"This Is What Writers Mean When They Say They Want to Create a Live-Action Simpsons"

"The first season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt didn't really have jokes like that. Unlike 30 Rock, UKS had a big concept that propelled the narrative forward: Kimmy's escape from the bunker, adjusting to normal life, and eventually participating in the trial against Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne. Though there were many very good jokes, more often than not they were little asides or spoken misdirections. When there were cutaways, they were to Kimmy's life in the bunker, which meant some of the joke energy was spent filling in the story of what the hell happened in there. The result was a very different tone for Fey and Carlock. I remember thinking how curious it was that they were doing a more character-focused comedy, as opposed to a 30 Rock-like joke machine.
"Season two is different."

Jesse David Fox at New York hails the return of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

"Sneak-Attack Feminism"

"Up until now there have only been a few ways in which women were 'allowed to be funny' on mainstream television. For the last decade or so, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have blazed the trail for female comedians. Though Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope are two very different characters in many ways—Liz is mildly depressed, sexually repressed and a general mess (see: night cheese), while Leslie is optimistic to a fault, makes PowerPoint presentations about her husband’s butt and prides herself on her organized binders—they also share some key characteristics. Both are work obsessed, a little neurotic and tend to quote feminist platitudes. Their ambition and womanly pride are played for jokes: Liz’s feminist sketches were laughed out of the writers’ room on TGS—sketches that could make it on to Schumer’s show now.
"Inside Amy Schumer and Broad City are shows in which the main characters subvert this neurotic female archetype. Broad City’s Abbi and Ilana are stoner screw-ups, and Amy Schumer usually plays a ditzy, promiscuous, insecure version of herself on the show. Liz and Leslie represent what hard-working women were striving towards. Abbi, Ilana and Amy don’t have to meet such high standard for themselves (or all womanhood). They just are who they are."


Eliana Dockterman at Time discusses the two best shows on Comedy Central.

Nerds!

"And the thing is, Liz’s confrontations with her worst qualities have actually strengthened her. That’s what so odd about the backlash. This season, Liz is happier than ever—and for once, she’s rejecting Jack’s influence, finding her own bliss, embracing her oddball nature, going on the Oprah-style vacations she feels like taking. Unbeknownst to Jack, she began dating a cute younger guy who made no money, had a stupid career path, but treated her well. Of course, when Jack found out, he judged her for this, got inside her head, and made fun of her boyfriend’s name (which is, to be fair, Criss Chros). But then Liz realized that she actually likes Criss and was an idiot to dump him for shallow reasons; i.e., Jack’s reasons. She goes back to him, against Jack’s advice."

Emily Nussbaum at The New Yorker defends 30 Rock's Liz Lemon.

"Doing Comedy Itself Was the Act of Rebellion"

"So after college--where she hung around with the 'arts weirdos' in Charlottesville--she headed for Chicago to study improv with the Second City comedy troupe, the outfit that nurtured John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. Fey caught on as a performer two years later, in 1994, eventually appearing in eight shows a week. When scouts from 'SNL' came by looking for new talent, they promptly . . . passed her by."

Paul Farhi in The Washington Post profiles Tina Fey on the occasion of her winning the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.