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Britta'd it
November 14, 2011 6:58 PM   Subscribe

NBC's Community is being put on hiatus. Twitter is pissed.

People actually associated with the show tweeting about it: Joel McHale, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Dan Harmon.
posted by NoraReed (376 comments total) 24 users marked this as a favorite

.
posted by mwark at 7:00 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


This makes me so sad. To what address should we start sending Paintballs of Hope?
posted by phunniemee at 7:01 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Aw. I like the show. Donald Glover is the best.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:01 PM on November 14, 2011


BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:03 PM on November 14, 2011 [17 favorites]


I am pissed.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:03 PM on November 14, 2011


MY WHOLE BRAIN IS CRYING
posted by elizardbits at 7:03 PM on November 14, 2011 [28 favorites]


Maaaan.
posted by troublesome at 7:04 PM on November 14, 2011


What in the fuckin' fuck? Noooooooo!
posted by Specklet at 7:04 PM on November 14, 2011


As someone that loved Chevy Chase from the old days, from SNL, from Vacation, from the days when he was great, I couldn't get into his character on Community, and it dragged the whole show down for me... And, I've got no clue as to who all those other people were...

now, get off my lawn...
posted by HuronBob at 7:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


Semi-related: Donald Glover's latest rap album (as Childish Gambino) comes out tomorrow.
posted by daniel striped tiger at 7:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm wondering if there's enough fan momentum to get it revived as a webseries. I'd throw a few bucks at it.
posted by NoraReed at 7:05 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


Paintball tournament at NBC HQ!!
posted by bstreep at 7:06 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I can't even handle any part of this
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:06 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yeah we're well into sucks balls territory but haven't the last few episodes been a bit weak?
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:06 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


you shut your filthy mouth
posted by elizardbits at 7:07 PM on November 14, 2011 [47 favorites]


Yeah we're well into sucks balls territory but haven't the last few episodes been a bit weak?

Do you talk to your mother with that mouth?
posted by phunniemee at 7:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]


Aaaand fail.
posted by phunniemee at 7:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Dance off! Now!
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


This sucks. Recently, Community is the only show I find worth consistently watching. First Better off Ted, then Running Wilde. Please don't get rid of Community.
posted by graxe at 7:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


The Kiss From a Rose episode was weak. That being said, I sang along.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:09 PM on November 14, 2011


I'm already sad, but then I saw it was being benched for 30 Rock (okay-ish; I like them) and... wait, a CHELSEA HANDLER SITCOM???? Because apparently Whitney isn't bad enough?

Just kill me now.
posted by Madamina at 7:09 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


GODAMNIT. I just bought two seasons to show a little support and hadn't figured out who to write to yet. How small is this cult following that it totally doesn't matter compared to whatever dreck they'd replace it with?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:10 PM on November 14, 2011


Community, pull up a chair. I'd like you to meet Freaks & Geeks, Firefly, and Sports Night. You'll have plenty to talk about.
posted by brain_drain at 7:10 PM on November 14, 2011 [62 favorites]


And, I've got no clue as to who all those other people were...

Well, you should. They'll all talented, especially Alison Brie, Donald Glover and Danny Pudi, and will be invading your cinema soon.
posted by Michael Pemulis at 7:10 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


I said it in another thread, but here goes:

Why I'm an atheist: there is no god. Proof of this: "Whitney" won't be cancelled, but "Community" is on the verge of being cancelled.
posted by grubi at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2011 [7 favorites]


Oh and Arrested Development too, she was in the bathroom when you came in.
posted by brain_drain at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


Community was too good for this world. At least, for American network television.
posted by Flashman at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2011


BUT I JUST STARTED WATCHING THIS!
posted by MegoSteve at 7:11 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


If you have smart, off-center, idiosyncratic taste, a medium that depends on mass audiences will always break your heart. You'd think perceptive folks like you would have learned this by now.
posted by mojohand at 7:12 PM on November 14, 2011 [32 favorites]


Troy and Abed in the mourning!
posted by MegoSteve at 7:12 PM on November 14, 2011 [108 favorites]


Community was pretty much the only show I watched on NBC. Well, that and Parks and Rec. And the one that seems to be canceled now with Maria Bello. I was watching Prime Suspect the other night and thought with such a talented cast it probably wasn't long for this world.

Oh, and I like 30 Rock.

NBC seems to pretty much want to cede itself into fourth place. They seem to be leveraging their E!/Comcast/Universal family so maybe we'll see the Kardashians on broadcast TV. Vomit.
posted by birdherder at 7:13 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


In other mid-season shuffling, meanwhile, CBS says Rules of Engagement will go on hiatus in January and be replaced Thursdays at 8:30 by a Rob Schneider comedy called Rob

I totally get dropping David Spade. I totally fail to get replacing him with Rob Schneider. It's like spitting out a mouthful of soap so you can gulp a swig of motor oil.
posted by cribcage at 7:13 PM on November 14, 2011 [35 favorites]


meanwhile that oozing pustule masquerading as enterainment, two and a half men, is in its ninth season.

the human race is stupid. i want ninja space dinosaurs to be in charge instead.
posted by elizardbits at 7:13 PM on November 14, 2011 [32 favorites]


Goddammit. I know the ratings are low, but it's the best show on TV right now, with some of the most creative storytelling. :(
posted by lunasol at 7:14 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


So, I'm in the minority here, eh?
posted by HuronBob at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ok, I typically catch great shows long after they're cancelled. How does this work in real time? Is there any possibility of another entity picking up the show or does it not work that way?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2011


Can't we at least have one nice thing? Just one? For fuck's sake!
posted by brundlefly at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]


"Whitney" is unwatchable. It's the opposite of funny. There's no art to the writing. There's no style.

"Community" is a damn fine half hour. It deserves better treatment.
posted by ColdChef at 7:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


To me, Chevy Chase on "Community" is like Danny Devito on "Taxi". You want to hate him, but he's the perfect foil for all the other characters.
posted by ColdChef at 7:16 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


I blame the blogons. Not the blogs.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:16 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Goddammit. I know the ratings are low, but it's the best show on TV right now, with some of the most creative storytelling. :

I'm gonna let you finish but Boardwalk Empire is the best show on TV right now. Wait, it is on HBO and HBO is not TV. Me gusta "Bored to Death" tambien.
posted by birdherder at 7:17 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


Goddammit. I know the ratings are low, but it's the best show on TV right now, with some of the most creative storytelling.

We all know, right, that only one of those two things matters to TV executives?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:17 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


gahwhatidonteven
posted by Think_Long at 7:17 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Though I will say that I'd rather see a good show burn out (Arrested Development) than fade away (Scrubs).
posted by ColdChef at 7:17 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


I'm kind of surprised at how little "Community is meh" threadshitting I'm seeing here. Good job y'all.

This especially sucks to hear after the fried gold of the last four episodes.
posted by Maaik at 7:18 PM on November 14, 2011


We just got into this show at the end of last year. My kids and I were howling at the Rules of Engagement episode the other day. Weird, funny mainstream tv is so rare and cool and they always seem to fuck it up.
Seems like 30 Rock has really lost it's way, maybe cancel that instead? The Office is kind of lame now too.
posted by chococat at 7:19 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Did you know that Community is actually an American adaptation of a 1990s British sitcom, "Communiton Abbey?"
posted by bstreep at 7:19 PM on November 14, 2011 [54 favorites]


Though I will say that I'd rather see a good show burn out (Arrested Development) than fade away (Scrubs).

Not me. If they fade, you always have the option to ignore the not-so-good. If they burn out, then you'll never know how good it can be.

Same for bands, film directors, authors... anything, really.
posted by grubi at 7:19 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


Six seasons and a movie. Six seasons and a movie.
posted by jschu at 7:21 PM on November 14, 2011 [42 favorites]


We all know, right, that only one of those two things matters to TV executives?

Yes, I understand this basic fact about television. I don't see why that should make me any less upset that something I enjoy watching will not be on the air anymore. I mean, I'm not a network executive.
posted by lunasol at 7:21 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


Not me. If they fade, you always have the option to ignore the not-so-good. If they burn out, then you'll never know how good it can be.

Eh. American sitcoms run too long. Eg: "The Office."
posted by ColdChef at 7:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


well i think this warrants a teary rendition of kissed by a rose
posted by sid at 7:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm staying at an extended stay thing for work. Turned on the TV to witness almost ten minutes of "Once Upon a Time." I shuddered, switched the input to HDMI, and wept quietly for my generation as the music from Arrested Development played.
posted by deanklear at 7:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Inspector Spacetime is still on, right? Right?!
posted by schoolgirl report at 7:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [7 favorites]


Fools! All they even needed was 4 seasons! Was that too much to ask? Good grief.
posted by redsparkler at 7:22 PM on November 14, 2011


Shouldnt this have just gone in the thread about the Inspector Space Time movie below?
posted by MCMikeNamara at 7:23 PM on November 14, 2011


Eh. American sitcoms run too long. Eg: "The Office."

Hence the part where I said "you always have the option to ignore the not-so-good."
posted by grubi at 7:24 PM on November 14, 2011


Also: I think "30 Rock" is just hitting it's stride. Even though that contradicts what I said above.
posted by ColdChef at 7:24 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


A "series adaptation of John Grisham's The Firm"?! Celebrity Apprentice? *begins gnawing at the walls*
posted by redsparkler at 7:25 PM on November 14, 2011


It is not an official cancellation, and NBC has assured that all 22 episodes of Season 3 will be shot and aired.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:26 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


Hence the part where I said "you always have the option to ignore the not-so-good."

Yeah, on one hand it's nice to stay with Dwight and Kelly and the gang, but on the other hand, they're treading water on a show that needs a mercy killing. They've gone for too many seasons now without explaining the "documentary" aspect of it.
posted by ColdChef at 7:26 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


"Whitney" is unwatchable. It's the opposite of funny. There's no art to the writing.

I don't think that's quite right. I think if you listen to the writing—nevermind the actors, listen to the writing—it's actually pretty good stand-up material. That's obviously what it's written as. It's barely and poorly obscured. The problem is that it's being "adapted" from a stand-up routine into sitcom dialogue, and it doesn't work as the latter.

