Community, the tv show

I thought all the shows tonight were funny, and Community even more than usual. It seemed like the pace was quicker or something.

And WTF with the mascot?

they got picked up for the second half of the season by NBC.

I liked this episode quite a bit.

this show is great when it actually has jokes and pretty bad when it goes into heartwarming mode (esp. when dude showed his home movie about his relationship with his dad wtf). i wish they would abandon the relationships and character development and just be funny.

otm

troy was on fire this ep

"when you say jump he says how high. when you say stop he says hammer time."

I read an interview with the creator where he claimed he wasn't really having a go at community college, a claim somewhat undercut by "We used to be the Greendale Grizzlies, but, you know, some of these students have been called 'animals' their whole lives."

Abed meta-commentary went to a whole new level last night, too!

Veiled St Elsewhere reference imo.

i liked this episode a lot actually - the jeff/annie thing worked better than i would've expected, and I don't think it veered too far into cuteness like the abed documentary one. also it was worth watching just for a few bits (the racism bit above, troy's horrible 2004-era political fight songs). more donald glover!

Yeah, I think last weeks was my favorite episode. I'm glad this show got picked up.

I just realized recently that Donald Glover (Troy) was a writer on 30 Rock. He's very quicky rising in my esteem.

I can't believe SNL rejected him in favor of Armisen playing Obama. Lorne must be on crack.

Although it probably worked out better for Donald Glover, because SNL has been pretty unwatchable lately.

this show is...pretty bad when it goes into heartwarming mode (esp. when dude showed his home movie about his relationship with his dad wtf). i wish they would abandon the relationships and character development and just be funny.

― congratulations (n/a), Friday, October 23, 2009 6:53 PM

^^

SNL would be more watchable if they brought in more new blood instead of just hanging onto the same people forever and arbitrarily sloughing off a couple of them each season, so it's a vicious circle

ok, this is hysterical. i laughed more during the halloween episode tonight than with any other of the thursday night shows.

― cutty, Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:45 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

chevy chase as beastmaster

― cutty, Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:46 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i really wanna like this show cuz i love mchale but this seems super contrived to me. like, the office is absurdist but it's still pretty grounded in believability whereas the characters in community and the premises of the episodes kind of seem to only be able to exist in minds of the writers. granted i've never been to community college so maybe i'm wrong but this is kinda boring imo.

lol @ the ghostbusters joke. i also saw ghostbusters in the theater! if i wasn't a kid when that happened, i would feel old.

this is kinda boring imo

it's watchable but i like parks and recreation a lot more.

parks and rec doesn't have trudy campbell though!

not particularly funny this evening but third of a letter grade bonus for SQUIRREL GIRL

never-ending Batman monologue at the end A++

"What up, Urkel"

I found the tripping scene pretty entertaining.

I wish they'd drop the will-they-won't-they (Joel McHale isn't that confident an actor, and they don't have the chemistry), but I'm really loving this show. Such a tremendous ensemble.

i could not stop laughing during the tripping scene, and the way they cut to the commercial was perfect

i'd much rather hear post-30 rock screwball dialogue than faux-doc monologues at this point

faux-doc?

mockumentary interview shit: office, p&r, modern family. forgive the french.

i kept thinking doctor for some reason. yeah i agree.

in parks and recreation the mockumentary thing doesn't even make sense

i liked Troy's nodding along to the Mexican Halloween comment.

lol

this show is losing me a little bit, getting tired of every episode being about main dude trying to be all cool and withdrawn and then realizing at the end that he CARES about this lovable gang of misfits - this has happened like five times now, it's already old and it's going to get more annoying

abed as batman was great though, and ken jeong is nuts

yeah ken jeong kinda steals every scene he's in. and while i agree with you, by now jeff has done his cool-then-caring-thing with every cast member and i have confidence in this show mixing it up soon enough

i don't know about ken jeong - the whole LOL he's azn teaching spanish! angle already turned me off, the scene-stealing seems too obvious, too

still, i enjoyed this episode nonetheless

starting to catch up on the episodes, i thought ep 4 and 5 were pretty good. ken jeong is a big reason to watch the damn show and the british teacher is pretty funny

i'd much rather hear post-30 rock screwball dialogue than faux-doc monologues at this point

― da croupier, Saturday, October 31, 2009 8:20 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the jim style parks&rec guy looked at the camera and shrugged a couple weeks ago

troys eddie murphy costume was hilar in that it was also a joke abt how it was not a michael jackson costume

That is probably going to be my favorite Halloween costume this year.

tell me about the Beatles, Pierce

the whole LOL he's azn teaching spanish! angle already turned me off,

I dunno. I think they only went for this joke in his first episode, where it worked.

I enjoyed him in this ep, from his little interjections that put a point on the scenes(from the Urkel to the Loooooser as he zooms by). He's great when used sparingly, instead of needing to have him do onscreen breakdowns alla time.

As good as the show is already (IMO), I think we'll see a distinct uptick in quality as the writers figure out how to best utilize the fantastic ensemble they have at their disposal.

troy is too much. he's got one of those faces i just look at and laugh. very subtle comedic actor. he will be famous.

dude should already be famous from this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcx4_CszaDI

i really wanna like this show cuz i love mchale but this seems super contrived to me. like, the office is absurdist but it's still pretty grounded in believability whereas the characters in community and the premises of the episodes kind of seem to only be able to exist in minds of the writers. granted i've never been to community college so maybe i'm wrong but this is kinda boring imo.

― a goon boy (J0rdan S.), Thursday, October 29, 2009 10:53 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I don't see how this is any more contrived/less believable than 30 Rock

I'm liking the show and think it can get better, but I'm really hating the tendency to be filled with aspirational platitudes. So far every episode has these "you're ok, I'm ok" pep-talks.

I'm really hating the tendency to be filled with aspirational platitudes

Yeah, this. I like all the characters and I like watching their attempts to get to know each other, I just wish they wouldn't...talk...about it so much. I was fine with things like Abed's film making his dad cry, or Shirley talking about her husband leaving her, but when three or four characters are having these moments every episode, it starts to feel like an after-school special, and not in the good Strangers With Candy way.

Whatever though, I'm still enjoying it.

like, the office is absurdist but it's still pretty grounded in believability whereas the characters in community and the premises of the episodes kind of seem to only be able to exist in minds of the writers.

This strikes me as a pretty big misstep of a comparison. Community is more obviously stylized and less grounded in reality. I think the commitment to that voice strengthens the absurdity. Whereas The Office wants to have cake and also eat it, and so denies its own foundational reality far too often.

yeah i mean...some shows work hard to feel real and believable aside from being comedies, some just give you a vaguely realistic situation as a springboard for comedic stories and dialogue, this is very clearly the latter.

Have to agree w/Deric - I mean, the whole premise of the show is such a sitcom world, one step removed from the Seinfeld fake show/Butler premise. And yet, that blue study room is freakishly authentic to me - gives me chills!