'Schmigadoon!' Turns Into Schmicago for Season 2

By Nate Parker | TV | March 7, 2023 |

By Nate Parker | TV | March 7, 2023 |

I wasn’t the world’s biggest fan of Schmigadoon!’s first season on Apple TV+. I’m not a huge fan of musicals — I know, I’m sorry. It was cute, but the slow start and artificially cheerful nature of the musicals it good-naturedly skewered put me off. I prefer sex, violence, and black comedy in my entertainment. So this next season might turn me into a true believer! Married doctors Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) aren’t feeling the spark since their return to the real world. They try to return to the optimistic wonderland that is Schmigadoon, only to find things have changed.

Whew. Did someone turn up the thermostat? We’ve got sex, murder, and … hippies? Well, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. This season’s cast includes Tituss Burgess, Dove Cameron, Jaime Camil, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, Ariana DeBose, Ann Harada, Jane Krakowski, Patrick Page, and Martin Short. You really can’t go wrong with scantily dressed, absurdly attractive people dancing around, though it’s amazing to me that Dove Cameron in lingerie looks less like an Instagram fetish model than she did as a wholesome farm girl. I got the obvious references to Sweeney Todd in the preview, but our commenters can probably pick out any other musicals better than I can. It appears their focus is primarily on the 1960s and ’70s.

Schmigadoon! Season 2 premieres on April 5.