I've watched the show, just because the hype made me curious. It's a bad sitcom, yes, but it convinced me that if I saw Whitney Cummings' stand-up act, I'd probably laugh.
posted by cribcage at 7:28 PM on November 14, 2011


"Sports Night" Why did you have to say that? Now I'm all mad again. Brilliant television killed by idiots.
posted by ColdChef at 7:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [13 favorites]


Doesn't matter how funny it is if you can't get the eyeballs advertisers want to pump money into your project. NBC needs to Univision it up with bouncy, shrieking, scantily clad women.
posted by Renoroc at 7:29 PM on November 14, 2011


Occupy 30 Rock!
posted by Threeway Handshake at 7:29 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


The good news to come out of this is I remembered the best TV comedy ever made in the world is getting seasons 8 and 9 in the future. Seriously, if you are at all a fan of things that are enjoyable and funny, and you haven't seen Peep Show, then you are lying not only to yourself, but to the universe. It's okay to feel sad about this Community debacle, but then American comedy tends to embrace the shitty and expunge the excellent, and I think we all know this by now and ought not to have been surprised. But look across the pond, people! There's a whole other world of stuff that is legitimately amazing!
posted by tumid dahlia at 7:29 PM on November 14, 2011 [17 favorites]


Community is streets ahead of all the other shows. I posted on their Facebook page. Show your support!
posted by ephemerista at 7:30 PM on November 14, 2011


Seriously, if you are at all a fan of things that are enjoyable and funny, and you haven't seen Peep Show, then you are lying not only to yourself, but to the universe.

This is truth.
posted by ColdChef at 7:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


Don't forget Cupid.
posted by bpm140 at 7:31 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


tumid dahlia: that's cool (hadn't heard of it), but it seems to me that it occupies the same enjoyment space as That Mitchell and Webb Look, no? Which I currently enjoy. What is there to replace Community? BBT?
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:31 PM on November 14, 2011


I tried to watch the first season Peep Show and couldn't handle the camera angles and uncomfortable situations. Is it it always like that or does it get better?
posted by ephemerista at 7:32 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Peep Show is the best show ever. I'm surprised NBC Universal hasn't optioned an American version that would end up being absolutely dreadful. Ever see the American version of Coupling? Ugh.
posted by birdherder at 7:33 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Streets behind, NBC, streets behind.

Also: I think "30 Rock" is just hitting it's stride. Even though that contradicts what I said above.

Really? I don't know why I'm still watching the moribund "Office" and honestly I'm looking forward to "30 Rock" even less.
posted by kmz at 7:33 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


durn: No no no, it's nothing like Mitchell & Webb apart from the fact that, uh, it stars Mitchell & Webb. But it's a totally different thing! It's flippin' incredible!

(Not derailing, I just wanted to take the opportunity to put in a good word for the show in a thread of like-minded aficionados of quality comedy television.)
posted by tumid dahlia at 7:33 PM on November 14, 2011


I tried to watch the first season Peep Show and couldn't handle the camera angles and uncomfortable situations. Is it it always like that or does it get better?

It's an amazing show but it definitely doesn't get less uncomfortable as times goes on.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:34 PM on November 14, 2011


I was honestly shocked to learn today that the ratings were so low. I guess it says something about the walled nature of the internet, but sometimes it seems like literally everyone I follow on social sites and every forum I read loves Community ardently and has something to say about it every week. Guess everyone who watches the show is my friend? Anyway that brings me to my next point - even if the ratings are on the low end, shouldn't network execs at least consider the fact that it has such a passionate cult following and that they might greatly damage their brand by the public outcry? Isn't it worth a consideration that NBC wants people to love the network and think of it first and foremost when they consider watching new sitcoms? I guess these are rhetorical questions. But if you keep kicking your viewers down, eventually they'll just go somewhere else...
posted by naju at 7:34 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


Also if you're looking for something to bide the time until Community comes back, Archer is far and and away the funniest and smartest comedy on tv.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:35 PM on November 14, 2011 [16 favorites]


Peep Show, Community, Misfits, and Arrested Development are probably my top four laugh-getting shows. If there's one you haven't seen, go watch it. Watch it now.
posted by phunniemee at 7:35 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Is it it always like that or does it get better?

It's hard to say. For me it was always great, so I can't be objective. I would venture to suggest that the show does not so much get "better" as we the viewers fall victim to a sort of televisual Stockholm syndrome. Embrace the horror!
posted by tumid dahlia at 7:36 PM on November 14, 2011


They've gone for too many seasons now without explaining the "documentary" aspect of it.

Yes. Although I liked Michael's "tell me when this airs?" parting line meta-joke, as he took off his wireless mic to get on his plane. But yeah, it's a bit of a M*A*S*H*/ Korean War time-fuck at this point.
But Parks and Rec and Modern Family and I'm sure other shows use the tired "it's a documentary!" device now; it's like this generation's "shaky camera" from the '90's.
posted by chococat at 7:38 PM on November 14, 2011


phunniemee: I had never even heard of Misfits, so thanks for that! I'm on it!
posted by tumid dahlia at 7:38 PM on November 14, 2011


It's on hulu! Go, go, go!
posted by phunniemee at 7:41 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


NOT TO BE HISTRIONIC, BUYS, BUT I'M NOT SURE LIFE HAS ANY MEANING NOW.
posted by sparkletone at 7:42 PM on November 14, 2011 [11 favorites]


But now how will I know where the water goes in the iron? And what an iron is for?
posted by Biblio at 7:43 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]


NOT TO BE HISTRIONIC, BUYS

Got a cold?
posted by smithsmith at 7:44 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


"Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" will always be a part of my Christmas special watching even if it does get cancelled after its third season.

I'm really upset there's not going to be a Christmas episode of Community this year.
posted by Talez at 7:44 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Previously, on Jericho...
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 7:45 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


even if the ratings are on the low end, shouldn't network execs at least consider the fact that it has such a passionate cult following and that they might greatly damage their brand by the public outcry?

Sepinwall's column dealt with this a little bit. The short answer is NBC is in such total disarray (getting beat by the CW in some slots!), they're desperate for more viewers.
One of the nice things about the tail end of the Jeff Zucker regime was that things were such a mess that shows like "Community" and "Friday Night Lights" and "Chuck" got to stick around much longer than they would have on any other network. But the numbers may be so desperate now that the boys from Kabletown become less patient, rather than more.
posted by gladly at 7:47 PM on November 14, 2011


Why couldn't they just keep running and let it end as gracefully as Battlestar Galatica?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:49 PM on November 14, 2011


Community entrenched itself so quickly into my Thursday nights I won't know what I'm going to do now. I hope NBC shapes up and gives it a home.
posted by lilac girl at 7:49 PM on November 14, 2011


You know, I really liked Arrested Development and Sports Night, but man at least they got multiple full seasons and closure. (I assume Community will too, if it really does get to finish out the season.) Think about poor Cupid or Freaks and Geeks fans. Not even full seasons, and no closure at all. And hell, you know there's going to be a Community S3 DVD set. Not so much for Cupid or season 2 of Better Off Ted.
posted by kmz at 7:50 PM on November 14, 2011


Community would be a great addition to FX.
posted by drezdn at 7:50 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Why couldn't they just keep running and let it end as gracefully as Battlestar Galatica?!

...with pseudo-religious strangeness used to fill in all of the plotholes and a tacked-on, slightly Asimovian Aesop taking up the last five minutes?
posted by NoraReed at 7:52 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


Glancing at NBC's Facebook page...

(POST) We are so excited for our mid-season premieres! Who else is looking forward to The Voice, Smash, Fashion Star, Are You There, Chelsea?, The Firm, the return of 30 Rock, and more!

(COMMENTS) Tania Valentina: Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community Community
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 7:52 PM on November 14, 2011 [24 favorites]


Why does Whitney get nearly as much promotion as it does? I watch all of the other NBC Thurs. night comedies and it gets ads constantly (also on other nights to). NBC has been pretending Community doesn't exist for a while.
posted by drezdn at 7:52 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Why couldn't they have at least kept it going and then ended it after the 4th year when the all graduate?
posted by lilkeith07 at 7:53 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


I dunno. I don't feel this season of Community hasn't been much to write home about compared to the last two. A couple good episodes (Good as it was, I think people like the dude from Slashfilm blew the "alternate universes" episode way out of proportion) but nothing that's quite clicked to that degree yet.

That said, it means we are getting more Whitney and that is a bad thing in any universe. I hope this hiatus does not stick, but to be honest they probably will just go ahead and cancel the show after burning off the remainder of this season because NBC just makes terrible decisions all the time (ask that red-haired fella on basic cable).

So anyway, yay Community, boo whatever nonsense they're putting on in its place. Hoping NBC sees the wisdom of a Community/30 Rock/Parks and Rec/The Office lineup and eventually gets out of the way.
posted by HostBryan at 7:54 PM on November 14, 2011


Think about poor Cupid

Jesus, either version of Cupid. They were both funny, the Piven one and the later one.
posted by padraigin at 7:54 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I liked Battlestar Galactica. All of it. Even the bits I thought I didn't like.
posted by mazola at 7:54 PM on November 14, 2011 [12 favorites]


You know, speaking of Eartha Kitt, one time I was in this airport bathroom and...
posted by ColdChef at 7:55 PM on November 14, 2011 [25 favorites]


I had forgot to post this during the summer, when it was relevant, before it all started again. But since they seem to be putting things on hold until I share this, so it can seem super predictive...

Is this a place where I might attempt to spoil the show Community but it is in truth just elaborate fan-splaining-inflected speculation and kit-bashed script mashing.
So imaginary *Spoilers*;
It is about purgatory; the last episode ever, one will learn that these people are in purgatory*, but not like a bible purgatory, a purgatory that is in everything, man, rather than infinite torture that the sadists of all stripes try to sell, it is more like infinite lessons in being a human being, and, by the synthesis of several perspectives (naive, hopeful, brave, shy, bold, certain, doubtful, brash, greed, jealousy, compassion) finding the good, among the totality of experience, which includes things that are less good.

