History Series / Schmigadoon

** Alan Cumming and Kristen Chenoweth portraying a couple who WouldHurtAChild in an ''Theatre/{{Annie}}'' parody might seem familiar to fans of ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents The Wonderful World of Disney]]'''s ''Film/Annie1999'', in which Cumming and Chenoweth portrayed Miss Hannigan's co-conspirators, Rooster and Lily.

In January 2024 it was [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/schmigadoon-canceled-apple-1235791955/ announced]] that Schmigadoon was not renewed for a third season.

* AffectionateParody:
** Of classic midcentury musicals, particularly those about small towns (''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'', ''Theatre/{{Carousel}}'', ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' and, its most notable inspiration, ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}}'') but also taking inspiration from works like ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls'', ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' and and ''Theatre/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying''. Schmigadoon parodies and plays straight many common Golden Age tropes, while Josh and Melissa are the modern {{Audience Surrogate}}s whose reactions to the goings-on provide commentary on the works' outdated politics, hokey song topics, and earnest emotion.

* ArtisticLicenseChildLaborLaws: Justified. Who's going stop the orphans are bartending at the orphanage? Miss Codwell actively discourages potential parents from adopting, and makes them sleep in cages, so this is just another unregulated misdeed.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: In a quiet moment in the middle of "Lover's Spat" Melissa asks Josh if he believes they aren't true love. His attempt at dodging the question convinces her that he doesn't.

* TheCameo: [[spoiler: Creator/MartinShort]] appears in the premiere as the magical leprechaun who finally convinces Josh and Melissa they're in a musical world.

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: The entire town of Schmicago, including TheDragon Sargent Rivera, put aside thier issues and band together to rescue Josh and Melissa from Kratt.]]

** The Emcee from Season 2 has very little to do but gets an extended ''{{Theatre/Dreamgirls}}''-style number simply telling the audience the show is almost over. Especially noticeable in a show that already has a seperate narrator who also addrsses the audience.

* RealIsBrown: Relatively speaking. Flashbacks to Josh and Melissa's relationship in the "real world" are lit darker and without much saturation, in contrast to the bright artificiality of Schmigadoon.
** In the season 2 finale [[spoiler: the final shot ends with Josh and Malissa turning a corner in New York City and the screen going from desaturated to a more natural color balance signaling their dour state from the beginning of the season is starting to lift in the real world.]]

** Shots of Schmicago exteriors in "Bells and Whistles" show buildings named for some lyricists and composers the season takes its pastiche from: Creator/FredEbb, Creator/JerryHerman, Creator/JohnKander, Creator/StephenSondheim, and Creator/StephenSchwartz. Similarly in season 1 there is a shop called [[Creator/OscarHammerstein Hammerstein's]] frequency seen in the background, and the list of parent-teacher appointments in Emma's classroom includes parents with the names Willson, Berlin, Lerner, Loewe, and other golden-age composers.

* WretchedHive: Schmicago is essentially a few different flavors of this held together by a monopolisitc energy mogul making it something of a CompanyTown. The most liveable place appears to be a hippie commune that looks like a junkyard.

** Season 2's DarkerAndEdgier setting, Schmicago, shows that despite sex, violence, and general iniquity being commonplace, attitudes haven't progressed all that much. "Do We Shock You?" tries to push the envelope with scantily-clad ladies singing about crosdressing, light BDSM, tatoos, and the fact that one of the dancers has had a female orgasm. Josh and Melissa are unimpressed.

The show premiered in July 2021. Doctors Josh (Creator/KeeganMichaelKey) and Melissa (Creator/CecilyStrong)'s four-year-long relationship is faltering. While on a hike, they stumble upon the mysterious town of Schmigadoon, which appears to be in a perpetual Golden Age musical production[[note]](think Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein or Creator/LernerAndLoewe)[[/note]]. While there, they meet a host of colorful theatrical archetypes -- the friendly mayor Aloysius Menlove (Creator/AlanCumming), the hapless reverend Howard Layton (Creator/FredArmisen) and his imperious wife Mildred (Creator/KristinChenoweth), local "bad boy" Danny Bailey (Creator/AaronTveit), perky FarmersDaughter Betsy (Creator/DoveCameron), gentle {{schoolmarm}} Emma Tate (Creator/ArianaDeBose), and intelligent but old-fashioned Doc Lopez (Creator/JaimeCamil). However, they're soon informed by a {{Leprechaun}} (Creator/MartinShort) that they cannot leave Schmigadoon until they find true love...

** Lampshaded with [[Creator/KristinChenowith Miss Codwell]]:

** At the beginning, the managers of the retreat Melissa and Josh are attending warn them not to wander too far and reassure them that the weather will clear up soon. Cut to Josh and Melissa being lost for hours as rain pours around them.

* RidiculousExchangeRates: Parodied. These are musical versions of the 1910's and 1920's, so Josh and Melissa have more than enough money with anything in thier wallets. How two out of towners came to so much money or the viability of 21st century currency is never questioned. Melissa manages to buy the services of a top-level defense attorney for $20. [[spoiler: Kratt]] only pays ten.
-->'''Melissa''': Ten dollars? Girl, be corrupt but have some pride.\\

* StealthPun: Melissa finds Dooley Blight, season 2's Sweeney Todd parallel, by following a clue to Quick Street. "Quick" is a synonym of "Fleet".

* UncannyValleyMakeup: Most of the chorus has unnaturally white base and very bright lip color and eye shaddow to make them [[SickeninglySweet cute to the point of being offputting]]. Most of the leads and romantic interests are spared this, save for [[ObviouslyEvil Mildred]] and Betsy who are borderline cases.

** Lampshaded with [[Creator/KristenChenowith Miss Codwell]]:

** On seeing angry butcher Dooley Blight:

** Inverted when Melissa has to point out Jenny looks like Betsy, whom Josh was forcibly engaged to in Schmigadoon.
** Lampshaded with Miss Codwell:

-->-- '''The Leprechaun''', "Leprechaun Song"

* BoredomMontage: After the second season premiere returns Josh and Melissa to their own world, they suffer several months of monotony with their respective jobs and Mel's failed pregnancy tests, until the couple begins wondering if they can willingly visit Schmigadoon again.

* AmbiguousEnding: While we do see [[spoiler:Josh and Melissa crossing the bridge]] in the finale, we don't exactly find out [[spoiler:if they found true love or if they even made it back to the woods.]] The season 2 trailer and premiere both reveal that they did.

* BoredomMontage: After the second season premiere returns Josh and Melissa to their own world, they suffer several months of monotony with their respective jobs and [[spoiler:Mel's failed pregnancy tests]], until the couple begins wondering if they can willingly visit Schmigadoon again.

** Season 2 covers 60’s and 70’s musicals, with characters, plot, and musical numbers so far based on ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}'', ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'', ''Theatre/{{Cabaret}}'', ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd'', and ''Theatre/{{Hair}}''.

* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler:Josh and Melissa]] achieve this in Season 2, where they share several romantic moments during and after their wedding, and their biggest onscreen tribulations result from circumstances beyond their control (such as their difficulties conceiving a child).