West CoVINA!! CALIFORNIA!

It’s 2005 at a high school summer camp with a a half dozen girls singing a pitchy rendition of “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific.

Immediately the show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is already appealing to inner musical theatre nerd.  I feel myself sitting up a little straighter, this show is speaking my language.

You may have seen the giant billboards for this new CW show (they’ve been hard to miss in NYC).  And I have to say the ad campaign and the title turned me a little off to the show.  I mean, the poster has actress, Rachel Bloom, with a dare I say… crazy look on her face as she clenches a broken balloon string for dear life as the balloon is floating away.  A metaphor perhaps for her character’s life?

Also “crazy ex-girlfriend” is a term that gets thrown around a lot and it makes me squirm a little bit.  Girls get labeled as crazy too quickly and I don’t want an entire TV show to reenforce that!

All that being said, I think, for the most part, this show won me over.  While there were some moments where I winced at the awkwardness, overall, the lead character, Rebecca Bunch felt relatable in a lot of ways.

As you may have guessed, the show begins with Rebecca Bunch getting dumped by her summer camp boyfriend, Josh Chan.  Flash forward 10 years and she no longer does the musical theatre she loves, but works hard at a law firm.  So hard in fact that she’s offered a junior partnership.

She runs into Josh Chan on the street and immediately is reminded of how much she loved him and loved her life back at high school summer camp.

So like anyone would do, she quits her job and moves to California where Josh lives to try to get back with him.

Crazy, right?

Her sudden cross country move is highlighted by a fantastic musical number that reminds me of the movie Enchanted, the song "That's How You Know."  I really did enjoy this number ("West Covina California") and I think this show will succeed where others have failed in justifying musical moments.  Since she’s “crazy,” they’re inside her mind and they fit quite nicely.

All musical numbers should end with the lead being lifted into the air by a giant pretzel

The other musical number in this episode is Rebecca preparing for a date called “Sexy Getting Ready Song”, think a R&B slow jam.  This song made me laugh as a girl who has never been graceful at primping and it also highlights just how ridiculous women can be in what lengths they will go for beauty - Spanx galore!

The main reason I actually decided to watch this show was because of Santino Fontana, a Broadway actor recently in a Broadway production of Cinderella, so I’m hoping he gets to sing in a future episode!

You may have heard his voice in a little film called Frozen?

He seemed so nice...

Although I promise Hans and this guy, Greg, have just the voice in common.  Greg is the stereotypical sweet guy who the lead girl will never pay attention to but he’s clearly into her and better than whatever loser guy she’s obsessed with.  I’m a sucker for these guys - it’s why I read so many Meg Cabot books in high school.  Santino nails the part and has some great lines of wry and self-deprecating humor.

Aww, you can't resist those sad puppy dog eyes 

Which brings us the writing.  It’s definitely out there and wacky and it reminds me a bit of 30 Rock.  The writing is jam packed full of things to laugh at and moves so quickly, that you will enjoy some, miss a few, and go “…what?” at the rest.

Rachel Bloom is a new actor to me (apparently she’s a YouTube star?) but she definitely has some real strong moments in this pilot.  While she acts “crazy” and moves across the country, I definitely can relate to the stress and just having a “what am I doing with my life?!” moment.  She has a bit of a meltdown and while you or I may have a good cry with a pint of Cherry Garcia, she uproots her life and travels 3,000 miles to West Covina, California.

Overall, I thought this show was sweet and of course, the musical theatre features got me excited.  I am worried about keeping the “crazy ex-girlfriend” premise going for very long.  The writing is good, with some weird offbeat moments.  I liked near the end of the pilot where Rebecca gained a confidante who believes in her ability to get back Josh and will now join forces with her.  There’s an added layer of a strong female friendship, which may add some perspective or heighten the crazy, depending on which way they decide to go… probably the latter.  I think I may watch a few more episode although I’m afraid it may not find an audience and will get cancelled before it gets halfway through its first season.

I give this pilot 7 out of 10 giant crane pretzels.