'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' Reveals It's Set in Same Universe as Another Netflix Series
Now that we know there's some kind of Netflix Entertainment Universe, can we get a new crossover series, ala "The Defenders"? We even have a crazy pitch ready to go...
"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" Season 3 was just released on May 19, and Episode 5, "Kimmy Steps on a Crack!" included a crossover with Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black." Kimmy's former bunker-mate Gretchen started a cult and was sent to prison, at the Litchfield of OITNB, where we see her meet Black Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore).
"Kimmy" co-creator Robert Carlock talked to Entertainment Weekly about how they worked in that crossover with Jenji Kohan's show.
"...I think [the OITNB scene] was just half a joke pitch and half we felt we could somehow save money, and that turned out not to be true. And, it turned into purely a joke that I think was Tina [Fey]'s. We thought it was funny to suggest we lived in that same world as Orange Is the New Black, and of course, we're always looking for Netflix synergies. That's our main thing that we do day-to-day. We're gonna have a lot of stuff with Fuller House coming up — any opportunity we can to crossover with other Netflix shows.
We emailed Jenji Kohan just asking if it was okay that we said she was going to that prison, and then I think we added the idea of, 'Oh, it'd be nice to have one of their actors to make it really real.' And, we asked if that was okay. Jenji was very open to us just trampling all over the world she created, which we were very appreciative of. At one point, the line that Black Cindy has‚ which is about stabbing her boss at Sea World, was phrased where it made it seem like that was the reason she was at that prison, which pulled a little thread. Jenji did ask us to make that something that happened in the past, which was fine with us and completely understandable.
I guess we just like the idea of what it means for Gretchen in the future. I don't know that Jenji will allow us to do a Gretchen episode of Orange Is the New Black, but we just like the idea of these fictional worlds intersecting. It seemed funny to us."
He was just joking about a "Fuller House" crossover, so don't get your hopes up too high. That said, here's a crossover pitch to consider:
It could be called "Jail Bait," with Titus, Kimmy, Lillian, and Jacqueline of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt" breaking Gretchen out of the Litchfield prison of "Orange Is the New Black," as the Underwoods of "House of Cards" watch the drama on television and decide what response would best boost them in the polls. While in prison, Cindy could even get inside tips on what really happened to Sister Cathy in "The Keepers," and the whole thing could be presented with a narrator like "Arrested Development" or even via tapes like "13 Reasons Why." One big twist would be a "Stranger Things" tie-in that reveals Barb has been ALIVE THE WHOLE TIME and she's former Litchfield corrections officer Wanda Bell.
Give it some thought, Netflix! In the meantime, "Orange Is the New Black" Season 5 arrives June 9.
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