Fans of the latter series from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock (30 Rock) may recall when the character Titus Andromedon (Tituss Burgess) created a music video with the help of his landlady Lillian (Carol Kane) for his original wannabe hit song Peeno Noir.
In the original, which appeared in the sixth episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s inaugural season (Kimmy Goes to School), Titus belts out his hook, with a long-winded “peeeno noooirr!” followed by a random stream of lyrics like “caviar, Myanmar, mid-sized car” in a rhythmic, spoken style that’s reminiscent of Madonna’s Vogue. And similar to Madonna’s suggestive styles, that song isn’t actually about a type of red wine (check out the video below for some clarity).
Titus’ strange lyrics are replaced in Honey Jar with ones more applicable to the female inmates of Litchfield, like “steal a car,” “prison bars,” “seduce a guard,” and “you know that you went too far,” while each mimicks Titus’ over-the-top theatrics. Each actor also remains deeply in her character, including Kate Mulgrew as the menacing Galina “Red” Reznikov, and oddball Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) singing about, who else, but her beloved Christopher.
While Honey Jar pays tribute to Kimmy Schmidt, it also serves as a nice, Coles notes summary of the key happenings over the last three seasons of Orange is the New Black as we gear up for season 4.
If you couldn’t get Peeno Noir out of your head for weeks, get ready for Honey Jar to fill your noggin once again with some repetitive, rhyming nonsense.
The second season of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt debuts on April 15, and Orange is the New Black will return for its fourth season on June 17.