It slipped here. Think about it. It's basically like if Life on Mars was traced over a script from CSI, Pierce is actually approaching Zen (think about that, how angry is he, how angry must he have once been? After such a long time in "limbo", naturally he has built up a deal of resentment, but also seen many people come to join him, and realizing it can take a push sometimes to help a chick fly [why else would he have socially engineered the d&d player out of depression and into a meaningful relationship, seemingly intentionally taking a pencil to the face in the process]). Jeff is learning things from everyone, particularly Abed, so in the last scene, they are all on a table like in abeds sixteen candles, only it is everyone, and they are at the studying table. And it will be about birthdays, because, why else are there so many shows about birthdays, unless it is about natality, rebirthday events basically, among other things Hannah Arendt, who is actually Hannah Montanna, only clones, like in multiplicity, each copy a copy of a copy; I for one am curious how all of the characters will be made to “almost have had intersecting lives” and we will see how they 'almost' met… just before they passed, or perhaps it will be like Lost in Translation, and they never intersected, nor came close; perhaps they are utter strangers in life, but all shared traits, or knowledge of the ability to teach a lesson to the rest, like a “5 people you meet” on tuesdays with morrie remix scenario.

One thing to remember is that they have already been going to Greendale for four years times infinity days before the "pilot" episode. There will be a plate of beans the size of the speculation over the length of time Bill Murray spends reliving groundhogs day. Also leading to some of the terseness of Pierce. He, in reality prime, passed away shortly after that scene of him wanting to be in his fathers commercial.
* You know what I don't get? He never wears a shirt; he never wears shoes: why hasn't he died from lack of service?

There is potential to expand the series into the other people one meets in this "Greendale Purgatory"... all those "background people"... who are glanced over, are actually having all sorts of different experiences, each as realistic or fantastical as those that the people the show currently focuses on have had.

So, just what is the point of intersection? Where does the venn diagram of nonsense, and distribution of caring intersect? Where does indifference, and indeterminacy collide? Perhaps a dirigible airship analogy would assist.
posted by infinite intimation at 7:55 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]


I only ever watched the pilot and thought it was a load of mannered bullshit.

But I promise that that's not the reason I'm saying this:
Anyone who tweets angrily about 'Occupy NBC' but can't be bothered to show even that pathetic, miniscule level of support for the pro-democracy protests happening in cities all over this country needs to FUCK OFF, HARD.
posted by waxbanks at 7:58 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


"one time I was in this airport bathroom and."... you're gonna finish that, right?
posted by HuronBob at 8:00 PM on November 14, 2011


If Community pulls a fucking Lost or BSG ending, I will burn it from my memory, with prejudice.
posted by kmz at 8:01 PM on November 14, 2011


There are only two acceptable ways for Community to end: Either it pulls a Lost ending, which would be funny beyond description, or it explicitly does not, which I'd have to see to have an opinion about.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


I did too, mazola. I just really like the idea of Community killing off significant portions of its cast in the final half-season and ending it with Abed and Troy walking through NBC's studios with whatever the Community version of BSG's final scene would be. Or something equally over-the-top and meta.
posted by NoraReed at 8:02 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


(by which I mean pulling a Lost ending on purpose; that would be incredibly funny to me)
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:03 PM on November 14, 2011


The Dungeons and Dragons episode was some of the best television I've ever seen. Especially the scene where she's obviously describing some very naughty sex and all you see is her gestures and the reactions of other characters.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 8:03 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


I am trying to be positive about this, because it's really kind of a miracle we've gotten as much Community as we have, and every episode is basically like a perfect little present just for me. Even if it is cancelled, we still have 66-ish episodes to look back on fondly! Definitely more than Firefly got. And just think of the heights some of those episodes have reached: Claymation Christmas episode! Multiple paintball episodes! A My Dinner With Andre episode! Dungeons and Dragons! An episode featuring multiple timelines!

Six seasons and a movie! ;___;
posted by yasaman at 8:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


"while the much-reviled Whitney got moved to anchor Wednesday nights"

Literally, one would assume. All the way to the bottom.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


I'm just waiting for NBC's only good show: 30 Rock. Yay syndication!

[Also, who the hell is Whitney?! NBC claims she's some kind of sensation? Did she come out of nowhere overnight or have I been under a rock? If I've been under a rock, would someone help me find that rock again? I want to go back there.]
posted by Mael Oui at 8:05 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


The thing about the Dungeons and Dragons episode is that it never resorts to a fantasy scene. Not once.

That in itself is amazing. It's like that heartbreaking scene in Up where they go through Carl and Ellie's entire life together without a single line of dialogue.
posted by Talez at 8:06 PM on November 14, 2011 [11 favorites]


Got a cold?

Sort of like how sex feels better, but is riskier, without a condom... I believe that posting feels better, despite the risk, without using the preview button.

But no seriously. The ratings had this happening becoming more and more likely, but... Ugh. I thought the first half of the first season or so was a bit weak, but once it found its footing, Community has become one of my favorite sitcoms ever.
posted by sparkletone at 8:06 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Pop pop? *sobs*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [30 favorites]


NBC, I've considered your proposal, and unfortunately, I have to decline your offer:

No.
posted by quin at 8:09 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Why couldn't they have at least kept it going and then ended it after the 4th year when the all graduate?

Harmon's said that he only needs 4 seasons to finish the story. I would absolutely hate for it to be cancelled now.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 8:10 PM on November 14, 2011


So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

Get used to it!
posted by HuronBob at 8:11 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


300+ comments now on NBC's mid-season post, almost to a one focused on Community (which the post does not even mention).
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:11 PM on November 14, 2011


Why does Whitney get nearly as much promotion as it does?

I assume she's got good blackmail on someone high up.

So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

I was.

Get used to it!

It got 11 seasons. "Community"'s in its third. Calm down.
posted by grubi at 8:13 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

O_o The show that ran almost as long as the Korean War?
posted by kmz at 8:14 PM on November 14, 2011


O_o The show that ran almost as long as the Korean War?

Korean War ran three years. Mash ran 11.
posted by Talez at 8:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Actually, I'm going to try and look at the positive here. This frees up a bunch of time on my Thursday nights, so now I'm going to just download a bunch of shit and watch it illegally. Thanks, NBC!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Community, pull up a chair. I'd like you to meet Freaks & Geeks, Firefly, and Sports Night. You'll have plenty to talk about.

I remember when they cancelled Freaks & Geeks mid-season. Thankfully, NBC played all the leftover episodes back-to-back in one final kick out the door. I'm assuming that must have been a contractual obligation, since usually unaired episodes are just put in a vault and forgotten.

So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

You know it lasted a hell of a lot longer than the actual Korean War, right?
posted by Sys Rq at 8:15 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Or something equally over-the-top and meta.

Or you know, they could graduate seeing as how they're in their third year of going to a two year college already.
posted by empath at 8:16 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


Korean War ran three years. Mash ran 11.

Were seasons of M*A*S*H portrayed as representing years? There were 251 episodes of M*A*S*H. Each told the story of what, a day? I don't see a problem.

Community is clearly doing a year-by-year thing with real time.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:21 PM on November 14, 2011


I am trying to be positive about this, because it's really kind of a miracle we've gotten as much Community as we have, and every episode is basically like a perfect little present just for me.

OMG yes. My Dinner with Andre/Pulp Fiction episode? Amazing...also, maybe we'll have more Trudie Campbell on MadMen?
posted by sweetkid at 8:21 PM on November 14, 2011


Watched the first episode a few months back, just about to start on the whole first season, aaaaand fuck.
posted by FarOutFreak at 8:21 PM on November 14, 2011


So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

Get used to it!

Growing up, MASH was a favorite show. I noticed that it was on Nick at Nite last night. They had the finale. It was dreadful. They should have ended it when Trapper John and Blake left. I liked Honeycutt and Potter but it was painful to watch.
posted by birdherder at 8:21 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Why are shows still be subjected to the constraints of 'seasons' and 'primetime'*? Don't these networks realize that for the current generation of media consumers time placement doesn't matter? I watch Community on Hulu, I have no idea what time it actually airs on a Thursday. I watch a couple of episodes every couple of weeks. In exchange for free TV, I get fed a single huge advert on the Hulu player (on Xbox) that is usually more memorable than regular TV ads ("MegaCorp is proud to sponsor the following episode..."). The model seems to be working for me and, if you don't mind, I'm off out to purchase a case load of MegaCorp Widgets.

* it's a rhetorical question... I know that network TV still earns like 98% of its income from ads in prime time slots.
posted by rh at 8:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


GOD! FUCKING! DAMMIT!

This is like a beloved but always-sickly dog finally dying of cancer. You knew he wouldn't have long, but fuck, it's still terrible and you'll miss his slobber.

We had some beautiful times, Greendale. I'll miss you, Abed. I'll miss you, Dean Pelton. And I'll miss you most of all, Annie's Boobs, both monkey version and literal.
posted by Harvey Jerkwater at 8:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


[Not sure what's going on here, but please take non-thread-related stuff someplace else, and don't stir up shit for no reason, thanks.]
posted by jessamyn at 8:23 PM on November 14, 2011


MegoSteve: Troy and Abed in the mourning!

I logged in specifically to favorite this comment. Well played, good sir.

That said, Community kind of dropped off my radar (there's a lot of stuff to DVR on Thursdays), but honestly, what are they going to replace it with? What's going to be better? Why can't they just leave something that's a little weird with a rabid fan base on the air?

Oh, wait, this is NBC we're talking about. Never mind.
posted by themanwho at 8:24 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is one of the few times I'm sad I checked MetaFilter and wish I could've just finished my evening in blissful ignorance. Since moving into a dorm without a tv, Community is the only show I regularly watch on Hulu.
posted by Deflagro at 8:25 PM on November 14, 2011


I'm hoping this is only happening because Troy and Abed are replacing Regis.
posted by ThatSomething at 8:25 PM on November 14, 2011 [17 favorites]


Also, I was beaten on a game show by the guy who plays Garrett (true fact!).
posted by themanwho at 8:25 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


This thread needs a little Magnitude to brighten things up.
posted by grubi at 8:27 PM on November 14, 2011


Hey, guess what. If you make your funny little show too quirky, it has no mass appeal.

