On the pilot episode of CW’s “Crazy Ex Girlfriend,” Rachel Bloom’s Rebecca Bunch chases Vincent Rodriguez III’s Josh Chan across the country to West Covina, Calif. On Tuesday, all she needed to do to win the hearts of TV critics was show up for her Beverly Hills TCA panel.
The YouTube star and her cast charmed reporters in the Beverly Hilton ballroom this afternoon during their Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour panel. For many in attendance, it was love at first introduction.
“This is amazing! I have a TV show!” a bubbly Bloom declared after backup dancers set the stage for the cast and their creator. Soon, she and others had the usually reserved room of journalists eating out of their palms.
One breakout moment was when Bloom dropped a terrific joke about ABC’s “Blood and Oil:” “I assume that show is just about viscous liquids,” she quipped.
Even the way “Blood and Oil” came up was adorable. When it organically was revealed that literally every single present “Crazy Ex” actor can professionally tap dance, Bloom’s co-star and four-time tap champ Donna Lynne Champlin challenged the journalists in attendance to ask all the other casts we come across this tour that same question, and see if any other show comes close.
Critics and reporters in attendance lapped it up and laughed it up, as seemingly every tweet adorned with hashtag #TCA15 during their session was a glowing 140 characters or less.
Showrunner Aline Brosh McKenna and Bloom also masterfully handled — or at least deflected — sincere topics, such as the use of the potentially pejorative “Crazy” in the title, which could have been bait for a less comfortable group. Later, Champlin joined Bloom and others in rehashing what must have been a unique audition process — one filled with triple threats — but also had an added bonus.
“It’s very rare to see your type when your type is not the type that’s on TV,” Champlin recalled. “To actually see it in print, and then show up and have a ball.”
Just before, Champlin quipped that the roles she usually gets called for are more of the secretarial variety, or our personal favorite: “Time of Death Doctor.”
The CW can only hope that “Crazy Ex Girlfriend” is as much of a hit once the hourlong musical comedy starts airing on Oct. 12.