch singing numbers about Christianity). Our main couple breaks up. Which, judging by the flashbacks, is a long time coming.
The real mayor is a closeted gay man in a marriage with a woman, but, well, religious woman is the real mouthpiece of the town. Our main couple assumes she’s just kind of racist (which she may be, we never know), but she disapproves of dating before marriage. Because Schmigadoon has the old traditional attitudes about women, they’re not even allowed to drink alcohol and have a separate punch bowl at town gatherings. They also think women should be married young, which is a whole different topic.
I thought by having two comedians in the lead roles, it added to the humorous effect that’s sprinkled throughout the show. I genuinely found myself laughing at loud at the musical numbers, specifically the male lead’s resistance to the singing, and how jealous they get even when they’re broken up. I imagine this would bring all the nostalgia back for the era of musicals because this felt like something that came out of the 1940s, although there is a modern twist. Some of the content wouldn’t fly on television in the 1940s, that’s for sure.
It’s also only thirty minutes long per episode, with only six episodes in the season. I think that’s a good length considering the content of the show, it can get a bit overbearing quickly. Some might not be able to handle much longer with the musical numbers and the sheer amount of color and peppiness going on this world. Some extra length would’ve been nice though for more character development, although I do understand almost everyone is supposed to be a stereotype. I imagine a season two is definitely in the works though, because I don’t think our main couple is right for each other.
Overall Thoughts
It’s rewatchable, funny, and hits all the right notes if you love musical theatre. I’m a big theatre fan so I enjoyed the fact I saw all my favorites into one show, and I absolutely loved Aaron Tveit’s character. He’s set up with our female lead from the very first episode, but he sings about how he’s the town bad boy and no one can change him. And then she does in a single night and he’s completely switched about how he needs to make money for his future son. I found this so entertaining, like to the point I kept rewatching the scene and just cackled. All in all, I recommend giving this one a shot if you can and have the opportunity to leech off of Apple TV+ for awhile.