No big surprise here.
posted by secondhand pho at 8:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


(You know which show I like that never gets any love? The League. No, really. That show is funny as hell.)
posted by ColdChef at 8:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


THIS CHANG"S EVERYTHING!!!!

*punches mirror, sobs and drinks whiskey in a bloody heap*
posted by mannequito at 8:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [17 favorites]


(You know which show I like that never gets any love? The League. No, really. That show is funny as hell.)

Respect the sidebar.
posted by grubi at 8:29 PM on November 14, 2011


Goddamit who let Winger roll the 1?
posted by Dr. Zira at 8:29 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think that Annie's Boobs has a bunch of unaired episodes hoarded in the ventilation duct.
posted by themanwho at 8:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Community was amusing, but not much more than that.

Well, we've got a thread full of people who think otherwise.
posted by grubi at 8:31 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


Fourth season... on Channel 101? I think it would get the votes.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:33 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Korean War ran three years. Mash ran 11.

Gah. I do know how to read and do math, really. I thought I'd remembered that MASH ran longer than the War, but somehow I got 13 from 1953-1950. I think that means I've been up too long.
posted by kmz at 8:34 PM on November 14, 2011


Pop, POP!

Seriously, though, this sucks. Time to dedicate ourselves to evil, everyone.
posted by synecdoche at 8:35 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


Time to dedicate ourselves to evil, everyone.

I thought we already were?
posted by grubi at 8:36 PM on November 14, 2011


We are the 1%
posted by Flashman at 8:37 PM on November 14, 2011


NBC is like the exact opposite of an antioxidant. :(
posted by sleepingcbw at 8:40 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
posted by hannahelastic at 8:40 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Korean War ran three years. Mash ran 11.

so you're saying they cancelled the War too soon?
posted by mannequito at 8:41 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]


RIP
posted by LiteOpera at 8:41 PM on November 14, 2011


This character reboot is really gelling for you, mannequito. That was classic Hawkeye.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:43 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


NBC is the AT&T of networks.
posted by mge at 8:44 PM on November 14, 2011 [4 favorites]



posted by oddman at 8:44 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


You've got to wonder if there's just some horrendous flaw in the way that Nielsen calculates its ratings.
posted by schmod at 8:50 PM on November 14, 2011


I am bereft.
posted by ooga_booga at 8:50 PM on November 14, 2011


Damn marketers.
posted by hal_c_on at 8:51 PM on November 14, 2011


You've got to wonder if there's just some horrendous flaw in the way that Nielsen calculates its ratings.

There are many. They only go to families, not bachelors or college students, and they ignore everybody who watches on such as Hulu.
posted by kafziel at 8:53 PM on November 14, 2011 [12 favorites]


Well, that sucks.
posted by Lina Lamont at 8:54 PM on November 14, 2011


I refuse to accept this.
posted by liquorice at 8:57 PM on November 14, 2011


I think I speak for everyone when I say that NBC is the opposite of Batman.

Still, this show has only lived as long as it has because NBC is in such poor shape that they couldn't dump it. Which isn't forgiving NBC. At all.

NBC is hedging its bets when it needs to go all in. It should sell off things like Celebrity Apprentice and other trash to networks like FOX who might want them. And it should take shows like Community, Parks & Rec, and yes, 30 Rock and say, "hey everybody, we're the place you can come on Network TV to see something actually worth watching." Make those their flagship shows while hiring people like Roseanne Barr to work development on new programming. Basically become the HBO of Network TV.

They won't, of course, and Community will die in the struggle, like Firefly died when FOX was in this battle years ago.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:57 PM on November 14, 2011 [11 favorites]


Maybe they could Urkel on over to CBS?
posted by Sys Rq at 8:58 PM on November 14, 2011


After the first few episodes of this season aired there was a lot of talk on the various TV blogs about a decline in quality and its inevitable cancellation. Then Remedial Chaos Theory aired and it was touted (rightfully so) as one of the best of the series, but it was depressing how it seemed to everyone a foregone conclusion that the best episodes were now behind us.

I love Community and it's easily my favourite show currently airing, but I didn't note any particular decline in quality this season. Community has always been a wildly uneven show with its unfunny meta-humor, pandering and overly precious characters bordering on the cartoonish. Because of these qualities, it never really bothered me to hear someone say they dislike the show. It doesn't surprise me at all that there's no room on network TV for a show so willfully weird, so willing to take risks and delve into the absurd in a way few shows ever have, but it still stings to see it go.
posted by Lorin at 8:59 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Make those their flagship shows while hiring people like Roseanne Barr to work development on new programming.

I was with you, then you lost me. :)
Now, if...say...you hired someone like Amy Sedaris to make new shows, well then you got something.
posted by ColdChef at 8:59 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Amy Sedaris would be fucking GREAT. I mentioned Roseanne because, even though she's kind of crazy, she knows how to tell conventional wisdom to fuck off and build a rabid and commercial fanbase around quality work.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:01 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


The wife and I have been watching the season 2 DVDs this evening and I had to look at MeFi and I get this news? Not fair! At least Whitney has to compete with BBT, where it will hopefully wither away into one season's obscurity. That half hour will be representative of the absence of comedy.
posted by ndfine at 9:02 PM on November 14, 2011


Community has always been a wildly uneven show with its unfunny meta-humor, pandering and overly precious characters bordering on the cartoonish.

But... no. They're gonna have more fun and be less weird than the first two years combined.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


Anyone bringing up MASH is actually validating the idea that a sitcom should end before the end of its third season, while they're ahead.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:04 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


I mentioned Roseanne because, even though she's kind of crazy, she knows how to tell conventional wisdom to fuck off and build a rabid and commercial fanbase around quality work.

Fair enough. She's also got a "fuck you, network" attitude, which would help.
posted by ColdChef at 9:05 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


I hate to be "that guy" and pick a nit, but...I believe that according to how the word was defined on the show, to "Britta" is to make a small mistake. This seems, to me, more like a colossal error that will potentially lose viewers for NBC, and further erode the faith of loyal viewers.
posted by weirdoactor at 9:07 PM on November 14, 2011


I hate to be "that guy" and pick a nit, but...I believe that according to how the word was defined on the show, to "Britta" is to make a small mistake.

...
...
...
...
...yes.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:08 PM on November 14, 2011 [17 favorites]


...is that you, Britta?
posted by saul wright at 9:09 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


So, just what is the point of intersection? Where does the venn diagram of nonsense, and distribution of caring intersect? Where does indifference, and indeterminacy collide? Perhaps a dirigible airship analogy would assist.

Pleasebeasockpuppet, pleasebeasockpuppet, pleasebeasockpuppet...
posted by joe lisboa at 9:10 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Community's current season has been gone from wobbly to awful... Last two episodes have been terrible. Maybe the decline in quality was due to desperate measures to please the execs though. First two seasons of Community were uneven in quality but had enough bursts of brilliance to make it an important sitcom, maybe, quite possibly, the best of its particular time in the US. Overall, still not as good as the British sitcom Spaced that was a crucial inspiration for Community's creators
posted by Bwithh at 9:13 PM on November 14, 2011


Last season I realized that every episode was genius. Even the weaker ones (the second paintball episode) was better than anything else on tv. I figured that if 30 rock was given time to improve and grow, this show would be around for a while.

Damnit.
posted by pbeyer at 9:17 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Bwithh, I assume you're referring to the kick-ass Halloween episode with 7 variations on the same scary story, and the (I will admit uneven) "Annie Moves" story which nonetheless had the incredible "Kiss From a Rose" montage which almost had me tearing up from Alison Brie alone?

And you had to show up at my door and CALL. THOSE. TERRIBLE?
posted by Navelgazer at 9:19 PM on November 14, 2011 [10 favorites]


Damn. My favourite comedy show. Dead.

Can't they just move the entire production to the UK? At least they seem able to recognize funny shows (and keep them on).

This is everything that is wrong with America. Yes, the ENTIRE CONTINENT!
posted by flippant at 9:19 PM on November 14, 2011


If I find myself in an alternate timeline where Kiss from a Rose green screen montages are awful, I'm growing a goatee.
posted by Lorin at 9:22 PM on November 14, 2011 [9 favorites]


This news has me genuinely bummed. The last time I was so bummed by a cancellation was for Terriers.

Community's current season has been gone from wobbly to awful... Last two episodes have been terrible.

YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM! Also, ahem, I respectfully disagree.
posted by Edgewise at 9:24 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


So this entire thread in summary: 90% of Community's problem is people trying to outhipster everyone else about when it went from decent to awful?
posted by Talez at 9:26 PM on November 14, 2011


Community's current season has been gone from wobbly to awful... Last two episodes have been terrible.

You shut your filthy mouth and pray to whatever god has abandoned you, Hitler.
posted by middleclasstool at 9:27 PM on November 14, 2011 [39 favorites]


Kwine: Community is going away. People on Metafilter are mad. I am not one of them.
Wife of Kwine: Bye bye Community.
posted by Kwine at 9:27 PM on November 14, 2011


i'm still floored i know people who think Big Bang Theory is awesome ("He said Bazinga! He's a geek just like us!!" ugh) but rag on Community. The show may have had "lower points", but even the worst of community was orders of magnitude above the best of crap like BBT and two and a half men. :P

I also know in the scheme of things, it's just a tv show, but this show and other things that make me laugh gave me hope in a world that has peaceful protesters rounded up, while people protesting for someone who sheltered a pedo ring, get let to go do what they want.
posted by usagizero at 9:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


BOO INDEED.
posted by kdar at 9:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


This news has me genuinely bummed. The last time I was so bummed by a cancellation was for Terriers.

I've decided that Terriers is totally my Firefly. I can think fondly of Community and be thankful for just the two and half seasons we've gotten--I'm still shocked it has even happened on network television--but I mourn Terriers.
posted by ndfine at 9:31 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


I thought this season started out pretty weak, and I was wondering if I'd only ever imagined it was good. There seemed to be lots of dead spots. It felt tired. I didn't like the timeline episode.

