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Pictured: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend stars Santino Fontana and Rachel Bloom. Images courtesy of Michael Bulbenko for Paley Center for Media.
After experiencing acclaim and ratings like never before last season, The CW is sticking with what works this fall. And what works is wildly imaginative, high-concept comedic storytelling with an irresistible female heroine at its core. Sure, The Flash was the network’s most-watched show ever, but The CW’s darling is Jane the Virgin.
How do we know? Because its adding all of… one new show to its fall schedule – Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which happens to be… a slice of wildly imaginative, high-concept comedic storytelling with an irresistible female heroine at its core. The Flash is a successfully marketed show that is done well enough to keep that marketing momentum going. Jane the Virgin has created its own brand of storytelling, and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend fits that brand like a glove.
Which all sounds very calculated when in fact Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star and co-creator Rachel Bloom, her fellow co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna, and cast members Donna Lynne Champlin and Santino Fontana seemed anything but at a PaleyFest 2015 panel on Monday night.
“I’d had the idea to do something called Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for a while,” McKenna, who is best known for writing the screenplay for the film The Devil Wears Prada, told the crowd. “I came across Rachel’s videos online and watched all of them, then called my best friend Kate at The CW and said we have to meet this woman… By the end of the first meeting we’d already decided we were going to do a show.”
The only surprising thing about McKenna’s story is that Bloom wasn’t already attached to a show. She has written, starred in and directed a string of humorous music videos, such as the ultimate lit-nerd fantasy “Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury,” that have not only gone viral, but showcase a potent blend of comic timing, powerhouse singing skills and the ability to write the hell out of a joke. It’s baffling Bloom hadn’t already been snapped up, but McKenna certainly recognized her talent, and jumped on it. “One of the very first decisions was to take it someplace where Rachel could star,” she said.
Initially, that place seemed like it would be Showtime, which bit at the pitch before ultimately passing on the project. Fortunately, The CW saw Crazy Ex-Girlfriend for what it was: such a perfect fit for the show’s bubbly creativity, it’s hard to imagine it was ever considered anywhere else. “With Showtime, we were trying to be edgy in a way,” said McKenna, “but with The CW and Jane the Virgin, they were embracing this buoyant, fizzy tone.”
That may be true, but Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is still plenty edgy in its current manifestation on The CW, as Bloom’s Rebecca Bunch character transitions from a corporate drone to a full-on stalker who lives in a show-tune dream world. Its unfettered adulation of Broadway glam is a thin veneer for complex storytelling and a protagonist whose issues run deep and rather dark. Whether that combination retain viewers, who may be expecting something more in line with Glee, the show’s musical storytelling structure at least promises more viral hits.
“We’re going to try to make the songs available on iTunes as soon as the episodes air,” promised Bloom, who is not a star, but who has shown a star’s charisma repeatedly through her own, self-funded productions. If anyone deserves to have a long and successful television career, this is her:
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