Community, the tv show

god the problem here is that people actually listen to dan harmon when he talks. he's a stupid person who is apparently obsessed with character development and themes and circle formulas, and he never stops talking about them so everyone comes to expect those areas of the show to be strong points, and they aren't. the show fails there, but it doesn't matter because the show itself does not care about those things, it cares about funny jokes and clever concepts and "worldbuilding", and that's all it needs to be good at. because it's a sitcom! todd vanderwerff can write way too many words about how brilliant the writers are with each character's growth, but everyone knows that that shit doesn't actually resonate and it's not why the show succeeds.

that is true, except for where it is false

Holy shit, they did REALLY well in the ratings bcuz Big Bang Theory wasn't on: a 2.2 in the demo!

literally two minutes later...

hey. dan's not stupid

thank you!

oh, wait...

;_;

Anyone who thinks Dan Harmon is a stupid showrunner deserves awful television forever.

Funniness aside (I liked it & laughed throughout, but sure there have been better episodes), this ep was surprisingly accessible -- a nice comfy sitcom plot and then a kind of "taster" for each character's comedic strengths. NBC's been doing good promotion for the show for the last two weeks, so I think it was a good ep for potential new viewers to catch. That's enough to suppress my inner urge to worry about whether or not the show's in its prime/better than Parks and Rec or whatever.

http://www.tvline.com/2012/03/ratings-missing-premiere-community/#more-311765

NBC’s Community returned from its too-long hiatus to 4.9 million total viewers and a demo rating of 2.2, delivering increases of 36 and 47 percent over the comedy’s most recent outing (on Dec. 8 ) and a 14-month, non-sports time slot demo high for NBC.

i'm interested to hear from some of the big proponents of the show (afaict, deric and vegemitegrrl in particular) if you see any weaknesses/flaws in this show. i promise i am not going to be a dick about your responses, i am just curious.

The biggest flaw/weakness is that there are too many main characters.

You see some of the same type of character bloat/water-treading in BBT these days, where now that they have seven characters to revolve around, it seems like someone is likely to get shafted in a given episode (ironically for BBT, the character this has been happening to the most often is... Leonard, although Raj is a close second in that he's already at a disadvantage because he was secondary from the get-go and now he's the only one not in a couple).

Community has similar issues juggling all of its characters and making sure they all get their due, although it does a better job of doling out storylines around the group in order so the level of neglect isn't as high; still, you had Shirley receding into the background up until last season's mixology episode where she got a strong B-story that brought her out as more than just "the two-faced Christian one". (The foosball episode that rekindled the Shirley/Jeff pairing also helped tremendously.)

Aside from that, I think it's a dependably reliable situation comedy with unmistakable flashes of brilliance and one of the better ensemble casts currently on prime-time television; oftentimes I think the cast chemistry elevates the scripts.

^ otm, especially re: character juggling. Chang seems to be awkwardly shoehorned into Wacky Situations this season. The whole security guard thing isn't hitting for me, and much of it seems forced. I vastly preferred it when he was a snarky dick who hated his job, and elevated scenes with little more than an "Aww, snap!"; now he's a snarkless dick who aspires to do well at his job.

ugh this thread. (not everyone, or even anyone specific, mind)

fwiw this episode was supposed to be two or three episodes later, they just moved it back for this "premiere" i guess in the hopes of giving everyone the best rundown of "what it's all about/who everyone is" for potential new viewers. will drop back down when BBT comes back obv but it can lose probably 30% in the demo and be safe imo.

(in some ways BBT is in a worse spot because it seems like they are only ever willing to make big paradigm shifts in character relationships at the end of the season, so they introduce all of these scenarios/situations with a lot of potential for long-term lols and then hit the reset button and fall back on making Penny sing "Soft Kitty" again)

xp i don't think dan harmon is a bad showrunner and i think he's a very funny person, just that the show works fine without succeeding in all the areas he spends all his time talking about. and i find him annoying and stupid but that's more of a personal qualm i guess.

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/427635_10150599762411596_681036595_9690410_304321202_n.jpg

I know it's stupid but I'm kind of worried that there will now be Chuck-levels of Subway plugs. Or am I just being paranoid?

product placement in comedies isn't nearly as bothersome w/ comedies as with dramas because it just gives them a lot of chances to make apologetic jokes about it

the Subway plugs on Chuck consistently cracked me up, they were so blatant

then I think about how a subsection of this board talks about Subway and I crack up again

to be fair I got so annoyed with Chuck before I gave up on it completely that the Subway stuff just got on my nerves.