Then the last couple-a episodes were snappy and funny again and now argh.
posted by fleacircus at 9:32 PM on November 14, 2011


Talez, I think people have been distancing themselves from Community all season because everyone "knows" it's going to get cancelled this season and saying its lost its edge is supposed to soften the eventual blow.

I hope everyone gets a chance to post how they don't care. Thanks Kwine and Wife of Kwine, tell your friends to drop by too.
posted by crashlanding at 9:32 PM on November 14, 2011 [3 favorites]


Indeed. If nothing else, at least we got to hear from the Kwines on this subject.
posted by Navelgazer at 9:34 PM on November 14, 2011 [11 favorites]


I thought this season started out pretty weak, and I was wondering if I'd only ever imagined it was good. There seemed to be lots of dead spots. It felt tired. I didn't like the timeline episode.

Then the last couple-a episodes were snappy and funny again and now argh.
This. The third season has been really uneven and Remedial Chaos Theory in particular was really not good (I convinced my girlfriend to watch it with me as a way of getting her interested in the series and found myself apologizing self-consciously and assuring her that really most of the episodes are quite good), but I thought the last two episodes were much better, particularly the air conditioner repair stuff. I am extremely bummed that it might be in trouble, and I hope Harmon can get his fourth season.

I am also very bewildered that the Washington Post article thinks that Parks and Recreation could be in trouble because it's going to be competing with a Rob Schneider sitcom. After reading that, I had to look him up on Wikipedia to make sure I was thinking of the right guy.

The last time I was so bummed by a cancellation was for Terriers.
Ugh, don't remind me. That was the only time I ever actually wrote letters to the head of a network, futile as that is. I was desperate, man.
posted by IAmUnaware at 9:45 PM on November 14, 2011


Didn't they do this last Season with Parks & Rec, which came back and has been pretty consistently good? I feel like the whole mid-season hiatus is just some new thing tv execs came up with to keep from actually making informed creative decisions. The same thing happened with COugartown, which was an ok show just starting to hit it's comedic stride, and was gaining a bit of traction in the wider pop culture attention machine. (including some cross-network Community crossover action...hmmmm)

What strikes me as hopeless is that 2 Broke Girls is supposedly the top rated new comedy of the season. And it is really really horrible.* Those of us who like shows like Community are so very obviously in the minority that I feel like genuinely good network tv might just be an endangered species.

Also, My favorite new shows of the season that i'm guessing nobody is watching are Up All night, and Suburgatory. Especially Up All Night. If that how doesn't make it, then NBC needs to just give up on comedies altogether.

*It's like it's a show about America written by someone who's never been to America, and being acted out by people who don't actually speak English but are reading the script phonetically. Not to mention the willful and deliberate racism.
posted by billyfleetwood at 9:48 PM on November 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


Remedial Chaos Theory in particular was really not good (I convinced my girlfriend to watch it with me as a way of getting her interested in the series and found myself apologizing self-consciously and assuring her that really most of the episodes are quite good)

I don't know what to say to that. In the last half hour, I decided to watch it again, and there were so many great details, new meaning based on previous reveals, and Troy walking returning to the apartment had me howling again at neighbour-bothering levels. I think it's my sixth time watching it. It's perfect.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:49 PM on November 14, 2011 [13 favorites]


Thanks Kwine and Wife of Kwine, tell your friends to drop by too.

I'm sorry, I'll try not to have a dissenting opinion next time. Enjoy your evening!
posted by Kwine at 10:00 PM on November 14, 2011


God, NBC's facebook page is getting slammed. WTF were they thinking? I don't even keep up with what kind of fanbase likes which show, and I could have told you that making posts about their new, exciting, Community-free mid-season lineup was going to end in disaster.
posted by nushustu at 10:04 PM on November 14, 2011


Kwine, it's not about dissenting opinions (and seriously, I'm not saying this with any anger towards you, trust me) but about dropping into a passionate thread to snark about how you don't care about the subject matter.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:05 PM on November 14, 2011 [14 favorites]


Not caring is not a dissenting opinion.
posted by sweetkid at 10:10 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


I don't know what to say to that. [...] It's perfect.

Well, I thought it was borderline tedious. It really toyed with tedium, that's for sure. Not enough jokes, too much reptetition. I love Community but thought that episode was a miss. Could be just me though.
posted by fleacircus at 10:11 PM on November 14, 2011


It's going to make me sad later, but I'm loving the NBC link feedback (My emotions! MY EMOTIONS!, etc.)

too much reptetition

I totally don't want to do that "if you didn't like X, it's because you didn't understand X" but based on that comment I have to ask: you caught the different inflections based on other-timeline-reveals, yes? So the timeline after we get to hear Shirley complain about everyone making googly eyes at each other, we simply see her catch Jeff and Annie doing it and rolls her eyes; the varied ways in which Pierce approaches the troll as gift; even the way various people become distracted by what's distinct in the timeline which disrupts what might be thought of as their character's natural reactions (Troy laughing at Jeff hitting his head; Troy ignoring the housewarming gift because he's just found out about the gun). It's the repetition that permits all that careful interplay.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 10:19 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


Who said I didn't care? I don't like the show and I hope it gets cancelled and something else gets a chance. I also don't like getting steamrollered by mobs, though, so I think I'll be seeing myself out.
posted by Kwine at 10:25 PM on November 14, 2011


Those of us who like shows like Community are so very obviously in the minority that I feel like genuinely good network tv might just be an endangered species.

I was genuinely convinced it had gone extinct until a friend gave me season one and two of Arrested Development a few yrs back.
posted by mannequito at 10:28 PM on November 14, 2011



I'm sorry, I'll try not to have a dissenting opinion next time. Enjoy your evening!

Hi, Kwine! Here's the thing. It's totally fine that you don't like Community. I'm sure there are probably things you think are great that I think are not so great. For instance, I don't like ranch dressing or football or Bob Dylan, and those are just a few things that huge groups of people really, really, really like. When the subject comes up and someone asks my opinion, I'll be honest -- Dylan really doesn't spin my crank, brah, but he's a hell of a songwriter. I'm sure ranch is great and I just haven't found the right object to dip in it. Yes, San Dimas High School football rules, I'm just a bigger fan of curling.

It's not really necessary to be an unbridled dick about it, though. If I wanted to be a dick, when Bob Dylan dies I could pop into his obit thread and post something like:

palomar: Huh. Bob Dylan is dead. People on Metafilter are upset. I am not one of them.
sexy robot companion of palomar: Bye bye, Bob Dylan! beeeeeeeeeeeeep

But I won't. Neither will I do that when they cancel ranch dressing and/or football. Because I just don't care enough about essentially walking into a room of Bob Dylan/ranch/pigskin fans and letting them know just how much I don't give a shit about the thing they have all gathered to talk about.

I'm not sure why you felt like it was a great idea to do that, but usually when I do things like that it's because I'm having a shitty day and I want to make someone else feel shitty, too. So if you're having a shitty day, that sucks, and I'm sorry. I'm having a shitty day, too. One of the few things that brings joy to my life these days was just put on hiatus, and then someone was a dick about it. Kind of a downer, but it's cool, I've got these Cheez-Its I'm fixin' to eat, and I think after that I might take a bath. I hope you can go do something nice and relaxing, too.
posted by palomar at 10:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [46 favorites]


[Okay, mefi community, let's do this now: people who don't care, please go visit another thread unless you have something more substantive to offer here; people who do care, carry on discussing what you care about, instead of discussing those who don't care.]
posted by taz at 10:35 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


A sitcom can not be successful if it does not look like it was shot in an apartment or made out of cardboard. That's why we have Whitney. It's NBC's desperate prayer to lure the simpler minds away from Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men. The same simple minds that left NBC when Friends went dark, and fixed their sights on Everybody Loves Raymond.
posted by erstwhile at 10:35 PM on November 14, 2011


Thanks taz, sorry to have made your life tonight any more difficult, and just wanting to say that it's amazing how, on this site, using the small-tag can make one's words more powerful, somehow.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:41 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


One of Dan Harmon's favorite video games is Oblivion, maybe he just wanted time off to play Skyrim.
posted by the_artificer at 11:28 PM on November 14, 2011 [6 favorites]


Favorited because I, too, really really want to play Skyrim. Just need the cash to get myself the xbox 360....
posted by Navelgazer at 11:30 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


Are You There, Chelsea? (formerly known as Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea)

In order to be more family-friendly, this yet-to-air sitcom was renamed to something that ISN'T EVEN A JOKE and DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.

This is apparently what we have to look forward to in the post-Community world.
posted by speicus at 11:46 PM on November 14, 2011 [5 favorites]


I love Community, but I have also been disappointed with this new season so far. The characters, seem to me to have had many of their dimensions amputated, and to have become reductions ("caricatures" would be slightly too strong) of their prior selves, especially Britta. That always happens in sitcoms, but three seasons in is rather early for it. Also, I find it really suffocating that we barely seem to encounter people outside their group (and the Dean) any more, let alone watch them interact in even a borderline normal way. It didn't used to be that way. I desperately hope NBC stops being an idiot and gives them a chance to get it back together.

The "shut your filthy mouth" stuff is really gross, by the way.
posted by two or three cars parked under the stars at 11:50 PM on November 14, 2011 [1 favorite]


So, I'm in the minority here, eh?
So, you folks weren't around when M.A.S.H. ended, eh?

We know it's you, Pierce. You're not fooling anybody.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 11:57 PM on November 14, 2011


Pop pop? *sobs*

The mere fact that you call it that tells me you're not ready.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 12:17 AM on November 15, 2011 [9 favorites]


*sigh*

Ok I'm going to go hang out in the Dreamatorium and pretend this didn't happen. Who else is coming?
posted by gomichild at 1:23 AM on November 15, 2011 [6 favorites]


I am so sad, yet this thread is constantly making me LOL.
posted by dumdidumdum at 4:36 AM on November 15, 2011


You know what this means? COMMUNITY MOVIE!
posted by blue_beetle at 5:27 AM on November 15, 2011


Hey Netflix, if you want to redeem yourselves for your recent debacle, pick up Community for a 4th season.
posted by fragmede at 5:34 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


My understanding up until now was that Rob Schneider was the go-to example of a completely failed Hollywood personality, like Yahoo Serious used to be.

