Community, the tv show

the crux of it is whether or not you enjoy 'just fine' and I don't think I do

then, by definition, it wouldn't be "just fine"

So what are the top 5 episodes so far? I think we may have voted already but i can't find the thread. Paintball, the Trampoline one, etc? The more people gripe about this new season the more i kind of want to revisit the 'best of' eps from the first 3.

My favorites:

S1: Modern Warfare (Paintball 1)
S2: Aerodynamics of Gender (Trampoline)
S2: Epidemiology (zombie Halloween)
S3: Regional Holiday Music (body snatchers Xmas)
S2: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (D&D, Fat Neil)

honorable mention to the following:

S1: Physical Education (billiards)
S2: Mixology Certification (Troy's birthday)
S2: Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas (Claymation)
S2: Paradigms of Human Memory (flashbacks)
S1: The Science of Illusion (April Fool's)

"critical film studies" (dinner with andre) is my #1 for sure.

also pillow fort

pillow fort pt 2, specifically

The last one of season 3, where the Dean has been renting the school out for weekend raves, was pretty wonderful.

That was great; almost made the whole Chang-as-dictator storyline worth it.

first western paintball ep might be the funniest ep they ever did

epepep

This week's episode was, uh, not terrible? Not much in the way of big lols but... kind of likeable anyway?

feel that way about this season so far - nothing i hate except the schedule push really making all the holiday centered stuff feel weird

Donald Glover seems to be doing an extended apology for Childish Gambino via his commitment to Troy this season

"I was supposed to teach you two to teach other people, but instead, you ended up teaching me."

Thought this was pretty LOL ep.

Yeah, this definitely was pretty decent, although Abed's subplot didn't go anywhere (and is well-worn territory), and the song/montage was meh. But Magnitude's "...diggity-doo...?" cracked me up, as did the Let's jokes.

writing the initials for Physical Education Education on the chalkboard was super childish and cracked me up a lot

They really laid out their contempt for Chevro...I mean, Pierce in the opening, eh?

liked this one a lot

great ep all the way through. appreciate that they gave chevy the country club bit.

this was the first one this season that seemed on point. the UCB guy helped a lot.

I agree that this episode was as good as they've been all year (and quality-wise was about the ceiling i would have put on the creative team before the year started). The A-plot's conclusion was pretty rickety ("I like being treated normal!" ... okay? It felt extremely tacked on) but the P.E.E. thing was classic community imo and if you're gonna jack Harmon that's about as good as it can be done.

it was great that co-opting magnitude was where the line must be drawn.

i liked it, but i just kind of feel like the barbershop and the frat (and maybe even the p.e.e., although that was pretty good) would have been better taken advantage of in the past?

also, britta-troy isn't funny (except for that one bit with britta on the fire escape a few eps ago). they're so insistent on troy-abed and have made no suitable case for troy-britta to even begin, let alone continue

This episode was delightful. Consistently funny with great lines and, crucially, charm. The frat was an amusing visual gag and not much more but I cracked up at the Troy and Shirley storyline throughout and Pierce was really really funny for the first time this season.

Got a real Season One vibe from this one actually, which is a much, much better way to make Community accessible than taking Season Three type storylines and giving them much broader jokes. Like if this rest of the season were to follow this cue I would be totally happy.

good episode

OK, you guys are convincing me to give it a chance.

Ha, there have been THREE episodes since the last one I watched!

Huh, "Cooperative Escapism" was actually pretty good.

OK, I liked "Advanced Documentary Filmmaking" even though I hated the Chang storyline previously. I've loved every other "Documentary Filmmaking" episode (+ "Intro to Film" if that doesn't count) so I'll chalk it up to that.

They seem to have picked up after "Alternative History of the German Invasion".

OK, after reading the discussion, Matt DC is consistently OTM re the characterization but it seems like enough of the old glory is left to make it a decent sitcom at times.

Croup, don't tell me you preferred BBT during s2??

Working on my top 5 eps...

A top 10:

"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas"
"Advanced Dungeons and Dragons"
"Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design"
"Introduction to Film"
"The Science of Illusion"
"Contemporary American Poultry"
"Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking"
"Modern Warfare"
"Physical Education"
"Paradigms of Human Memory"

Honourable Mentions:

"Documentary Filmmaking: Redux"
"Intro to Political Science"
"Remedial Chaos Theory"
"Digital Exploration of Interior Design"
"Studies in Modern Movement"
"Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps"
"Debate 109"

Also "Comparative Religion"

Hm, that last one kind of sucked.

Croup, don't tell me you preferred BBT during s2??

i was kidding

Comparative Religion is really underestimated, I think. It was the first of their theme-episodes that went above just 'copying genre-stuff' (although that was obviously awesome as well). All of a sudden doing the bible with Abed as Jesus was just so weird, and I think it was the first of episodes like Critical Film Studies, Remedial Chaos Theory and stuff like that. At the time, it really seemed like at least an attempt at taking the show to the next level.

Just watched last week's, the Mountain Dew Cool Tent bit was classic Community. This ep much better than the last two.

extremely sweet episode. also, 'dean law'. also abed subplot felt fanservicey, but adorable.

i was kidding

Ha, OK. A lot of people really like that show.

"Comparative Religion" was the s1 Christmas episode, actually. The "Abed as Jesus" episode was called "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples". I really liked it too but iirc it wasn't that popular here. Love the Pierce subplot in that one!

I laughed many times during this ep, it was a pretty good one.

One of my friends in high school decided that Sophie B Hawkins was her personal hero and style icon (she legit worshipped her and dressed like her for at least a couple of years)... the rest of us were like, 'really? because of that one song?'

annoyed at myself that I totally didn't recognize Brie Larson just because she had black hair

Best ep of the season so far; far more joke landings, and the character development was plausible/consistent with previous seasons, for once. OK, maybe except for Pierce, but it didn't feel forced.

yeah this ep was nice -- good jokes, chemistry between the group members felt comfortable again. also someone from the show has randomly started updating the pierce hawthorne twitter account again.

Two good episodes in a row, definitely. They were in danger of Brittaing "Britta" as a verb so this was a nice way of seeing it off.

ya this was a sweet episode, none of the messiness and offness of the first bunch that had me thinking this season was doomed to failure. "The Colin Farrell of people" is a nice insult to have handy too.

I've decided the Dean is the funniest character.

holy shit, the Dean's costume

yeah, Deanna Reed was next level

OK, that episode was pretty classic.

this show's fine, isn't it? stayed away from season 4 at first (my other half still refuses to watch it for fear of tainting her memory of a show she loves) but have really enjoyed most of the episodes thus far. this latest one was my favourite so far this season...