The first season of Apple TV+’s “Schmigadoon!” didn’t quite live up to its clever concept or undeniably talented ensemble. In a fascinating twist worthy of a great Broadway show, the second season actually makes the first year better by revealing it to be the foundation on which this year is built. As a season, it felt a little unsatisfying. As an opening act? That’s a different story.
READ MORE: ‘Schmigadoon!’: A Talented Cast Is Wasted In A Musical Series That Can’t Quite Find The Melody [Review]
Being able to now take the show as a two-season experiment makes the big swings of the first year more enjoyable by giving them a dance partner. The leads are the same, and both are even better than in year one, but the joy is in watching the rest of the ensemble shift to musical roles from a different era, allowing the writers to expand on themes while allowing their talents to express themselves in new, fun ways. There are minor and major joys in this season of “Schmigadoon!,” a three-hour comedy/musical that could easily be watched in one sitting. Heck, take out the credits from these six episodes and most of the Broadway shows that it’s parodying are longer.
The second season picks up “10 seconds after Schmigadoon.” Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) and Melissa (Cecily Strong) have moved on to the next phase of their lives, including marriage and struggling to get pregnant. They can’t seem to reclaim the happiness they found in the land of group dancing, leading them to try to return to the musical paradise of the first season to find what they’re looking for in the real world. They don’t quite make it, ending up in “Schmicago” instead (and the show really should have just been called that in Season 2, for fun.) This world is much darker than Season 1, replacing inspirations like “The Music Man” with darker inspirations from the ‘60s and ‘70s like “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” “Sweeney Todd: The Butcher of Fleet Street,” and “Hair,” all of which are intertwined in a manner that’s consistently clever and often hysterical. Every half-hour has at least one excellent original song and more than one laugh. You can’t say that about a lot of Broadway shows.

Most of the ensemble members of Season 1 return in a new form in Schmicago. For example, the charming Dove Cameron has turned in her country gear to play the Sally Bowles-inspired character Jenny Banks and Aaron Tveit is no longer a “Carousel”-inspired carnival barker but a hippie straight out of “Hair.” Titus Burgess serves as the narrator of the story as a startled Josh and Melissa end up overwhelmed by this dark universe with Josh framed for murder before escaping to the “Hair”-inspired portion and Melissa caught up in the dark “Cabaret” narrative before basically setting up the two leads from “Sweeney Todd” and sending them on their murderous way.
Alan Cumming is hysterical as Dooley Flint, a man who walks around with a machete and a haunted look in his eyes; Kristin Chenoweth is typically wonderful as Miss Coldwell, who has a little bit of Mrs. Lovett and even some of Miss Hannigan from “Annie” in her. Jaime Camil returns as a local sergeant; Ann Harada is back as Madam Frau, a character inspired by “Cabaret”; Jane Krakowski does a riff on Billy Flynn from “Chicago”; Ariana DeBose has a small role that basically just gets her a number in the premiere and season finale, and she slays them both. Finally, Broadway legend Patrick Page fits right in as the villainous Octavius Kratt and Martin Short is back as, well, the same Leprechaun. Don’t ask.
The second season of “Schmigadoon!” uses its darker source material to capture an intense time in every relationship as Josh and Melissa aren’t questioning their relationship as much as they’re questioning all the choices that brought them there. What makes you happy? What does that even mean nowadays? Marriage, career, more? And how do you define happiness in a relationship vs. alone? The writers here, led again by Cinco Paul, carefully weave their themes through the storytelling in a way that feels more confident and refined, leading to more discussion of murder and less corn puddin’.
Of course, “Schmigadoon!” is still primarily a comedy, and this season is also funnier than the first, buoyed in the first few episodes by playful staging from director Alice Mathias, who knows how to nail this surreal, quirky sense of humor after work on “I Think You Should Leave” and “Portlandia.” While the subject matter is more intense, the direction and writing are more playful than ever, playing equally to Broadway experts and those who have never seen a stage. Theatre majors will smile at the very concept of getting Lucy from “Cabaret” and Claude from “Hair” together for a romantic arc or what Miss Hannigan might do with a guy like Sweeney Todd in her life, but the show doesn’t rely on a knowledge base that could have dragged down the entire project. It’s surreal, playful, and weird in a way that’s comedically consistent for everyone.
Having said that, like so many shows, it does feel like “Schmigadoon” still isn’t quite the right length. There’s a tighter, 2-hour version of this that’s a movie or a 10-episode version that really gets into its characters more. The length is great for the binging era in that it’s easy to watch in one sitting, but it still doesn’t feel quite right for the storytelling. Maybe in Season 3, they could expand to eight episodes and see what happens? Presuming they jump a generation again and land in a world of ‘80s and ‘90s musicals (“Schmats”? “Schrent”?), there’s more than enough material to warrant it. And, now, a tough act to follow. [B+]
“Schmigadoon!” Season 2 debuts on Apple TV+ on April 5.