SCHMIGADOON! (2021) – What a delightful anomaly, a musical comedy!

I am not usually a fan of comedy series so this 6 half hour episodes series is a bit of an exception for me. What attracted me to it was its rather creative and original premise. A couple in a shaky relationship decides to join a boot camp for healing relationship only to wander off in the forest and find themselves trapped in a magical town, Schmigadoon, where everybody behaves like they are in a musical. The only way for them to escape is to demonstrate they have found true love in one another.

The whole thing sounds ridiculous of course, but I am a sucker for those good old fashion musicals, and this series manages to find a way to pay tribute to this long lost genre in an unexpectedly clever way. What we have is the characters in the mystical town breaking into elaborate song and dance numbers at every opportunity. I think the whole premise would have easily fallen apart had the songs and music been awful, but surprisingly, they were rather good and often with witty lyrics to boot. The staging, and choreography of all these numbers were done with cheeky references to the great musicals of years ago making each outburst of singing a delight to watch. Our couple, played by Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong had to basically play it straight while the rest of the cast from Schmigadoon all seem to be having far more fun (over)-acting their outlandish roles. Standouts in the supporting cast were Alan Cumming at the town’s Mayor, and Kristin Chenoweth as the town’s sort of only villain.

What I liked about Schmigadoon! is how it manages to capture the spirit of those old time musicals so well. Many of the songs sound like they were straight out of these musicals except with lyrics that are more comical here. The dance routines were also well choreographed abate in a deliberately exaggerated manner. The singing voices of most of the cast were also decent and I did not find myself cringe with the exception of probably our main lead Keegan-Michael. Most of the town’s quirky characters were funny and stayed true to their form throughout.

What I did not like that much about Schmigadoon! was actually its two main characters. Perhaps because the script required them to behave more normal amidst the fantasy world they find themselves in, but this strategy somehow made they look really boring in comparison. In this sort of story, the eventual happy ending is pretty obvious so what remains is to provide an enjoyable ride arriving at the conclusion. I found the conclusion on how our couple found their true love unconvincing. It felt almost like they had run out of time and the writers just gave up and threw them together. This just felt lacking after spending the preceding five episodes of witnessing their relationship deteriorate.

Nevertheless, in spite of its shortcomings, I am grateful for the departure from the norm and fun times we had in Schmigadoon! I look forward to more work from its director Barry Sonnenfeld and writer Ken Daurio.