The first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend premiered on The CW on October 12, 2015 and ran for 18 episodes until April 18, 2016. The season stars Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch, a young lawyer who quits her job at a top-notch New York lawfirm and moves across the country to West Covina, California to follow an ex-boyfriend from her teenage years, Josh Chan, in the hopes of finding true happiness. Vincent Rodriguez III, Santino Fontana, Donna Lynne Champlin, Pete Gardner, and Vella Lovell co-star.
Cast
Main Rachel Bloom as Rebecca Bunch Vincent Rodriguez III as Josh Chan Santino Fontana as Greg Serrano Donna Lynne Champlin as Paula Proctor Pete Gardner as Darryl Whitefeather Vella Lovell as Heather Davis
Recurring Gabrielle Ruiz as Valencia Perez David Hull as White Josh Erick Lopez as Hector Gina Gallego as Mrs. Hernandez Steve Monroe as Scott Proctor Zayne Emory, and Steele Stebbins as Brendan and Tommy Proctor Rene Gube as Father Brah Tovah Feldshuh as Naomi Bunch Ava Acres as Young Rebecca Amy Hill and Alberto Issac as Lourdes and Joseph Chan Michael Hyatt as Dr. Noelle Akopian Michael McMillian as Tim Paul Welsh as Trent Maddock Stephnie Weir as Karen and Burl Moseley as Jim John Allen Nelson and Jay Huguley as Silas Bunch Robin Thomas as Marco Serrano Esther Povitsky as Maya Danny Jolles as George Rachel Grate as Audra Levine Tess Paras and Coryn Mabalot as Jayma and Jastenity Chan Benjamin Siemon as Brody, "Grocery Clerk with Half an Eyelid" Hunter Stiebel as Marty Michael Hitchcock as Bert Cedric Yarbrough as Calvin Young John Yuan and Matthew Yuan as Ben and David Clark Moore as AJ
Guest Olivia Edward as Madison Whitefeather Eugene Cordero as Alex Dan Gregor as Dr. Roth Dr. Phil as himself Amber Riley and Ricki Lake as the Dream Ghosts BJ Novak as himself Lea Salonga as Aunt Myrna Nipsey Hussle as himself
Episodes
Every song listed is performed by Rebecca, except where indicated.
Production and development The series was originally developed for Showtime, and a pilot was produced, but Showtime opted not to proceed with it on February 9, 2015. The CW picked up the series on May 7, 2015, for the Fall 2015–2016 season. The series has been extensively reworked for The CW, expanding the show format from a half-hour to a full hour and adjusting the content for broadcast television, as the original pilot was produced for premium cable. On October 5, 2015, shortly before the series premiere, The CW placed an order of five additional scripts. On November 23, 2015, the CW ordered another five episodes, raising the total for season 1 to 18 episodes.
Casting On September 30, 2014, Santino Fontana, Donna Lynne Champlin, Vincent Rodriguez III and Michael McDonald joined Rachel Bloom in the series regular cast. With the move to The CW, the series went through casting changes and McDonald departed the cast. Shortly afterwards, Vella Lovell and Pete Gardner were added as regulars; with Lovell in the role of Heather, Rebecca's underachieving neighbor; and Gardner replacing McDonald in the role of Darryl, Rebecca's new boss.
Music "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Original Television Soundtrack (Season 1 - Volume 1)" was released on February 19, 2016 in both explicit and clean versions. It includes all the songs from the first eight episodes of season one, alongside Bloom's a cappella rough demos of "Feeling Kinda Naughty", "I Have Friends", "Settle for Me", and "Sex with a Stranger" as well as Adam Schlesinger's demo version of "What'll It Be".
"Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Original Television Soundtrack (Season 1 - Vol. 2)" was released on May 20, 2016. It includes all the songs from the last 10 episodes of season one, as well as demos of "JAP Battle", "I Could If I Wanted To", "Women Gotta Stick Together", "Group Hang", and "You Stupid Bitch".
Reception Critical response The first season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the first season received "generally favorable" reviews with an average score of 78 based on 23 reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the first season a 97% positive rating, with an average rating of 7.70 out of 10 based on reviews from 62 critics, with the site's consensus stating: "Lively musical numbers and a refreshing, energetic lead, Rachel Bloom, make Crazy Ex-Girlfriend a charming, eccentric commentary on human relationships."
Critics' year-end lists
2015 No. 1 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette No. 5 - Las Vegas Weekly No. 5 - We Got This Covered No. 9 - CinemaBlend No. 9 - Entertainment Weekly No. 9 - Time Out New York No. 10 - The Star-Ledger — Chicago Reader — Flavorwire — IndieWire — Los Angeles Times (new shows) — Sioux City Journal — Star Tribune — Variety (pairs, with Jane the Virgin)
Awards and nominations +AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultReference68th Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding ChoreographyKathryn Burns ("I'm So Good at Yoga", "A Boy Band Made Up of Four Joshes" and "Settle for Me")Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy SeriesKabir Akhtar ("Josh Just Happens to Live Here")Outstanding Original Music and LyricsAdam Schlesinger, Rachel Bloom and Jack Dolgen ("Settle for Me")Outstanding Original Main Title Theme MusicRachel Bloom and Adam SchlesingerCritics Choice AwardsBest Actress in a Comedy SeriesRachel BloomDorian AwardsUnsung TV Show of the YearCrazy Ex-GirlfriendGolden Globe AwardBest Actress – Television Series Musical or ComedyRachel BloomGotham AwardsBreakthrough Series – Long FormCrazy Ex-GirlfriendPeople's Choice AwardsFavorite New TV ComedyCrazy Ex-GirlfriendPoppy AwardsBest Comedy SeriesCrazy Ex-GirlfriendBest Actress in a ComedyRachel BloomBest Supporting Actor in a ComedySantino FontanaBest Supporting Actress in a ComedyDonna Lynne ChamplinTCA AwardsOutstanding Achievement in ComedyCrazy Ex-GirlfriendOutstanding New ProgramIndividual Achievement in ComedyRachel Bloom
Ratings
References