TV shows we love: Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Cheery-eyed and with the curiosity of an eight-year-old, Kimmy Schmidt is a likeable character. She’s fresh to New York, doesn’t swear, is out of touch with pop culture and colloquial lingo and eager to take it all in. Her bright red hair matches her always-colourful outfit and very fair skin, not because she is the descendant of aristocrats but because she’s been locked up in a bunker for 15 years. Yes, the happy-go-lucky comic American sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt starts from the day that Kimmy and three other women are rescued from their kidnapper who locked them up to supposedly survive the apocalypse.

Held underground since she was 15, Kimmy grew up in a cult, completely unaware of a whole world going on above her. When she is finally rescued, she decides to make up for lost time and conquer life in the Big Apple, getting to know all she’s been deprived of. She rents a room from a wannabe Broadway actor who tries to help her re-adapt to modern life. Kimmy’s social understanding is non-existent – I chuckled quite a few times at her non-filtered reactions – she’s dangerously optimistic, knows nothing of the real world yet manages to keep faith to never give up, something she tries to teach her roommate and new-found friends.

Though first released in 2015, under the hands of the hilarious Tina Fey, the show is still funny today with a catchy jingle. It’s light-hearted, even though its background story is daunting, and through Kimmy’s naïve, go-get attitude, offers a positive spin on life’s grim days. In her own, clearly outdated and quirky way, Kimmy pushes through her new adult, freedom-filled life, trying to navigate hardships and obstacles through four seasons on Netflix.