Gregory Bossler

The upcoming Apple TV+ musical miniseries Schmigadoon! has received generally favorable reviews from critics. The series, co-created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, stars sketch veterans Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key as a backpacking couple who stumble into a town stuck in the world of 1940s Golden Age musicals — like Brigadoon. Paul also wrote the original songs for the series, and Barry Sonnenfeld directs. The cast also includes Tony winners Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Jane Krakowski, and Martin Short as well as Tony nominees Ariana DeBose and Aaron Tveit, in addition to Dove Cameron, Ann Harada, Jaime Camil, and Fred Armisen. The first two episodes will premiere July 16, with a new episode airing every Friday after that until the finale on August 13.

Consequence (Clint Worthington): Schmigadoon! feels so much like a one-off experiment; by and large, it’s a self-contained, six-episode story that’s committed to not wearing out its welcome. … Despite its hiccups (and the thinness of even its non-musical characters), there’s a lot to like about Schmigadoon! … If the show gets a second season, though, here’s hoping they up their song game, give some of the more under-served characters their moment in the sun … and keeps its giddy energy.

Decider (Meghan O’Keefe): Schmigadoon! is joy incarnate. … Each episode of Schmigadoon! features original numbers that carefully thread the needle of being pitch perfect homages of classic Broadway standards while also hilariously propelling the story forward. … Schmigadoon! is silly, sweet, sharp, and most of all, sensational. It’s just the latest in a string of Apple TV+ comedies to balance wit and heart. … Schmigadoon! is so damn good it will have even musical theatre skeptics singing its praises.

Observer (Brandon Katz): Like many musicals, Act I is better than Act II. … But at six half-hour episodes, these flaws can be forgiven in a breeze of musical comedy. Schmigadoon! is boisterously fun while putting forth a self-aware sense of humor that sends up Broadway from a place of knowing love and contemporary perspective, even if it somewhat runs out of steam by the end. It’s the type of weird little gem you need to watch once to enjoy, and twice to memorize all the catchy numbers.

Paste (Amy Amatangelo): The musical numbers are big and bold with fantastic dancing. The fourth episode features a tap dance number that is so enthralling and delightful I immediately rewound and watched it again. … The series manages to be simultaneously an adoring homage to the genre and a spot-on satire of it; every trope is lovingly upended, every plot difficulty laid bare. … It may be a niche joy, but you can’t watch without smiling. And that’s something to sing about.

Slate (Karen Han): Whether watching characters spontaneously burst into song causes you to roll your eyes or to perk up in your seat, it’s hard not to be won over by the new musical comedy. … At just six episodes, it neatly wraps up its story in a way that seems to shut down any questions about a second season, but it’s hard not to wish for an encore performance, if only because Paul and Daurio have created a musical paradise that highlights the magic of what we consider to be everyday and mundane.

TV Line (Dave Nemetz): The cast is top-to-bottom fantastic, the enthusiasm is infectious, and the sharp jabs it takes at the genre’s wheezy old clichés give it a distinctly meta edge. … Schmigadoon! manages to dissect the genre and celebrate it at the same time, pointing out its glaring flaws while still embracing its virtues. … I found myself wishing the show would go further, hit harder, follow through on its more savage instincts. But it does build to a satisfying finish. B+

Variety (Daniel D’Addario): What’s missing from Schmigadoon, and from Schmigadoon!, is real idiosyncracy. Great musicals tend to build worlds, and a problem for Schmigadoon! is that it is working as hard as it is to be generic. … The show is well worth watching in many particulars, but it may elicit more nods of appreciation for what it mimics well than standing ovations for how it transcends.