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 Post subject: Community
PostPosted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 2:13 pm 

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:25 pm
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Season 4 (finally) starts tonight at 8!

Also, no Community thread until now? Shame on us all.


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Fri Feb 08, 2013 11:25 pm 
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Its not quite the same without Dan...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/arts/ ... imes&_r=1&

Same Classroom, New Curriculum on ‘Community’
‘Community’ Returns on NBC, Without Dan Harmon, Its Creator

By MIKE HALE
Published: February 6, 2013

One of the many reasons to watch the first three seasons of “Community,” the fiercely quirky and unapologetically smart NBC sitcom, was that you actually had to watch it. Every offhand remark, every reaction shot, every bit of physical business communicated something (usually something funny). More than any other show in prime time it demanded that you pay attention.

The sad simulacrum of “Community” that checks in Thursday for Season 4 makes no such claim on your concentration. Send a few e-mails, look at the television, order a pizza, look back at the TV. You won’t miss anything important, because there’s nothing important to miss.
...

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 Post subject: Community
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 3:09 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:06 pm
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Location: new york
Chevy chase is leaving the show too

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 10:41 pm 
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I dunno. I made sure to put the kids to bed early on Thursday, just to check out the premiere, even though Sepinwall, the AV Club, and just about everyone else said the new season was a bummer. And it did seem sort of off. But I watched the episode again tonight and I can't really complain about it. It may come off as a well intentioned but obvious parody of the first three seasons, but one episode in, it's not a bad parody.

Let's be honest, the first season took about four or five episodes to figure out what the show really was all about, the second season was pretty much genius, and the third season, while awesome as well, was also showing signs that Harmon was taking the show's praise to heart.

Season 4 may not be streets ahead, but it's also not streets behind. Yet.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:12 pm 
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Good points, but from my perspective that show should just fade into the sunset,. Firstly, because it'll never be as good as when Dan was helming it, and secondly because it would be stupid for him to return to it as some of its fans are begging for. Also, he's moved onto much more fertile creative territory with our new animated scifi show for Adult Swim :)

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 2:37 pm 
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I'm in the "not great, but not terrible camp."

Couple of good lines and funny gags, but there is a component missing and it sort of makes the whole thing feel forced. But I'm patient, I love these characters and it's slim pickings as far as network sitcoms go. Arz's point about Harmon starting to buy into his own hype is well taken and I'll add Chevy is an infamous pain in the ass (they just used to blame it on the blow.)

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 4:53 pm 
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I'm assuming you guys have heard the hilarious angry tirade Chevy left on Dan's voicemail all those months ago...

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:23 pm 
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^^ Yeah. As I recall, it was Harmon who released it to the public. Which I thought was pretty petty on both of their parts. But funny none the less.

Personally, I think it's a shame that Chevy feels like he can't work with this material. I love him as Pierce Hawthorne. His physical comedy tied with his insanely desperate chuckles at his own jokes, combined with the easy Griswold/nice dad mold Chase created, is what gives Pierce a lot of life.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sun Feb 10, 2013 5:41 pm 
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Pierce has probably fared the worst as a character. All the others have shown growth, but he's regressed into a racist, somewhat doddering boogie man. A shame, because in the first season, there was more to him than lousy "You're so gay/black" jokes.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:36 am 
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Arzgarth wrote:
Pierce has probably fared the worst as a character. All the others have shown growth, but he's regressed into a racist, somewhat doddering boogie man. A shame, because in the first season, there was more to him than lousy "You're so gay/black" jokes.


I agree. Although I wonder how much of the backstage cat fight had played into that choice.

That being said, Pierce as an "evil genius" was a nice development for a brief time in season two. Even if it did border on the "boogie man," at times.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:30 pm 
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Same as everyone else, not an A+ but better than C ...

I wonder if none of us new that Harmon had departed if we would be turning such a critical eye to it....I probably would just write it off as a faltering step into the new season.


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 1:51 pm 
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The real trick will be if they can pull off those episodes that's not particularly funny but still totally entertaining (Troy turns 21, My Dinner with Andre, etc)

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:03 pm 
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I think the cast is definitely at a point where they are comfortable with their characters, and the writers that worked with Harmon are still there, for the most part, so I am being optimistic for the moment.


