Schmigadoon! Creator Reveals Into the Schmoods Theme for the Show's Canceled Third Season

In January, Apple TV pulled the plug on season three of the musical series Schmigadoon!, co-created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio. As Paul commented at the time, "The season is written (including 25 new songs), but we unfortunately won't be making it." Since then, fans of the show have been itching to know what the theme of the already penned season would have been. 

On July 5, Cinco commented on X, "I'm so torn between really not wanting to spoil things in case it eventually gets made and really wanting to share what Schmigadoon! season 3 was going to be." He finally caved on July 8, posting a list of musical titles with the caption "INTO THE SCHMOODS #Schmigadoon." The list includes hit properties from the '80s and '90s featuring scores by the likes of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Alan Menken, Stephen Sondheim and many others, with movie and television titles among the collection.

In addition to the titular Into the Woods, the third season was poised to riff on Cats, Assassins, Big River, Beauty and the Beast, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Labyrinth, Sunset Boulevard, The Little Mermaid, Little Shop of Horrors, Rent, An American Tail, Barnum, Side Show, The Phantom of the Opera, City of Angels, Sunday in the Park with George, Les Misérables, Merrily We Roll Along, Dick Tracy, Hercules, The Wiz, Aladdin, Nine, Xanadu, Starlight Express and Evita. 

Season one of Schmigadoon! premiered in 2021, starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong as a couple who find themselves stranded in an alternate dimension of Golden Age-style musicals. It parodied classic shows such as The Sound of Music, Carousel, Brigadoon, among others. Season two, set in the city of Schmicago, aired in 2023 and was crafted in the style of the darker musicals of the '60s and '70s including Chicago, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Hair and more. 

While a future life for the season three materials is yet to be determined, Schmigadoon! will make its stage debut at the Kennedy Center in 2025 with a production featuring book, music and lyrics by Paul. The show will be directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Death Becomes Her, Newsies) and run January 31 to February 9, 2025 at the Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C.