Busy Philipps Is Exactly What Kimmy Schmidt Needs

A lot of us had our first introduction to Busy Philipps as the brazen Kim Kelly in Freaks and Geeks. Eighteen years later, we’ve seen her in various roles: Kelli Ann in He’s Just Not Into You, Audrey in Dawson’s Creek, and as the star of her own absolutely hysterical Instagram stories. Now, Phillips is heading over to season 4 of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Right now, it isn’t clear what role she’ll play, but we know she definitely shares some screen time with the iconic Carol Kane, her “WCW forever.” It appears Philipps will only have a one or two episode arc, which is not enough, but we’ll take it.

There’s a lot to come on the new Kimmy Schmidt season. Besides following the adventures of scrappy, sometimes too-oblivious Kimmy (Ellie Kemper), the proud and utterly ridiculous Titus (Tituss Burgess), and the self-important, semi-insane Jacqueline (Jane Krakowski), the show intends to tackle the #MeToo movement and likely confront Kimmy’s evident abuse at the hands of the Reverend (Jon Hamm). Whether it does that fully enough — it will have taken four seasons to actually address it — or intelligently enough is anyone’s guess. Hopefully Philipps, a feisty actress, can give the series a much-needed boost.

It might be too much to ask for a Lillian-Philipps romantic storyline (can we dream?) but now that Artie’s not in the picture, it’ll be interesting to see newly single Lillian taking on gentrification in East Dogmouth — and who better at her side than the tough, funny Philipps? We’re all for them starring in a new bad cop/slightly worse cop show. Of course, their havoc-wreaking weapons would be the good ol’ hammer/bus pass. Either way, Philipps as Kim Kelly was definitely good at destruction; maybe she could be Lillian’s muscle. Equal parts tough and funny, maybe Philipps can even teach Kimmy a thing or two about being a little less gullible (it would be about time).

We’ll definitely be seeing plenty more of Philipps. Though her (amazing) social media presence has quite possibly been her biggest role in the past few years, this month sees the release of the film I Feel Pretty, where she plays Jane, best friend to lead actress Amy Schumer, and we can catch her in Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix May 30. The first half of season 4 will be released on that date, with the second half released later on this year.