A little song, a little dance, ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’ finds its lasting romance

Four seasons. That’s all the time that “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend� bestowed upon its fans. Creators Aline Brosh McKenna and Rachel Bloom knew from the start that they didn’t want to hang on too long; they had a story to tell, and then they’d be out. Correction, a story to sing, dance, rap and swoon over.

Bloom starred as Rebecca Bunch, a young woman obsessed with love to the point of distraction, and destruction, who left her successful, hollow life in New York to follow her summer camp crush to West Covina. Her delusions took the form of songs, and those took the style of every genre known to stage and screen. The CW series was a comedy-drama-musical, a wink to the audience about its artifice and a clear-eyed look at mental health issues, all wrapped up in one theatrical bow.

And four years after it began, “Crazy Ex� ended with a picture-perfect finale that finally saw Rachel find her true love: music. Even more perfectly, the person to help her find it was her best friend, Paula (Donna Lynne Champlin). Because the biggest love story on the show was between those two friends.

EMMY BUZZMETER: Track the latest predictions in key categories »

Speaking by phone on a conference call with Bloom, McKenna says, “We took a picture in the office of us crying when we wrote that bit about Paula saying, ‘Here’s your pen,’ � telling Rebecca to start following her passion, “because it really makes sense now why Paula is a focus of the show. Paula is the one who achieved her own dream, partly because of Rebecca’s intervention, so she’s the one to give Rebecca her dream right back.�

Which in itself is a reflection of the relationship between McKenna and Bloom. As McKenna notes in the documentary special about the making of the finale, called “Oh My God I Think It’s Over� (available on CW Seed), “The core of the show is the friendship between two women who are 20 years apart. The middle-aged lady gives the young lady a pen and says, ‘You need to express yourself.’ �

Six years ago, Bloom was trying to make it as an actress, while making and posting brilliant music videos online. (“Historically Accurate Disney Princess Song� is a must-see.) Longtime screenwriter McKenna (“The Devil Wears Prada�) saw the videos and asked to meet with Bloom. It was creative kismet at first sight: “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend� was an idea McKenna had been kicking around for years but hadn’t figured out how to bring it to life until she met Bloom.

Aline Brosh McKenna, the showrunner of the CW’s musical dramedy, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.�

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

FULL COVERAGE: Get the latest on awards season from The Envelope »

They had a good idea of how the show would end from the start, down to the last line of the finale. “We actually pitched it when we went to sell the show,� McKenna says. “We always had this notion that by going on this adventure, Rebecca was going to realize this love of music, which had been squelched by her mother and by the world, was going to bubble up, and she was going to commit herself to that.�

Over 62 episodes, the show put on over 150 musical numbers, give or take a reprise. So it was even more glorious that in the last moment of the finale, after that at-long-last line, “This is a song I wrote,� Rebecca opened her mouth to sing … and the rest was silence.

Except it wasn’t. Because as soon as the finale ended, the live show “Yes, It’s Really Us Singing: The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Concert Special!� began, put on by the cast at the Orpheum downtown. Neatly complementing the show’s finale, the show was a full-throttle hour of song and dance and ad-lib and silliness.

“We did a whole live tour last year, so there’s been a live component of the TV show for a couple years now,� says Bloom, who won a Golden Globe for her role. “It seemed very natural to capture that into a live special. So that was an idea that we had for a while.�

And the tour continues. At the time of this call, Bloom was in Manhattan prepping for a live Radio City Music Hall performance, before taking the act to London. Other cast members and surprise guests were set to join in as available.

The audience played a big role in the live special, showing up in various costumes from the series. “We made sure that the people with the best costumes were seated in the front, and I called someone up on stage with me, because I could see them,� Bloom says. “We knew from doing a lot of other live performances how amazing our fan base was, so we really tailored the special to make them happy. It was special for us to perform for them.�

Rebecca Bunch would be proud.