What the foop is going on with Netflix’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt?
One minute you’re happily rewatching the gang from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and the next the streaming giant has pulled a Titus and dramatically exited the room, taking the series finale’s interactive special, Kimmy vs. the Reverend, with it.
Originally released in May 2020, the choose-your-own-escape-room movie followed our favorite unbreakable mole woman as she prepared to marry Prince Frederick Eurythmics Windsor (played by the Daniel Radcliffe) while thwarting yet another Richard Wayne Gary Wayne kidnapping plot.
It was chaotic, colorful, and peak Kimmy, the kind of interactive puzzle that felt like being trapped inside her bright, aggressively optimistic brain. Rotten Tomatoes even gave it a positive 94 percent rating.
But now? Poof. Gone. Deactivated. Kimmy’d right off the platform.
Actor Andrew Briedis, who played Dev the Trainer for a glorious eight-second sprint, only learned about the removal months later. His TikTok reaction captured that perfect blend of disbelief and millennial existential dread familiar to anyone who’s ever watched a streaming credit vanish into the algorithmic abyss.
Wearing a salmon-colored dinosaur shirt, he starts off the video:
“Netflix removed me from Netflix. I have been fired from Netflix… Back in May, Netflix took off 'Kimmy vs. the Reverend.' It's like the way the whole series ends. You watch all of 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,' and you want to know how it ends? You can't see it.”
Apparently, Netflix decided its interactive titles were taking up too much server space, a very boring reason to delete something that once let viewers choose whether Titus should sing, sass, or sashay away at the gym.
Briedis, meanwhile, mourned the loss of Dev with true Titus-level flair:
“It's been off for months, and I only just found this out. And I'm so bummed out because I was in it. I played Dev the Trainer. I mean, you all remember Dev, right? How many minutes was that? Eight seconds. How does Beyoncé do it? Everybody remembers Dev.”
No shady shade to Briedis, but I absolutely had to IMDb “Dev the Trainer,” squint, and say, “Ohhh, that guy!”
IGN previously reported that Netflix planned to phase out all interactive specials, from Black Mirror: Bandersnatch to Kimmy’s final showdown, by mid-2025, coinciding with the streamer’s pivot to gaming.
Netflix has since redesigned its homepage to showcase playable titles like Too Hot to Handle 3, proving that when one interactive door closes, another opens, except this one comes with mobile controls and probably too many abs.
Back in late 2024, Netflix told The Verge that interactive technology had “served its purpose,” which is corporate-speak for: We don’t feel like paying for this anymore. By December 2024, all but four interactive projects had been removed, with the rest following soon after.
And yes, for actors, that means residuals vanish too.
Or as Briedis put it:
“I’m not going to get any money from this anymore. It’s over. They took it off the platform along with the Bandersnatch episode of Black Mirror because it's like the ones you click, and I guess they're just like, our servers can't handle it anymore.”
In reality, residuals for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him role like Briedis’ don’t amount to much. Interactive specials are paid like streaming features, meaning performers earn a small initial fee and then quarterly residuals based on subscriber counts and platform availability. But once a title disappears, the money pipeline shuts off instantly.
He also paid tribute to working with Titus Burgess, the Pinot Noir superstar who played Titus Andromedon:
“I worked with the great Titus Burgess. My beautiful, gorgeous Titus. Let's get some intervals going. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.”
And honestly, Briedis’ reverence makes sense. Titus Burgess wasn’t just a scene-stealer, he was a full cultural event. His turn as Titus Andromedon earned four consecutive Emmy nominations, a SAG nod, and enough viral moments (including a Beyoncé-approved Lemonade homage) to power an entire Netflix algorithm.
Burgess used the role to leap into Broadway revivals, animated films, and a thriving career of playing characters who can belt, side-eye, and emotionally annihilate you in a single scene.
Briedis also lamented that Daniel Radcliffe’s extremely committed, extremely delightful cameo has now been Thanos-snapped:
“Daniel Radcliffe has an incredible run in this film, and it’s gone. Gone!”
And when he says “gone,” he means it. The interactive finale never received a DVD release. Netflix built it to live exclusively on its platform, and now that the streamer has officially discontinued interactive content, there’s no legal way to watch it. You can own all four seasons on DVD, sure, but Kimmy’s final showdown?
Locked away forever like a cluster of Indiana mole women waiting for an overly optimistic redheaded savior.
For Briedis, losing his role as the shirtless personal trainer with the confidence of a man who meal-preps for fun was its own heartbreak:
“I'm technically a recurring character. In 'Kimmy vs. the Reverend,' I got to have a costume that I really loved because it was just the best. Because I requested that I not have a shirt on underneath… And now it's gone…”
You can watch his TikTok revelation here:
Briedis, a La Jolla native with writing credits on Saturday Night Live and appearances in Almost Famous, wasn’t the only one stunned by the Netflix removal:
@roaminginflipflops/TikTok
@momentswithaaron/TikTok
@ryanrybre/TikTok
@braendynweyr/TikTok
@cruzical47/TikTok
@rainbowess/TikTok
@katbeth86/TikTok
@pocket.heathen/TikTok
@boq1939/TikTok
@snoozealarmmom/TikTok
@redheadwriting/TikTok
@roninjoey/TikTok
The loss stings even more considering how beloved the series was. Throughout its run, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt earned 98 nominations and won 25 awards, thanks in part to performances by Ellie Kemper, Jane Krakowski, Carol Kane, and Jon Hamm.
Titus Burgess once described the evolution of Titus Andromedon as:
“I’ll say that he ends in a place far different from where we found him, which is to say that he considers people’s feelings now in his decision-making process. And while that sounds like a very, very small movement of the needle, it actually was quite the Herculean task for someone who was closeted for most of his adult life. And once he got a taste for being out, he just operated unto himself and unto his own rules.”
You can watch one of Titus’ funniest moments below:
- YouTubeNetflix Is A Joke
For now, fans are left with four seasons, one vanished finale, and a collective shrug from Netflix. Kimmy always said you can choose your own adventure—she just didn’t warn us that Netflix might choose “delete.”
@sama/X
