Tina Fey and Ellie Kemper Talk Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

There's a moment in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the new Netflix comedy created and written by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and starring Ellie Kemper (The Office), that made me honest-to-God snort with laughter. Kimmy, a woman who's just escaped an underground cult and moved to New York City, marches past a construction worker who catcalls her: "Hey, Red! You're making me wish I was those jeans!" She turns to him with a bright smile, assessing his helmet. "Well, I wish I was your yellow hat!" she answers, leaving him lost for words. I howled.

Kimmy's wide-eyed attitude makes plenty of things we've come to accept as normal (from street harassment to lip injections) look ridiculous. Refreshing—and empowering. I talked with Fey and Kemper about the show (which is out now, with 13 addictive episodes, and costars 30 Rock's Jane Krakowski) and its message, found right in the lyrics of the theme song: "Females are strong as hell!" We couldn't agree more.

GLAMOUR: The show starts with Kimmy's being rescued from a bunker, where she's been kept for years. Jokes about that scenario don't exactly write themselves. Why did you start there?

TINA FEY: My producing partner, Robert Carlock [who coproduced 30 Rock], and I wanted to write something for Ellie; she's adorable but also has strength. We live in a strange world in which people, literally and metaphorically, like to lock up women. And we liked the idea of Ellie playing a survivor and starting over.

GLAMOUR: Everyone starts from scratch at some point. Do you remember a time like that from your own life?

ELLIE KEMPER: For me, it was at the beginning of my career, when I kept getting rejected at auditions. I wanted more control, so I started to write for myself.