Trivia / Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

• Cast the Expert: In the season 3 premiere, the Sesame Street producer/puppeteer who tries to seduce Titus with a puppet is played by Bill Barretta, an actual Muppeteer.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • The show really takes advantage of the fact that Titus is played by actual Broadway veteran Tituss Burgess by having him sing a good number of times, showing off his impressive singing voice.
  • Carol Kane, also a Broadway veteran, sings with Tituss Burgess in "Kimmy Gives Up!"
  • Jane Krakowski very briefly gets to show off her impressive singing voice in "Kimmy Gives Up!"
• Casting Gag:
  • Titus is played by Tituss Burgess, who originated the role of Sebastian in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. In one episode he not only calls Kimmy "Ariel" but we're also introduced to his Sitcom Arch-Nemesis Coriolanus Burt, who is played by James Monroe Igleheart, who originated the Genie in the Broadway production of Aladdin (and sings a snippet of "Under the Sea" during "Never Had a Friend Like Me", to boot). Titus also got a Cease and Desist order from Disney for performing a ripoff of the Broadway version of The Lion King.
  • Reverend Richard, the man who spent 15 years filling Kimmy's head with his trash, is played by Jon Hamm, Ellie Kemper's drama teacher.
• Channel Hop: The show was originally set to premiere on NBC for the 2015 midseason. Then it was announced that Netflix bought the show's rights and ordered two seasons before the show even began proper production. This deal was regarded as an incredibly Genre Savvy move by the show's producers as NBC's comedies have been struggling to engage audiences and the move to Netflix allows an entire season to be available at once rather than broadcast weekly and potentially be yanked due to flagging ratings.
• The Danza: Tituss Burgess plays Titus Andromedon (né Ronald Wilkerson).
• Defictionalization: Kimmy's children's book, The Legends of Greemulax, was written by Sarah Mlynowski and published for real in April 2019.
• Descended Creator: Tina Fey plays two different characters over the course of the show.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Jane Krakowski plays her typical rich, vain, self-deluded blonde, but with the comedic twist that she's really a middle-class Native American woman passing as white.
  • Ki Hong Lee, a Korean-American, plays Dong, a Vietnamese-American.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Daveed Diggs, one of the original stars of rap musical Hamilton (and notably performed one of the fastest Broadway songs on record, "Guns and Ships"), plays a terrible rapper.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Tituss Burgess and his character Titus Andromedon are both gay.
• Shout-Out: Reverend Richard's "Karate!" and Jacqueline's call to "Shut it down!" at Home Basics are both references to 30 Rock.
• What Could Have Been: A brief, walk-by cameo from Kenneth from 30 Rock was planned at some point, but scheduling conflicts prevented it.
• Working Title: Tooken.
• Written-In Absence: Jacqueline's storyline in Season 3 was very obviously affected by how little time David Cross was able to give to the show, ultimately only appearing in one episode before Russ is "smushed" and spends most of the season covered in bandages, before coming back out as a different actor.
• You Look Familiar: Descended Creator Tina Fey plays both Marcia (in season one) and Andrea (in season two).

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