Matt Wilson/Paramount+
Ever since she burst onto the New York standup scene in the late 2000s, we’ve watched Amy Schumer’s career take several successful and not-so-successful turns: from noted “sex comic” to Hollywood movie star to celebrity activist to New York Times bestselling author. These days, she’s allegedly causing tampon shortages as a spokesperson for Tampax.
However, anyone who’s memorized the lyrics to “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup” or walks into a McDonalds and instantly thinks of “The Food Room” knows that her funniest work to date is the Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer, which is now back for a long-awaited fifth season.
The series, now on Paramount+, is returning with noticeably less demand than in previous years. After its debut in 2013, the sketch show became a critical darling in its third season, earning a Peabody and one of several Emmys. Ostensibly, the rise of fourth-wave feminism and calls for female representation in prominent comedy spaces boosted the show’s rise in visibility, as well as Schumer’s. For the most part, the 41-year-old and her teams of writers—including author and Big Mouth actress Jessi Klein—were able to deliver a specific, unapologetically feminist point of view and a knack for telling rape jokes in a thoughtful way.