Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV series)

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Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV series) logo.png
Genre <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Created by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Composer(s) Adam Schlesinger
Jerome Kurtenbach (pilot only)
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 18 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Aline Brosh McKenna
  • Rachel Bloom
  • Marc Webb
  • Erin Ehrlich
Production location(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 40–43 minutes
Production company(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Distributor CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network The CW
Original release October 12, 2015 (2015-10-12) –
present
External links
Website

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is an American romantic musical comedy-drama television series with elements of dark comedy and satire that premiered on October 12, 2015, on The CW.[1][2] The series was created by Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna, and stars Bloom in the lead role.

On March 11, 2016, The CW renewed the series for a second season.[3]

Synopsis

Rebecca Bunch is a Jewish, Yale and Harvard educated lawyer, who works for a top New York firm. She freaks out when offered a partnership and bumps into Josh Chan on the street. Josh was her first love from summer camp in 2005 and she never got over the way he dumped her at the end of camp. Josh tells her he couldn't hack it in New York and is moving back to West Covina, California ("Just two hours from the beach, four hours in traffic"). While watching a butter spread commercial, Rebecca decides to follow Josh in search of happiness. She hops a plane to LA, gets a job at Darryl Whitefeather's West Covina law firm, buys a house, and flushes all her pills down the sink. She becomes friends with the firm's paralegal, Paula, and begins an on-again-off-again relationship with Josh's friend Greg, while trying to reconnect with Josh.

Production

The series was originally developed for Showtime, and a pilot was produced, but Showtime opted not to proceed with it on February 9, 2015.[4] The CW picked up the series on May 7, 2015 for the Fall 2015–16 season.[5] The series has been extensively reworked for The CW, expanding the show format from a half-hour to a full hour and adjusting the content for broadcast television, as the original pilot was produced for premium cable.[6] On October 5, 2015, shortly before the series premiere, The CW placed an order of five additional scripts.[7] On November 23, 2015, the CW ordered another five episodes,[8] raising the total for season 1 to 18.[9] On March 11, 2016, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was renewed for a second season, along with eleven other CW series.[10]

Casting

On September 30, 2014, Santino Fontana, Donna Lynne Champlin, Vincent Rodriguez III and Michael McDonald joined Rachel Bloom in the series regular cast.[11] With the move to The CW, the series went through casting changes and McDonald departed the cast.[6] Shortly afterwards, Vella Lovell and Pete Gardner were added as regulars; with Lovell in the role of Heather, Rebecca's underachieving neighbor; and Gardner replacing McDonald in the role of Darryl, Rebecca's new boss.[12]

On May 23, 2016, it was announced that Gabrielle Ruiz, who portrays Valencia, was promoted to series regular for season two.[13]

Music

Each episode contains two or three original songs. These are usually sung by Rebecca or a character she is having a direct interaction with, parodying the musical theater conceit of characters bursting into song at significant moments in the plot. In "Josh Has No Idea Where I Am", it is revealed that Rebecca has these musical fantasies out of passion for her love of musical theater. In later episodes Greg, Paula, Valencia and Darryl sing while Rebecca is not present.

A few of the songs on the show are shot twice, one clean version and explicit version. The explicit versions are posted onto Bloom's YouTube channel.[14]

The first volume of the soundtrack of season one was released on February 19, 2016. It includes all the songs from the first eight episodes of season one, alongside Bloom's a cappella rough demos of "Feeling Kinda Naughty", "I Have Friends", "Settle for Me" and "Sex with a Stranger" as well as Adam Schlesinger's demo version of "What'll It Be".[15]