Subway didn't come off well in last night's episode, though, crushing Shirley's dreams and all. I was actually surprised that they paid for the placement.

yeah i laughed pretty hard when i thought about Subway references on "Community" re: ilx

'Ironic' plugging is one of the most annoying things ever.

I still lol at the 30 Rock Snapple thing from the 4th or 5th episode. Or at least Baldwin's turn to the side "God knows I do."

'Ironic' plugging is one of the most annoying things ever.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Friday, March 16, 2012 4:56 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if they JUST do it with a bet-hedging wink it's lame, but i think it can be done well if the joke goes a little further than that (30 Rock, Wayne's World, etc.)

the thing that killed me about Chuck was how it just seemed like overnight all of the characters just started eating Subway 24/7

lol subway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayIJan54KrY

You know, now that community actual had a great ratings night, I'd rather this show get huge, bloated and weak through six seasons and a movie, than just have its door shut after three underappreciated seasons. We already have an Arrested Development. I'm actually kind of curious what lengths would be taken to keep these folks together after four years of community college.

i never knew bbt wasn't on. makes sense they went with that episode and i'm happy to see a big ratings boost.

ditto

also i was fine with the episode. i actually want to see more shirley episodes! malcolm jamal warner was great!

Loved the marriage proposal dance/song etc

My two fave deliveries last night were "That's me!" and "Walk away, man."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/syndication-community-comedy-central-the-middle-hallmark-300123

Comedy Central has good news for Greendale fans.

The cable network has picked up syndication rights to NBC's Dan Harmon cult comedy Community, the network announced Wednesday, inking a multiyear deal with the studio behind the Joel McHale-starrer, Sony Pictures Television.

The series, which returns Thursday to NBC after being left off its midseason schedule, will launch repeats of the first three seasons of the series beginning in the fall of 2013.

Livin the dream

not as good as proper syndication but maybe it will get there.

Really good episode last night. I really liked "Shirley's sexy voice", Abed + groom interactions, ice cream cone finale and the Linbergh Lean.

Chang is gonna die in one of the first two episodes (since this was supposed to be the third one and he wasn't there).

My two fave deliveries last night were "That's me!" and "Walk away, man."

"I'll allow it."

MJW flawlessly falling in step with the singing trio in between portions of his speech was classique

^^^

This thread became really depressing. Thanks, Lamp.

does lamp ruin everything?

I don't know, I think lamp really tie room together.

god the problem here is that people actually listen to dan harmon when he talks. he's a stupid person who is apparently obsessed with character development and themes and circle formulas, and he never stops talking about them so everyone comes to expect those areas of the show to be strong points, and they aren't. the show fails there, but it doesn't matter because the show itself does not care about those things, it cares about funny jokes and clever concepts and "worldbuilding", and that's all it needs to be good at. because it's a sitcom! todd vanderwerff can write way too many words about how brilliant the writers are with each character's growth, but everyone knows that that shit doesn't actually resonate and it's not why the show succeeds.

i am completely behind this. not a single moment of his show has "resonated emotionally" for me, i could give a shit about character growth etc. just bring the outlandish humor and i'm cool.

it's like ambitious creators of sitcoms suffer through this inferiority complex and have to prove that their shows are Great Drama in addition to being funny.

NB: it is hard to be funny. if you do it really well, that is an accomplishment.

also the highlight of this episode was troy's double take at seeing the monkey, at the very end.

people should strive to do more imo

like, Louie is really funny, but it's the emotional resonance that gives me the feeling of watching a great episode. I think Community can hit the mark emotionally on occasion, but not all the time. I like being blindsided by something genuinely affecting though.

"more"

"...Jim Rash, who plays the bent Dean Pelton on the show. "

Um what

― kinder, Tuesday, March 13, 2012 1:48 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark

um what um what

― some dude, Thursday, 15 March 2012 18:56 (Yesterday) Bookmark

"Bent" is derogatory slang for "gay" fyi

xp ya rly, community does plenty to justify the love it gets. it doesn't need to expend all its energy on hardcore character development and thematic consistency when most dramas can't even get that stuff right.

it's very easy to make me weep but i don't think community has ever once hit me emotionally. it's too far up its own universe and the characters and dialogue are too detached from the way anything works in real life. episode-specific plot points can be effective but never macro-level stuff. the show just doesn't excel on that level (and it doesn't have to). louie does things differently, but can you really compare any other sitcom to louie?