'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' Is Changing Things Up Next Season, But That's A Good Thing

If you've been watching the clock wondering about the next season, fret no more — the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt Season 4 premiere date has been announced. On Wednesday, Netflix revealed that the beloved series will return May 30, so breathe a sigh of relief. If you can make it through the winter, then the spring brings a promise of good vibes and more Titus Andromedon.

But the good news doesn't stop there. Not only did the announcement come with a 20-second teaser trailer, just to whet everyone's whistle, but also a change from the way things have been run in the past. Seasons 1 through 3 have dropped all 13 episodes at once — in March 2015, April 2016, and May 2017, respectively. But Season 4 will premiere in two parts, with the first six episodes being released in May 2018. There's no word yet when the second half will crop up, or how many episodes it will include, but this is actually good news.

If producers had waited until every episode of the Ellie Kemper-helmed series was complete before releasing the whole season, who knows how long fans would've had to wait. Based on their first three premiere dates, it looks like each season takes about 13 months to create. So at a minimum, fans are likely getting the first half of the season about a month early. (If Season 4 had followed the pattern of previous seasons, it would've been safe to a fourth round of Kimmy Schmidt around June 2018.)

So this is more great news, but it doesn't even stop there. Series star Jane Krakowski promised during TODAY's Wednesday broadcast that this two-part release doesn't mean there will be any foot-dragging for the second half. The new episodes are coming out as fast as they can make them, so everyone's in good hands. "We’re going to shoot them and get them out as quickly as possible,” she told Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones. "So we don’t have to make our fans and audience wait so long!"

Unfortunately, any time off from the feel-good series seems like too long, but that's a great problem to have, from a production end. And having the forthcoming season split into two makes keeping up with its release much more manageable. When a full season of a show hits Netflix all at once, it can create a lot of pressure to watch it in one sitting, so you aren't behind any of your friends. Luckily, Kimmy Schmidt episodes are just under half an hour, so it isn't impossible to marathon a whole season in one go.

But six and a half hours is still a long time, and that's before you calculate in food and bathroom breaks. So if you can't set that aside, you might find yourself getting panicky. Maybe you're hiding under your desk at work or calling out sick, maybe you're plugging your ears in a restaurant and saying, "la la la!" any time someone recommends Pinot Noir or lemonade, because you're nervous it might remind someone nearby of a more recent Titus caper. Everyone reacts in different ways.

But no matter where you fall on that spectrum, three hours is super manageable, you guys. You can bang out six episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt no problem, and go back to being a human in the world without suffering intense FOMO about all the inside jokes everyone around you already knows from Season 4. So come on out of that bunker and into the sunlight, because Kimmy and her pals are looking out for you as always. Look out for the first six episodes at the end of May, and cross your fingers that the second half will be following close behind.