Cast

Main

  • Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Nora Bunch, a lawyer originally from New York City. Suffering from depression and anxiety and prone to rash decisions, she uproots her life and relocates to the suburb of West Covina, California in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend Josh.
  • Vincent Rodriguez III as Joshua "Josh" Felix Chan, Rebecca's caring yet unavailable ex-boyfriend and the object of her affection.
  • Santino Fontana as Greg Serrano, an "angry" underachieving bartender and Josh's best friend, who has complicated feelings for Rebecca.
  • Donna Lynne Champlin as Paula Proctor, Rebecca's co-worker and new best friend. To distract herself from her own failing marriage, she hatches schemes and gives questionable advice in support of Rebecca's pursuit of Josh.
  • Pete Gardner as Darryl Whitefeather, Rebecca's often clueless boss. A middle-aged divorced dad, he discovers he is bisexual and begins dating White Josh.
  • Vella Lovell as Heather Davis, Rebecca's "cool" college student neighbor who gives sage advice and discovers she has feelings for Greg.
  • Gabrielle Ruiz as Valencia Maria Perez, Josh's controlling ex-girlfriend and Rebecca's rival for Josh's affections.

Recurring

  • Tovah Feldshuh as Naomi Bunch, Rebecca's divorced and overbearing Jewish mother.
  • Gina Gallego as Mrs. Hernandez, the mute communications director at Whitefeather.
  • Jacob Guenther as Chris, a young boy who frequents Greg's bar, offering precocious commentary.
  • David Hull as "White Josh" Wilson, Josh Chan's Caucasian friend, a surf-casual fitness instructor. He begins dating Darryl after the latter comes out as bisexual.
  • Erick Lopez as Hector, a randy and occasionally oblivious friend of Josh and Greg.
  • Rene Gube as Father Joseph, also known as Father Brah, a non-traditional younger priest who is Josh's childhood friend and confidante.
  • Cedric Yarbrough as Calvin Young, a potential client for Rebecca's law firm. He almost has an affair with Paula.
  • Steve Monroe as Scott Proctor, Paula's husband. They begin to address their marital problems when he is roped into Paula's scheming.
  • Michael Hyatt as Dr. Akopian, Rebecca's straight-laced therapist. Rebecca imagines a more vibrant version of her giving advice.
  • Michael McMillian and Burl Moseley as Tim and Jim, staffers at Whitefeather who are initially antagonistic toward Rebecca.
  • Stephnie Weir as Weird Karen, Rebecca's co-worker with off-putting personality quirks, including giving away too much information.
  • Ava Acres as Young Rebecca, shown in flashbacks that detail the origins of Rebecca's various neuroses.
  • Johnny Ray Meeks as Kevin, Greg's overly accommodating boss.
  • John Yuan and Matthew Yuan as Ben and David, twin boba stand attendants.
  • Rachel Grate Audra Levine, Rebecca's longtime rival who has replaced her at her old firm.
  • Hunter Stiebel as Marty, a white grocery clerk with an afro.
  • Benjamin Simeon as Brody, a grocery clerk with half an eyelid.
  • Amy Hill as Lourdes Chan, Josh's mother.
  • Tess Paras and Coryn Mabalot as Jayma and Jastenity Chan, Josh's sisters.
  • Steele Stebbins (2 episodes) as Tommy Proctor, Paula's son.

Episodes

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Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 18 October 12, 2015 (2015-10-12) April 18, 2016 (2016-04-18)
2 TBA TBA TBA

Reception

Critical reception

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was met with positive reviews from television critics with critics praising the show's musical numbers, writing and Rachel Bloom's performance. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the first season received an average score of 78 based on 23 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[16] Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 96% positive rating, with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10 based on reviews from 49 critics, with the site's consensus stating: "Lively musical numbers and a refreshing, energetic lead, Rachel Bloom, make Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a charming, eccentric commentary on human relationships."[17]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipients Outcome
2016 People's Choice Awards[18] Favorite New TV Comedy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Nominated
Golden Globe Award[19] Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy Rachel Bloom Won
Critics' Choice Award[20] Best Actress in a Comedy Series Rachel Bloom Won
Dorian Awards[21] Unsung TV Show of the Year Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Nominated
Young Artist Award[22] Recurring Young Actor (13 and Under) Steele Stebbins Nominated

References

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External links