Apple has released an official trailer for Schmigadoon!, a vibrant parody musical comedy series debuting this July on the streaming service and coming from the mind of Barry Sonnenfeld.
Described as a parody of iconic Golden Age musicals, the six-episode season of Schmigadoon! stars Emmy Award nominee Cecily Strong and Emmy Award winner Keegan-Michael Key as a couple on a backpacking trip designed to reinvigorate their relationship when they discover a magical town in which everyone is living in a studio musical from the 1940s. They then discover that they can’t leave until they find “true love.”
Check out the trailer for Schmigadoon! below:
The golden-age musical parody is teased out very well in this trailer. Even the title of the series, Schmigadoon!, is a spin on the classic 1947 musical Brigadoon from director Vincent Minnelli and star Gene Kelly, about a Scottish village gone mad with song and dance.
In addition to Strong and Key, Schmigadoon! also co-stars Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, Dove Cameron, Ariana DeBose, Fred Armisen, Jaime Camil, Jane Krakowski and Ann Harada along with Martin Short for a guest-starring role.
“There’s a whole tone to the show, which is both real, but very theatrical,” director Barry Sonnenfeld said during the TCA panel for the series back in February, in reference to casting multitalented song-and-dance actors. “So the acting has to be both theatrical and real. And we were very lucky that everyone was able to pull that off as well.”
Sonnenfeld is best known for his directorial efforts like The Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Men In Black (1-3), and Wild Wild West. His television endeavors include the astonishingly popular but short-lived Pushing Daisies, in which he brought his Tim Burton-esque flavor to that series visual language. Sonnenfeld began his career as a cinematographer, working with the Coen Brothers, Joel & Ethan, on their first few films Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller’s Crossing.
Schmigadoon! is created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, both of whom (writers on Despicable Me, Hop, The Lorax, Despicable Me 2, The Secret Life of Pets) also wrote the script for this. Cinco Paul is not only the showrunner but also wrote all the original songs for the series, which is executive produced by Andrew Singer, Lorne Michaels, and Barry Sonnenfeld, who also directs the series.
Schmigadoon! is scheduled to make its debut on July 16, with the first two episodes, followed by one new episode every Fridays.