CWFor those of you who are watching Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The CW's sweet West Covina-set musical, good on you. We love you and you're perfect.
As for the rest of you, we still love you, but we're a little peeved. We're not sure a day has passed in the last few months when we haven't casually asked a friend or acquaintance if they're familiar with our current favorite show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and way too often, the response is no. And why not, we ask? "I don't like musicals." "I don't have real TV." "I don't watch the CW." "It looked weird."
Well, we're here to tell you that your reasons are crap. The musical genre is vast and varied with something for everyone (Hamilton??), and if you don't have a friend who has real TV, all TV shows can be found somewhere on the Internet for at the most, a small price, and if you haven't been paying attention lately, the CW is a magical place where all of your dreams can come true. Finally, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend looks weird because it is, and that's why it's so great—but that's not the only reason.
If you're not familiar with the premise of the show, we'll just let Rebecca (Rachel Bloom) and her friends and co-workers explain:
Now that you're up to date on what it's all about, let us convince you why you absolutely need to give this smart gem a chance.
1. It reminds us we're not alone. Not in the X-Files kind of way, but in a "I may be a responsible adult with a job, but I don't know how to act around my crush" kind of way, and a "how do I make and hold on to new friends" kind of way, and a "I am not totally OK, but that's OK" kind of way.
2. It features a grown man singing a spectacular song about his recent discovery that he's bisexual. It's possibly the brightest, most hopeful, and most open way bisexuality has ever been portrayed on TV, and it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
3. It explores real, grown-up friendships—the good, the bad, and the incredibly complicated.
4. It pays tribute to every musical and musical style you can think of. There's rapping, there's a Les Miserables homage and a tribute to The Music Man, there's some Shakira, some Disney, some Bollywood, some boy band action, and the best song about getting ready that you've ever heard in your life.
5. It provides musical accompaniment for the moments in your life most in need of musical accompaniment: sleeping with a stranger, coming out to your coworkers, having a girl crush, having a group hang, definitely having friends, and all the other important things in life.
6. Rachel Bloom won a Golden Globe for the role of Rebecca, and The CW gave the show a season two. Those are two hefty votes of confidence right there!
7. The guest stars are both random and amazing. So far, they have included Tovah Feldshuh (as Rebecca's singing mother—take that The Walking Dead zombies), Michael Hyatt, Amber Riley, Ricki Lake, Dr. Phil, B.J. Novak, and Princess Jasmine (aka Lea Salonga) will be appearing in the season finale!
8.There's depth in unexpected places. It's not-so-secretly a show about mental illness and how easy it is to convince ourselves that lies are the truth. Sometimes it hurts to watch because we've all been there—trying to turn ourselves into the person another person will like, and then starting to believe we truly are big fans of basketball or hot yoga. And the moments when characters admit to the lies they've been telling themselves? It's almost like free therapy, and we cannot get enough.
Is that too deep for you? There are also lots of songs about sex, boobs, balls, and dream ghosts, if you're into that.
9. Rebecca is a truly messed up individual, but it's only easy to say that because she's messed up openly. In reality, everybody's totally messed up, and that's OK. Thanks to this show, there are now songs to sing in order to express how screwed up we all are, or how free we feel, or how mad we are that we sent the text to the wrong person, or just how much we love West Covina, California, and that is a beautiful thing.
Convinced? Crazy Ex-Girlfriend airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.