Melissa Gimble and Josh Skinner are doctors in New York City who meet when kicking a vending machine gives them all the candy in the machine. As the years go by, their relationship becomes strained. One day, they go on a backpacking trip, which becomes disastrous when they get lost. Suddenly, they see a stone bridge, which they cross into to find a seemingly idyllic town called Schmigadoon, where everyone acts like they are in a musical from the 1940s and 1950s. Melissa plays along, since she is a fan of musicals, but Josh does not like it. Melissa also takes a liking to Danny Bailey, the local carnie. The next morning, Melissa and Josh attempt to leave, but discover they cannot. A leprechaun tells them, in song, that they cannot leave Schmigadoon until they find "true love".
Tropes That Appear In This Chapter:
- Chocolate of Romance: Melissa first meets Josh when he helps her get chocolate from a vending machine, he has various candy bars served at a restaurant as a romantic gesture on their anniversary and she is indulging in a candy bar when their relationship starts to burn out.
- Colorblind Casting: Lampshaded; Melissa points out that the musical theater ensemble is populated by people of color as evidence that Schmigadoon is semi-modern.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Melissa is introduced helping a woman give birth and after starting a relationship with Josh, is constantly egging him for his lack of grand romantic gestures, portraying her as the passionate one who prefers living in the moment.
- Josh is seen quietly performing knee surgery and does a romantic gesture with a simple trick, establishing him as a simple man with simple pleasures.
- Mrs. Layton bumps the mayor out of the way of the pedestal, her contribution to the Welcoming Song expressing her desire to keeping the town "pure" with the values of the Bible, not smiling the entire time, establishing her as a miserable old moral guardian who acts like the true leader of the town.
- Homage:
- The eponymous song "Schmigadoon!" is a tribute to the same from Oklahoma!, beginning with an extended note and ending with the spelling of the title.
- Danny's solo, "You Can't Tame Me", is a send-up of "If I Loved You" from Carousel, where a rake denies his attraction to the heroine but hypothesizes what would happen if they got together. It even begins with same way, with Danny accusing Melissa of trying to get him to fall for her the same way Billy accuses Julie of trying to get him to marry her.
- Not a Game: It isn't until Josh and Melissa try to leave Schmigadoon and they end up meeting a leprechaun do they realize that Schmigadoon isn't some elaborate tourist trap and that they might be stuck there forever.
- Ode to Food: "Corn Puddin'" is a Call-and-Response Song where the town's men and women sing about corn pudding.
- Old Maid: The village women gossip in the introductory song that Emma is unmarried at 28.
- Shout-Out: While Melissa calls the town's Welcoming Song charming, Josh calls it "Wicker Man".
- Tempting Fate: One of the trail managers says that while the trail looks cloudy, it would otherwise be sunny all week. Gilligan Cut to Josh and Melissa treading through the forest in heavy rain.
- Welcoming Song: "Schmigadoon" has the townspeople of the titular town welcome outsiders Josh and Melissa to their little town.
