The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Orange is the New Black crossover surprise
In a world of strange crossovers, the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt – Orange is the New Black one has to be one of the most surprising. This is nonetheless still what happens in an episode of the Netflix comedy this season, where Kimmy’s former bunker-mate Gretchen finds herself admitted to Litchfield. Not only that, but she runs into none other than cast member Black Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore).
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, show executive producer Robert Carlock details in part how the crossover came about, and the discussion with that show’s creator in Jenji Kohan as to how they could make this happen in a way that pleased all parties:
“…We emailed Jenji Kohan just asking if it was okay that we said she was going to that prison, and then I think we added the idea of, ‘Oh, it’d be nice to have one of their actors to make it really real.’ And, we asked if that was okay. Jenji was very open to us just trampling all over the world she created, which we were very appreciative of. At one point, the line that Black Cindy has‚ which is about stabbing her boss at Sea World, was phrased where it made it seem like that was the reason she was at that prison, which pulled a little thread. Jenji did ask us to make that something that happened in the past, which was fine with us and completely understandable. I guess we just like the idea of what it means for Gretchen in the future. I don’t know that Jenji will allow us to do a Gretchen episode of Orange Is the New Black, but we just like the idea of these fictional worlds intersecting. It seemed funny to us.”
Carlock also states in this interview that there was an attempt to get a minor 30 Rock crossover into this season featuring Jack McBrayer as Kenneth the Page, but they weren’t able to make it happen. There are also some hopes to try to include some other Netflix crossovers at some point in the future. It’s a fun idea to think about, and with this show, it’s okay if it gets a little bit weird and meta since it fits perfectly with its tone.
What crossovers would you want to see Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt try to execute moving into the future? Feel free to share below!