A Guide To The Inside Jokes and References Found In ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’

I’ve already talked about how Kimmy Schmidt‘s theme song is a catchy throwback to sitcoms of the last century, but what makes it so timely? Naturally, the Auto Tune The News-style parody of both Antoine Dodson’s “Bed Intruder Song” as well as the similarly remixed parodies of Charles Ramsey, who famously described the similar scene when three women were rescued from the Cleveland home of Ariel Castro in 2013.

Tina Fey got her big break, of course, on Saturday Night Live, moving from the writers room to in front of the camera as the co-anchor of Weekend Update. Martin Short, too, spent one season on the sketch series from 1984-1985 (after already gaining popularity on SCTV). But Kimmy Schmidt boasts two other lesser-known SNL alumni. Jerry Minor, who plays prosecutor Christopher Darden, also spent a single season on the series (from 2001-2002); Christine Ebersole, who is most notable as a stage and screen actress (and plays Xanthippe’s mother), was a member of the SNL cast from 1981-1982.

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt might be the first modern sitcom about ancient Greek philosophy. No, really. The first season references one of the most famous parts of Plato’s The Republic: Socrates talks about people who have lived their lives chained in a cave, facing a blank wall. Their understanding of their reality comes from their interpretation of shadows. He says that a philosopher is like one such prisoner who escapes the cave and must realize that true reality isn’t what he saw in the shadows on the wall, but what is illuminated by the sun.

Of course, there is a harsh transition and it takes a while for the philosopher to adjust. He adds that once the philosopher embraces the real world, he would pity those still living in the lie of the cave. The philosopher’s task would be to return to the cave to save them, but by returning, he would be temporarily blind and the cave dwellers who find him crazy and…(sigh)…you know what?

Basically the Allegory of the Cave follows the overarching narrative plot of season one of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. There. You get Plato, now.

Obviously, Xanthippe’s name is a send up of the truly outrageous old-fashioned names that New York’s elite name their children in an effort to seem trendy. However, there’s another nod to Fey’s Greek heritage (and the life of Socrates) here.

Xanthippe was the name of Socrates’ young, beautiful, and exceptionally argumentative wife. When asked by his pupils why he married such a difficult woman, Socrates explained that he thought if peace could be found with Xanthippe, then he could find peace with all women. (Kimmy and Xanthippe only communicate through arguing, so think about that.)

Though they both appeared in small roles in the smash hit Bridesmaids, even that wasn’t the first time the two actors met. Both are from Missouri — Hamm from St. Louis, Kemper from Kansas City — and Hamm eventually earned a degree in English at the University of Missouri. After graduation, he returned to his alma mater: the John Burroughs School in the St. Louis suburb of Ladue. It’s there he taught drama class, with one of his students being Ellie Kemper. Here’s how Kemper recounts the experience:

Tina Fey and Jerry Minor turn up toward the end of the season as lawyers named “Marcia” and “Chris,” assigned what might very well be the simplest task: prove Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne is guilty of imprisoning Kimmy and her fellow doomsday cult members in an underground bunker. They look very much like (and exhibit similarly ineptitude as) Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden, the two prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson trial. Yes, millennials — this is a reference to a ’90s news story!

As Page Six reports, Martin Short‘s overzealous plastic surgeon Dr. Sidney Grant (pronounced “Franff”) bares a striking resemblance to famed infamous New York City-based dermatologist Dr. Frederic Brandt, known as the “Baron of Botox” and Madonna’s go-to guy for touch-ups. Although neither Brandt nor the Kimmy Schmidt folks have commented on the similarity, it’s hard to believe it’s just a coincidence.

The Chinese restaurant where Dong works is named Hu Zhi Qi — a subtle play on words that sounds like the Americanized phrase, “Who’s Jackie.” It might be the deepest inside joke of everything jam-packed into Kimmy Schmidt, because it’s a reference to a sitcom writers urban legend, which SNL alumni Norm Macdonald explains in the video below:

Although it’s a funny story, it’s likely to be a myth. Danny Zuker, currently a writer on Modern Family, debunked the “Who’s Jackie?” myth on Julie Klausner’s podcast, How Was Your Week?

Many people have pointed out (including Emily Nussbaum at The New Yorker) that there’s an eerie scene toward the end of the season in which Kimmy’s roommate, Titus, tries to persuade her to return home for the Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne’s trial. “The worst thing that ever happened to me happened in my own front yard,” Kimmy says, which is reminiscent of Fey’s old childhood trauma when a man attacked her in front of her home, leaving her with her distinctive scar. It’s one of the many ways in which Fey and her writers try to examine the horrors of the everyday world — the unexpected traumatic events that take us by surprise — by lifting them out of the darkness and into the light.

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