The first season of Schmigadoon was one of the most delightful things to hit televisions in quite some time. A brilliant musical in its own right, the comedic parody of the golden age musicals proved to be a sterling show. Season 2 moves the action to Schmicago in an effort to tackle the musicals of the 60s and 70s and seemingly darker storylines. While the show does contain some truly dazzling moments, the second season doesn’t manage to land the same thrills as season 1.
Josh and Melissa, having survived Schmigadoon and come back to the real world have settled into their lives. However, there’s been one bit of paradise alluding them, having a child. Stressing about this, they figure why not return to Schmigadoon and find the same happiness they found the last time. They of course don’t get there when they want to, but eventually stumble upon the land now dubbed Schmicago. Complete with crime, hippies, a sadistic club owner, and a narrator played by Titus Burgess, the town ensnares the couple once again forcing them to reckon with their issues.
As mentioned above, this season pales in comparison to season one, despite having some higher highs. This is mostly because the story of season two is quite thin and doesn’t have a grounding central conflict quite like season 1’s dilemma of if Josh and Melissa really loved each other and could they make it out of Schmigadoon. It stemmed mostly from them trying to fit as many references in as they could, but references are not a substitute for an interesting plot. There’s so much homaging going on and trying to use certain musicals as inspiration that characters are either underused (Jaime Camil should sue) or they don’t register (Patrick Page, Ariana DeBose immediately come to mind despite their screen time). It’s frustrating because while the first season has plenty of nods to thematics, it felt like it tried to use them as guidelines. It tough because you can see the effort the writers put into leaning into the experimental nature of musicals in that era. Indeed, many 60s/70s musicals played with form (think of a show like Company being Tony nominated alongside The Rothschilds). Even a show like 1776 had revolutionary elements to it, and not because it is about the revolution. However, most of those shows have a strong through line whereas Schmigadoon’s through line seems to be a checklist of famous musicals.
Perhaps most distressing is that it has affected the music. Golden age musicals, by and large, sound the same. However, once you hit the 60s many more genres of music come in. I love Sweeney Todd and Hair, but when you’ve got to squish their tunes into one place? It can feel disjointed. While it fun to try and point out exactly where things are from (this series does reward rewatches in that respect), sonically, the show doesn’t really hit a stride.
It’s not all doom and gloom however, as this cast is incredibly game to give it their all and there are some brilliant musical choices the show makes (there’s a mashup in episode 4 that is to die for). Keegan Michael Key and Cecily Strong continue to do wonderful work as the leads and Dove Cameron and Aaron Tveit continue their streak of providing excellent supporting work.
While I may not be as high on this season as the first, I believe this is a show that can learn and grow from the mistakes and am eagerly awaiting to see what they want to do for future seasons.