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 5:22 pm 

Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:25 pm
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I was worried that the show would be unwatchable dreck after Harmon was canned. I was very pleased to see otherwise with the premiere. I agree that it seemed to be missing...something, but no way was I convinced to give up on it or become uninterested. I had plenty of laughs. It still feels like the same show, it just doesn't have the same sense of brilliance that the previous seasons had. At least not yet.


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:46 am 
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So last night's episode was "A'ight," maybe even "A'ight+." Once again, something was off. But I'm almost 100% sure that when I watch it again with the missus tonight, it'll be even better. However, I'm not sure how much longer I can actively watch a comedy that requires multiple viewings to consider it funny.

Makes me wonder if the extended hiatus was the show's undoing. Would we/I be having this existential hand wringing if the show had returned on schedule? Did all this time off give doubts time to fester and grow?

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 12:32 am 
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You shouldn't be engaging in any hand wringing. Let Community go.
Because when Dan's new show hits the air you aren't going to believe that you gave a shit about that limited, formulaic sitcom crap.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 9:58 pm 
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But I don't have cable!!!!!!!!!

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 4:49 pm 
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So we muddled through the rest of the season. Weird, because it wasn't compelling to watch the show - it was a B-/C+ of a season (although it did get stronger as it progressed and I didn't think the finale was as bad as Sepinall and the AV Club raged) - but I didn't want to abandon the characters. And now, inexplicably, a fifth season has been ordered. I'm still on board, but it's a Hulu Plus two to three nights after the fact show now.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 5:43 pm 
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Yeah. It has become sort of a chore to watch. I can't believe they got a fifth season.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sat May 11, 2013 7:32 pm 

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Arzgarth wrote:
So we muddled through the rest of the season. Weird, because it wasn't compelling to watch the show - it was a B-/C+ of a season (although it did get stronger as it progressed and I didn't think the finale was as bad as Sepinall and the AV Club raged) - but I didn't want to abandon the characters. And now, inexplicably, a fifth season has been ordered. I'm still on board, but it's a Hulu Plus two to three nights after the fact show now.


Agreed on all points. I thought the finale felt the closest to having the Harmon touch, but I agreed with the AVC review's point about tightening up and maybe doing with another draft or something. I think that's true of the whole season though. The writers were left in a lurch with season 4 with Harmon's departure and then the whole Chevy thing and it felt like they were catching up the whole time. Hopefully they'll be better prepared this time around.

I'm looking forward to season 5 more than I was 4. With Pierce and Jeff graduated, there's a real chance for the writers to change up and play with the dynamic of the show and make it their own thing. Maybe bring Jeff in as a law professor and show us more from the professors' point of view, dissolve the study group and integrate them into the school as a whole, bring the almost nonexistant secondary characters like Leonard and the like back. I dunno, something different at least beause emulating Harmon or whatever it was they were doing this season doesn't really work for this group of writers as they are now.


Crutch wrote:
Yeah. It has become sort of a chore to watch. I can't believe they got a fifth season.


Trying to replace something as big as The Office would be a massive chore for anyone, let alone a network with as wretched a track record as NBC's is lately. Community's TV-viewing is small but dedicated, and will almost definitely be back next season. So it makes a little bit of sense to keep Community around and placate that audience until The Office's replacement gains some legs instead of having two timeslots to fill with something new. If they're smart, they'll use Community as a lead-in for the new series and try to get that dedicated fanbase invested and let them do a lot of the heavy lifting of bringing in viewers.

Or, having just seen everything that NBC cancelled, they could try to replace everything that isn't Parks and Rec and Community (and The Voice, for some fucking reason). So wtf do I know?


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 2:25 pm 

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So this is actually happening.


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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:11 am 
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Weird and unprecedented, to say the least. But if there was a show that had an unbreakable bond with its creator, it would be Community.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:42 pm 
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Pretty blunt article about Harmon's battles during Community.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/communitys-dan-harmon-reveals-wild-586084

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 4:06 pm 
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The Hollywood Reporter just might be using predator drones in their exhaustive coverage of all things Dan. Here is their article on the new show.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-f ... ing-589547

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Last edited by HORNS on Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:52 am, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Community
PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2013 8:11 pm 
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I apparently missed his appearance in the new Arrested Development.
Image

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