With a Golden Globe win and a Season 2 renewal, Rachel Bloom’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” may just be the most successful YouTuber-to-primetime story yet.
The musical dramedy followed Bloom’s Rebecca Bunch as she followed ex-boyfriend Josh Chan (Vincent Rodriguez III) from New York to California on a whim, and tried to discover herself.
While the show has been critically acclaimed, it’s struggled somewhat in the ratings, averaging a 0.3 in the 18-39 demo, making its second season pickup a welcome surprise for the cast and crew.
“The CW has always been really supportive,” showrunner Aline Brosh McKenna told TheWrap. “But yes, we were very happy to hear about the pickup.”
The show is known for its many and varied musical numbers — two or three every episode, 49 total in Season 1. Some of them were “spectacularly fun” to make, according to the EP, and they’re a way to keep Rebecca — who suffers from depression — grounded while still being able to approach her issues in a comedic way.
“We don’t play her issues for comedy, per se,” Brosh McKenna said. “We take that stuff pretty seriously. But it’s her perspective on life, which is pretty skewed. The songs really provide us with an access point and really allow you to understand where she’s coming from.”
Many of the songs have revolved around Rebecca’s romantic entanglements with aforementioned ex-boyfriend Josh and his best friend Greg (Santino Fontana), with whom Rebecca tentatively heads towards a romance in the final episodes of the season — just as Josh begins to realize he’s jealous.
It’s a love triangle, but also much more than that.
“I know that it is a love triangle, but it’s less about who’s with who, and it’s much more about these characters,” said Brosh McKenna. “Greg is dealing with his issues, Josh has his stuff. The love triangle is more an illustration of what the characters are going through elsewhere. We’re not focusing too much on will-they-won’t-they. It’s more about exploring what these characters are going through in their lives.”
The show had a breakout moment when Rebecca’s boss Darryl (Pete Gardner) came out as bisexual in a song called, “Getting Bi.”
“That came about because Rachel and I had friends who were bi. It’s one of those things where you try to reflect the world around you,” said Brosh McKenna, who also shared that a member of GLAAD came into the writer’s room to speak on the topic. “We wanted to put Daryl in a predicament. We weren’t thinking about it from a political point of view … A lot of the song is about the
And because Rebecca seems more settled in West Covina, Season 2 will probably bring more upheaval and, of course, more musical numbers.
“Season 2 is more about exploring her trying to make changes and understanding where she is in life,” Brosh McKenna teased.
“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.