This thread is full of perfect, crystalline examples of why my miles-deep cynicism will never be deep enough to keep up with reality. I'm favoriting it even though I don't particularly like it, just so I never forget.

(And to the debate about the last few episodes, I will humbly add that even Arrested had some weakER episodes. Their weakest episodes could blow most shows' best episodes out of the water, of course.)
posted by AugieAugustus at 5:45 AM on November 15, 2011



Ok, I typically catch great shows long after they're cancelled

This describes me (and Mr. Gravy.) Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, Terriers, all seen after cancellation. By a wicked coincidence, Community Season 1, disc 1 is next up in our Netflix queue.

Why? Time management. We have at most 1 hour a day to watch TV. Most of the time it is something like Garrow's Law or Downton Abbey or Game of Thrones. We did make an exception recently-- we heard that Modern Family was winning Emmys and kicking ass, so we started watching. The first episode was awful, but I know sometimes comedy shows need time to build characters and themes. So we watched another show. Awful. Third show at the 15 minute mark, I turned to my husband and said, "I'm out."

My theory is that smart, discerning viewers (the ones who will embrace intelligent, well-written shows) have busy lives and far more ways to entertain themselves, whether it is reading or going to art galleries or working on their PhDs. I'm not dissing anyone who has plenty of time to watch TV, because there are many reasons why that may be, but I do think that the vast majority of Americans who prop up the ratings are simply less critical and their threshold for being entertained is far below mine.

So when I hear that something currently airing is "hilarious" or "must-watch TV" I usually don't bother to follow up on it; I am inevitably disappointed. Hence most of the time I get around to seeing a sit-com is after it has been canceled.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:59 AM on November 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


I love Community, but it does have a limited shelf life. Not only is there the self-imposed 4 year term, but also the cast's collective stars are rising so quickly that I'm not sure they could be contained in an ensemble TV show much longer.

Though this does raise some questions. Can NBC end the show gracefully? Would it even be in the cast's best interests for it them to do so? Are viewers more likely to watch a program featuring a cast member of "tragically cut-short Community" or a show that ended organically? Will Arnett has been riding the GOB-wagon for awhile now. Funny guy, sure, but given his string of mediocre projects of late, something else has to be getting him work. Would Castle have picked up as much as it did without Nathan Fillon?

It's okay for NBC to say "Look, we're going to have to wrap this up soon," but they really need to give the creators of a show like Community a heads up ahead of time that a given season will be the last. This isn't a bog-standard sitcom that pretty much resets at the end of every episode. Characters develop and change, over-arching plots advance. It can't be just turned off. That they can't recognize the differences between a show like Community and a show like Whitney does not speak well for their future.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:06 AM on November 15, 2011


I think Community is great, but people like me don't put much money in NBC's pockets.
posted by box at 6:07 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Can NBC end the show gracefully?

Dan Harmon's recent tweets of this don't give me hope for this, but I'd like to see NBC just say "look, since the show is getting cancelled, we're going to stop meddling in the remaining episodes." I'd love for Community go out in a blaze like the last nights of Conan on NBC.

As far as letting shows end gracefully, NBC didn't even give a chance for My Name is Earl to end gracefully, even though it could have been wrapped up in one episode (and technically was wrapped up in one line on Raising Hope).
posted by drezdn at 6:17 AM on November 15, 2011


Will the Handler show be on Thursday nights? If so, that makes no sense to me, as it seems like a show like that should be paired with Whitney.
posted by drezdn at 6:19 AM on November 15, 2011


i want ninja space dinosaurs to be in charge instead.

You mean this guy?
posted by Zerowensboring at 6:24 AM on November 15, 2011


Did Dan Harmon respond to me on twitter? You be the judge.

Me: @danharmon once again, cougartown is there, waiting. Like a living shadow that knows your every move before you make it*cue Morricone song*

(cuz I'm silly)

Him: Out through the back door of Rose's I ran, out where the horses were tied.
10 hours ago

(which is from Town of El Paso, A WESTERN SONG. BFFS? I think so.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:27 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Use your clout now, Potomac. Don't waste your power. Make those fuckers at the dry cleaners know exactly who you are.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:30 AM on November 15, 2011 [7 favorites]


Just responded with this: Bam

Expecting invitation to writing staff in a few moments. I'll send you a postcard from hollywood, suckers!
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:38 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


OK.

I can't say I'm shocked. I can't really say that I'm even disappointed.

I was there from the start. It was clear even then that this show was going to be one of those shows, which was too good for teevee. It was too smart, too fast, too well done for it to ever last. We've seen that happen again and again (although less often than before), and we all know how that story ends.

And yet, I signed on, with the understanding that this wonderful, magic show would be taken away at some point. All the more so, because NBC was in such a terrible position, they had nothing else coming down the pipe. With nothing to replace Community, it would stay on. Eventually something would come. And now it has. And, as expected, it's shit.

Still -- I signed on, and got some of the best teevee I've ever watched. It started out with one or two wobbly episodes, and then quickly went into high gear. The moment which clinched it was then the camera did a freeze frame on Danny Pudi, and he off-screen narrated "As long as I can remember, I wanted to be in a gangster movie." BOOM. Sold. They were just churning out impossibly-good teevee -- the first paintball episode ranks among the best half-hours of teevee comedy ever done (though I'm in a minority thinking that the second paintball eps were actually better, collectively). The writing was as good as anything ever shown, the comedy acting was as good as anything ever shown. Seriously. No word of hyperbole.

In short, I knew this was going to come, and it did. Am I outraged? No. Disappointed? Not quite, since I expected this, although it would have been nice to have been surprised and proven wrong. It's tough to be booted the way it has been -- I loved 30 Rock, but it's definitely peaked. The Office should have been canceled year ago. Shit like Whitney? It's cheap, easy teevee, so it doesn't matter that it's absolute shit.

How can a show possibly last which does a tribute to My Dinner With Andre? It needs investment and patience on the part of the viewer, it needs a bit of knowledge to get the magnificent, audacious joke. And that does not spell longevity on American television. Fine. I took the magnificent and audacious, and I'm happy to have made the deal.

And I am disappointed for the people involved, but I know that they're headed to much greater things. Still -- it was nice and handy to have them all in one place, rather than to hope for pairings in this movie or that, and never seeing them as an ensemble again. Pudi is great, Donald Glover has a bright future ahead (boy, does he ever), but my Alison? She's masterful. Just masterful. All these small, deft touches to her acting, both fully and serious -- and young and not hard on the eyes -- her star is only going to rise, and for all of the latecomers, I say one thing: BACK OFF SHES MINE

Community, thank you. You will be missed. But thank you. Pop pop.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:43 AM on November 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


This post gives some reasons for hope

My concern at this point would be NBC making Harmon think the show will get a 4th season, and then ending it with Harmon having written the rest of season 3 as if there was going to be more story told.
posted by drezdn at 6:49 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


[Okay, mefi community, let's do this now: people who don't care, please go visit another thread unless you have something more substantive to offer here; people who do care, carry on discussing what you care about, instead of discussing those who don't care.]
posted by taz at 6:35 AM on November 15 [1 favorite +] [!]

Well I hope that gets reused the next time a Star Wars/George Lucas thread gets posted ;-)

I see this hiatus as a karmic timeout on the naughty step for all the 'Communiteee is amayzzzing and your favourite show is shit and you are stooped for liking it!' over the last year or so.

(P.S. I have watched every single ep of Community and will watch until the end.)
posted by i_cola at 7:02 AM on November 15, 2011


Why does Whitney get nearly as much promotion as it does? I watch all of the other NBC Thurs. night comedies and it gets ads constantly (also on other nights to). NBC has been pretending Community doesn't exist for a while.

I heard the same thing about Chuck. It's because no one is going to start watching these shows after two or three seasons. Anyone who has heard of Community at this point has probably tried watching at least an episode and decided they don't care for it which is not surprising given it's weirdness and quirkiness. (And saying they should go back to episode 101 to start watching is silliness.) So why bother advertising for it?
posted by smackfu at 7:10 AM on November 15, 2011


Can NBC end the show gracefully?

I'm not even sure what that would be. It's not like there are big Ross and Rachel "will they ever get together?" questions going on here. And it's not like this is Lost, where everyone wants answers. If they make a finale, it might be great, it might be disappointing, but it's not necessary.
posted by smackfu at 7:12 AM on November 15, 2011


I still want to see the haunted mansion episode from the clip show.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:20 AM on November 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Can NBC end the show gracefully?

I'm not even sure what that would be.

Well, looking at the end of Season 2, it ended with Pierce walking out on the group. If Dan Harmon is not given enough warning that a certain season will be the last, we'd end up with an unsatisfying end with no resolution to ongoing development or a really rushed final few episodes that try to tie everything up ("The Carnivale Gambit" I think it's called). If Season 2's finale suddenly became the series finale, we might as well have had the Alien Task Force grab Pierce, never to be seen again (or at least until Project PIERCE premieres 6 years later).

There might not be huge mysteries or will they/won't theys to tie up, but there are certainly some threads that need to be dealt with in order to have a satisfying ending.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:23 AM on November 15, 2011


Couldn't they compromise on a Community TV movie for a finale? Pretty please?
posted by Sticherbeast at 7:24 AM on November 15, 2011


Maybe if the entire cast wears nothing but Cosby sweaters for the rest of the season, the ratings will go up enough for them to avoid cancellation.

What a shame. Whatever the opposite of jumping the shark is, that's what they were doing on this brilliant show.
posted by ericbop at 7:27 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Swimming under the dolphin?
posted by mmmbacon at 7:31 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Can NBC end the show gracefully?

I'm not even sure what that would be.

