Tonight in the unenviable time slot of 8PM on a Monday, The CW premieres Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a new comedy with a lead character who is slightly unhinged, but not so much in a way that you can turn away. Rachel Bloom plays Rebecca Bunch, a powerful lawyer type who knows she can be happier in life. A chance encounter on the street with her teenage romance, Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III), gives Rebecca the notion to pack up it all and move to West Covina, California — hours from the beach and coincidentally Josh’s home.
The title of the series might make you think Rebecca is actually psychotic or something, and, no, she’s not. She just is a romantic, and thinks this is her chance. We’ve all known someone like that. Some of us have even been that. It’s kind of uncomfortable to watch, but it’s also pretty funny to see the lengths that Rebecca goes to.
A highlight of the first episode is the music — yes, there’s music! — and a number called “West Covina” is guaranteed to get stuck in your head for days on end. In a way, I feel like West Covina would have been a better, less limiting title for the show, for people who don’t want to see someone who is “crazy” every week.
I admit I had never been familiar with Rachel Bloom’s comedy before, but she’s got great timing and is good as what she does. For me, beyond Bloom, the highlight was Donna Lynne Champlin, who plays Paula, a character Rachel meets in her new job. For one thing, Paula reminds me of people that I used to work with; for another, Champlin has such amazing timing that if there is not a Supporting Actress Emmy nomination in her future, I am shocked. Loved her so much. Really, all of the show’s cast introduced so far — including Vincent Rodriguez III, Santino Fontana, and Pete Gardner — seems strong. I’d really like to see more to know more about how the characters will all interact with one another.
With The Voice, Dancing With The Stars, The Big Bang Theory, Gotham, and soon Supergirl occupying the same time slot, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend will have its work cut out for it, in order to stand out. But, sometimes crazy exes can be fun, am I right? Now, if only The CW would make “West Covina” available to download…
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premieres Monday night, October 12 on The CW. See some photos and other coverage from the series here!
