Will success spoil Amy Schumer? Judging by the first two episodes of the new season of “Inside Amy Schumer” — the first since her delightful film “Trainwreck” — she remains a potent original, torpedoing gender inequality and smartly dissecting cultural and sexual norms.
And yet, Season 4 of the show also unconsciously struggles with heightened expectations, as this Emmy- and Peabody-winning series not only has to compete with a stellar Season 3 but also the reality of Schumer’s skyrocketing popularity. Still funny without being revelatory, this season may represent a crossroads of sorts: Can the former underdog strike the same rich comedic veins now that she’s a star?
Returning almost exactly a year since the start of Season 3 — which featured A-list cameos as well as daring social commentary folded into parodies of “Friday Night Lights” and “12 Angry Men” — “Inside Amy Schumer” doesn’t significantly alter the show’s appealingly loose structure.