Shirley, graduation?
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:32 AM on November 15, 2011


All kidding aside, here's what's probably happening at NBC:

Commercial airtime is nearly entirely purchased in one of two ways- either during the summer, in a two-week or so period known as the "upfronts", or throughout the year as part of the scatter market. Airtime is purchased in advance, so it is based on a promise from the network that they can capture a certain audience. Typically, a media buyer purchases a demo (such as Adults 18-49 or Women 25-54), and a daypart (daytime, early fringe, prime, etc.). Essentially, they are buying you ahead of time. Within this, they will purchase a number of what are called Target Reach Points, or TRPs. This is a formulation for expressing reach (the percentage of your demo target that you have reached), and frequency (the number of times in a given period that your demo will see the particular spot). So if you bought 150 TRPs in prime, you might be reaching 75% of your audience twice, or (more likely) 5% of your audience 30 times (or any other combination). These TRPs are all derived from Nielsen ratings, based on a given demo's viewing of all programs during the particular daypart and time period.

Now, when airtime is purchased during the upfronts, the actual programs are not being purchased (which programs your spots air during is usually worked out later, during scheduling. Purchasing a specific program can occur during the scatter market, but at a premium). However, the programs in a particular daypart are still taken into account in calculating the number of TRPs that are available for a particular demo. In the case of the upfronts (and to a lesser degree, scatter) this calculation is made by projecting from the ratings of a program's previous seasons, or in the case of new programming, from the ratings of similar programs.

Now once those TRPs are sold, they have to be delivered. This is a gamble made by the networks, in order to guarantee that most of their inventory is sold in advance, and to add predictability to their revenue stream. As a result, for a given period during the broadcast calendar, the network will need to reach a certain percentage of all of its key demos a certain number of times using all programs. Different programs are targeted to different demos, so they might have to reach a certain percentage of young men using a combination of all of their edgier comedies, action shows, etc. If they are not able to achieve the ratings that they expected, and make up the TRPs that they have already sold, they have a problem. Either they will have to provide "make-goods" to clients in the form of additional spots to make up the missing points, or in a worse-case scenario, they will have to return money to the clients. At this point, it seems that nearly all of NBC's prime-time schedule is underperforming, and it is costing them money.

This may have happened for a number of reasons. Their returning programs may have actually performed worse than in previous years, and their new programs may simply not be working. The programs may also have been sold incorrectly, that is, certain programs may have been scheduled to make up points for a demo that was not actually appropriate for the programs. Given that Whitney is still around (even though it is getting killed, and may have actually killed Prime Suspect as well) and they're going to bring in this Courtney Handler thing, I'm guessing that NBC may be having difficulty getting female demos (I no longer work in the US, so this is speculation on my part). This may also be a case in which the loss of audience in another daypart (such as daytime, traditionally a stronghold for female demos) is being made up for in prime. It may also be that they are achieving the TRPs that they want, but the audience itself is smaller than they expected, and is being reached much more frequently than they had planned. This may not be a problem for some advertisers, such as those using "recency planning" (a big personal care or consumer packaged goods client, for instance), but others may be concerned about "wear out"- the point where creative stops having an effect, or worse, starts to annoy viewers (there are a number of issues around effectiveness and wear out models that I won't get into here). Perhaps Community is not giving them the number of women that they expected. Perhaps it is not giving them viewers above age 34, or leading either of those to demos into Parks and Rec, which is meant to have a much broader appeal.

Speaking of ratings, there are also issues around Nielsen. Nielsen is a monopoly, and has ensured that it's ratings remain the standard currency for television measurement since the '60s. There are several problems with this. One, their national panel is laughably small. This was not as much of an issue when there were only three networks and everyone was watching the same thing, but with the increased diversity of programming, it becomes harder and harder to get stable measurements for increasingly niche programming (it is also harder to actually achieve larger audience sizes, something the networks are having difficulty admitting). Similarly, the Nielsen panels worked fine when advertisers didn't care about audience diversity, and weren't advertising to "the ethnics" or people in non-traditional households, etc. This brings up the second problem with Nielsen ratings- their panel is less representative of the kind of audience that might enjoy Community. Now, they have done a better job lately of reaching people not living in a family-based household (single people, students, etc.), but the real problem is reaching people without a home phone line. Nielsen still recruits its panel using random-digit-dialing within a certain geographic area, to ensure that their panel is as representative as possible of the general population. This is fine, except (as far as I know) they still have difficulty reaching people who only use wireless phones, or have unlisted numbers. This is increasingly the case among younger people, so while they are still getting a representative sample of people in that age range, it may only be of a particular type of person (one that still has a phone line hooked up).

Finally, there is the issue of time-shifting. At this time (as far as I know), NBC uses a rating standard known as "live+3", that is the rating for live broadcast, plus PVR and out-of-home viewing for the three days following. If someone on the Nielsen panel has recorded Community and watched it later than three days from broadcast, it will not be captured in the rating. The digitization of television has presented huge problems for networks, advertisers and Nielsen, particularly with the arrival of online viewing. Eventually, everyone will have to move to an actual commercial-minute rating (you pay for the actual number of viewers that see your commercial), but until then, they seem to have settled on "live+3". Hulu is another issue, as I don't believe it is included in NBC's TV ratings. Considering that it only shows a single long-form commercial, I imagine that it is not counted, and is likely sold separately, and not even included in considerations around programming. Torrenting is less of an issue, as it is still relatively limited. The main issue is that the networks still haven't been able to develop a serious, legal alternative that they can monetize and include in their television measurement (although, if you are living in a Nielsen household, and you torrent Community, you may be part of the problem).

So these are the circumstances that NBC is likely responding to. The fact that the response seems to be Chelsea Handler speaks to other, more significant, problems with television today.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 7:43 AM on November 15, 2011 [284 favorites]


The funny thing about postmodernism is that...this is going to be unfocused...but:

Arrested Development's plot dealt in a sly way with the creator's anxieties about the show's "Life". So did Sports Night. But no other show has specifically acknowledged (through a semi-detached metafictional narrator like Abed) how the CONSTANT fear of death you have as a person/TV show affects your life. TV shows are more like our modern lives than Films or Novels. They flutter around, get interrupted constantly, they wax and wane with a week's passing, referring to eachother and everything in the past and present constantly to stay current, and they can be switched off and forgotten at any time but have to act as if they are timeless.

The end of community is always what community has been about.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:46 AM on November 15, 2011 [17 favorites]


How many of those 20- and 30-somethings actually watch the show live, rather than on DVR where they can skip the commercials? Should the advertisers even care about them?
posted by smackfu at 7:47 AM on November 15, 2011


Thanks, TheWhiteSkull. It's nice to put a rational explanation to my heartbreak.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:52 AM on November 15, 2011


I feel really bummed about this. Even though the third season has been uneven for me so far, it still had some real gems in it. Maybe a summer airing would be good for Community that way they don't have anything to compete against and they can grow their fan base. (Yes I know wishful thinking, but a brother can dream can he?)

Also can we please stop with this, "I know nothing about what is posted so let me act like a crotchety old person to seem funny" crap on the internet. It's getting old and annoying.

As someone that loved Chevy Chase from the old days, from SNL, from Vacation, from the days when he was great, I couldn't get into his character on Community, and it dragged the whole show down for me... And, I've got no clue as to who all those other people were...

now, get off my lawn...
posted by LilSoulBrother85 at 7:53 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Thank you, NBC, as if losing the leaves from the trees and the departure of the warm winds from the south didn't make winter such a bummer of a time, you rip Community away, grinching Christmas before it even arrived.
posted by Atreides at 8:46 AM on November 15, 2011


Can I make this all better by buying a Troy and Abed in the Morning mug? Please?
posted by Zed at 8:59 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm guessing that NBC may be having difficulty getting female demos

I wonder if Whitney is actually an attempt to bring in more Males 18-34. From the few episodes I've seen, they really seemed to play up the "Whitney in skimpy outfits angle."
posted by drezdn at 9:05 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I wonder if Whitney is actually an attempt to bring in more Males 18-34. From the few episodes I've seen, they really seemed to play up the "Whitney in skimpy outfits angle."

That may be another valid interpretation. I haven't really been able to sit through much of the show. Typically, "funny shows about relationships" tend to be sold as female-skewing. Of course, they may also be reaching for the "people who hate being entertained" demographic. Or, if you take the fact that they are airing a Rob Fucking Schneider vehicle in 2012, they may actually be looking for that important "total fucking idiot" demographic.*



*Note: not actual demographics.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:23 AM on November 15, 2011 [8 favorites]


You know, my needs are pretty simple. I'm not asking for a lot out of life. I live alone, no wife, no kids, no prospect of either anymore. My job is fine, but dull. It drags. I clock in and clock out, rinse, lather, repeat. I just try to make it to the weekend, when I can get caught up on all the stuff that needs doing around the house. I'm not rich, I'm just getting along, sometimes more than others. And all I want is a couple of weeks off a year to maybe do something moderately relaxing on my holidays, or at least break up the monotony, and that when the work of the day is done, is watch some teevee and have a beer. That's it. That's all I'm asking for. And of that teevee, I really, really like Community. It's the highlight of my week, which probably says something about how mundane my life is, but that's fine, and I don't care. I like watching a show which is fast and light and well-written and well-acted. Even in that, I'm not asking for a lot, I don't think, anyway, but apparently, it's pretty rare. Community is good enough for me not to have to think about things like my ten year old car breaking down, or how much this winter's heating oil bill is going to cost me, before I can save enough to scrap it and get something less insane. All I'm asking for is a bit of distraction, and if they have to sell my watching eyeballs to someone in order to do it, I'm fine with that, too. So yes. Community. Please keep it on. It's funny. Funnier than the rest. I don't have much, and I'm not asking for much. It's the one teevee show that isn't as mundane and formulaic as my own life. That's all I want, just a bit of escapism. It's good escapism. Please keep it on. Please.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:33 AM on November 15, 2011 [32 favorites]


elizardbits: "space dino"

Space dinos did not work out well for Dr. McNinja. At all.
posted by that's candlepin at 9:34 AM on November 15, 2011


All kidding aside, here's what's probably happening at NBC:

Flagged as fantastic.

Its kind of depressing having everything to do with creativity and art stripped away from a project that clearly seems to be motivated by a sincere desire on the part of the creators to produce something worthwhile and meaningful, but it's still worth knowing the story behind the story.

It seems like there should be a model of TV shows created for streaming + downloads + dvd that could afford to produce a show like community. Remove the marketing costs, and how big can the budget of a show like that really be?
posted by empath at 9:36 AM on November 15, 2011


If I were Dan Harmon, I'd be writing an Inspector Spacetime pitch as soon as possible.
posted by drezdn at 10:04 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


"Community's" Woeful Ratings Would Get It Canceled Elsewhere, But Not On N-B-C!

You know, my needs are pretty simple. I'm not asking for a lot out of life. I live alone, no wife, no kids, no prospect of either anymore. My job is fine, but dull. It drags. I clock in and clock out, rinse, lather, repeat. I just try to make it to the weekend, when I can get caught up on all the stuff that needs doing around the house. I'm not rich, I'm just getting along, sometimes more than others. And all I want is a couple of weeks off a year to maybe do something moderately relaxing on my holidays, or at least break up the monotony, and that when the work of the day is done, is watch some teevee and have a beer. That's it. That's all I'm asking for. And of that teevee, I really, really like Community. It's the highlight of my week, which probably says something about how mundane my life is, but that's fine, and I don't care. I like watching a show which is fast and light and well-written and well-acted. Even in that, I'm not asking for a lot, I don't think, anyway, but apparently, it's pretty rare.

lol.

"In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Community creator Dan Harmon attempted to explain why his NBC show continues to get low ratings despite outstanding marks from critics. 'Well, the average person comes home from work really tired, and just wants to flip through channels until they land on the thing that's the least objectionable to them,' Harmon said. 'So they don't regard the television as an appliance that's supposed to spiritually satisfy them, they regard it as a thing that's supposed to comfort them and be a little stupid. It's not because they're stupid, it's because that's what TV has given them all their lives and it's hard to go out and do the work of finding a show.'

The sad thing is that he’s right. The worse thing is that this approach to television watching has resulted in Community being put on midseason hiatus."

What The Community Hiatus Says About The Current World Of Television
posted by mrgrimm at 10:26 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


It seems like there should be a model of TV shows created for streaming + downloads + dvd that could afford to produce a show like community. Remove the marketing costs, and how big can the budget of a show like that really be?

Marketing costs don't factor into it since that's done by the network not the production company.

Six figures per episode minimum. As the show becomes more popular you'd have to pay more to stop actors from being lured away to multimillion dollar contracts on movies and with Community being an ensemble cast that will get very expensive very quickly (Friends for example was $10 million an episode in its final season which was a loss leader for the rest of the Thursday night lineup) you can't expect to retain a cohesive cast with chemistry on a budget for very long.

Assuming you could keep the six main cast at $20,000 episode (and at this point I gotta tell you we're pretty much into fantasy land) you're already at $120,000/episode just from the main cast. Given that you have two strongly recurring characters, six other strongly recurring students and an untold number of extras to be students plus the director and producers need a Lexus to drive, writers need to get paid (you'd need to directly pay them since the concept of residuals has just gone out the window) then the crew need to eat and have health insurance.

At the very least you'd probably be looking at over $10 million for a 24 episode season and I dare say you wouldn't get much change out of $20 million.
posted by Talez at 10:31 AM on November 15, 2011


Remove the marketing costs, and how big can the budget of a show like that really be?

Just look at the FX comedies like Louie, Always Sunny, and The League. Far lower budgets, still funny. I think it's just a different mentality, where studio shows have large cast and crew and it would be difficult to cut those down because of inertia. Like indie comedies can save money by going on location and skipping building a set, while studio comedies save money by not leaving the studio.
posted by smackfu at 10:31 AM on November 15, 2011


Just look at the FX comedies like Louie, Always Sunny, and The League. Far lower budgets, still funny.

Alway Sunny and Louie are special cases where a lot (but not all) of the writing, directing and producing roles are shared among the cast rather than having specialised people in those roles. Louie is an especially extreme example of that case. Every episode is written and directed by Louis CK himself. It's really just an extension of his standup act.

But I guarantee if every show went that way you'd get tired of the format faster than reality TV.
posted by Talez at 10:39 AM on November 15, 2011


Guys, this isn't actually going to happen. This is NBC we're talking about here- Community might not be doing great, but its cult success is better than nothing (which alternatives, such as Whitney, are). Look at how long Scrubs stayed on the air. Look at how The Office continues to linger on. Community may not be at their level yet, but it's better than nothing. This is a network that's desperate, I doubt they will kill off a show with critical acclaim and a cult following and replace it with Perfect Couples or Outsourced.
posted by Apocryphon at 10:42 AM on November 15, 2011


I haven't seen any of season 3 yet, because my little antipodean country is way behind, and our stupid goverment recently passed heavy-handed legislation criminalising downloading stuff. But that's another story.

Everything has to end sometime, and some series are probably stronger because they didn't last long enough to go stale. The thing that really worries me is that the threat of imminent cancellation seems to do weird things to a show. I love season 3 of Arrested Development, but you can tell they were feeling rushed and bitter.
posted by Soulfather at 10:44 AM on November 15, 2011


Hey once you got over Outsourced's "OMG INDIAN CALL CENTRE THAT'S RACIST" aspect it was quite a charming show with good character development that didn't end up being one-dimensional caricatures.

Hell the only caricature on that show was Pippa Black (or as I like to refer to her, that chick from Neighbours) playing Tonya. "Up ya bum"? Bugger me they couldn't have been more insulting if they tried.
posted by Talez at 10:46 AM on November 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


the last nights of Conan on NBC

You mean we'll get a sequel series on TBS? I'll take it!
posted by Apocryphon at 10:46 AM on November 15, 2011


Danny Pudi's Facebook: Hey friends! Thank you for all the positive vibes and support! Bummed about the mid-season news but hopeful that Greendale will be back soon. In the meantime, we're still shooting episodes and can't wait for you guys to see what we've been up to. Especially our Christmas Spectacular. It's full of major goofiness. Much love.

So it looks like Christmas is on! Huzzah!
posted by Talez at 11:09 AM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Might not be seen at Christmas though. Didn't that happen with Parks and Rec?
posted by smackfu at 11:15 AM on November 15, 2011


I am so not surprised. Hopefully it'll make a comeback.
posted by Vindaloo at 11:25 AM on November 15, 2011


It seems somehow really awful that "Community" got more promotion on Joel McHale's basic-cable "The Soup" than it ever did on NBC itself. Seriously, I see "Whitney" promos every freaking hour on that network. I think I saw a "Community" promo once at like ten after midnight.

Whitney Cummings, by the way, is a pretty funny comedian, but you'd never know that from her godawful sitcom persona.

They had the finale. It was dreadful. They should have ended it when Trapper John and Blake left. I liked Honeycutt and Potter but it was painful to watch.

Yeah, it was only the most-watched show in all of TV history (60% of US households), but it was dreadful and painful and awful. Right.
posted by blucevalo at 11:34 AM on November 15, 2011


...it was dreadful and painful and awful. Right.

Not getting that, either. The MASH finale still holds up very well. Powerful stuff, with Hawkeye's breakdown and realization of what actually happened on that bus. How everyone tippie-toed around him beforehand, knowing what he wouldn't/couldn't. BJ's message by the chopper pad. Resolution where it was appropriate.

The show knew it was quickly coming to its end, and so wrapped it up. They saved a lot of good material for that final show. It was everything the show itself was about, just ramped up that little bit more.

Frankly, I thought it was the gold standard for how to end a series. Can't even remember what Cheers did, despite all the attention.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:45 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Has any tv show ended by breaking the fourth wall?

I think Community could pull off a downward spiral that ends with the characters wondering why it feels like they're being tormented, then Dan Harmon introducing himself as they strike the set and the characters realize they're just actors.
posted by drezdn at 11:48 AM on November 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


IIRC, the ending of Cheers (at least part of it) was devoted to Frasier flying off to Seattle to promote the spin off.
posted by drezdn at 11:48 AM on November 15, 2011


drezdn

Off the top of my head, Roseanne may qualify as a show ended by breaking the fourth wall, as it ended with the titular character explaining that things started to go bizarre over the last season because she was literally rewriting their lives after Dan died of a heart attack.
posted by bookwo3107 at 11:55 AM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


If Harmon goes though "what happens to everyone after Greendale" route for wrapping up things, one of the episodes needs to be about the wedding between Jeff and Annie/Britta/The Dean. It goes through a quick overview of their relationship. Then in the final shot, cut to two teenage kids sitting on the couch with Joel McHale narrating "And that kids, is how I met your mother."
posted by drezdn at 11:55 AM on November 15, 2011 [11 favorites]


What? No. Community needs to end with a confrontation with the goateed study group, having broken in to the main timeline to assume their former lives.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:01 PM on November 15, 2011 [6 favorites]


And then Inspector Spacetime showing up. NBC execs as Blorgons.
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:04 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


(Srsly, though -- they graduate and get scattered to the winds. Appropriately meta.)
posted by Capt. Renault at 12:06 PM on November 15, 2011


Has any tv show ended by breaking the fourth wall

Newhart
posted by mrgrimm at 12:54 PM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I Married Dora: "We got cancelled!"
posted by mrgrimm at 1:07 PM on November 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


What strikes me as hopeless is that 2 Broke Girls is supposedly the top rated new comedy of the season. And it is really really horrible.*

It really is really terrible. Really, really terrible. And, hey, you'll never guess who co-created that steaming pile of shitcom! Why, none other than Whitney herself! (Seriously, who is this person? Does her dad own Warner Brothers or something?)

I have a feeling this new wave of cheap-as-dirt, recorded to video canned-laughter, three-camera stinkers are catering to a specific audience: Young people who grew up watching all that Disney Channel crap (in short, a whole channel of Saved By The Bell), which this new prime time stuff looks and quacks exactly like. There's a whole generation of people whose knowledge of sitcoms is based on content directed at them and them alone, with no obligation to cater to a broad whole-family sort of audience. It's 100% solid crap, because that's what seven-year-olds like. And now those seven-year-olds are all grown up, and their tastes haven't, and voila!

Now, that said, come to think of it, Community bears a striking resemblance to the prior generation of Disney Channel fare, before it all went to pot: Quirky, smartly written, well-acted, laugh-track-free, one-camera things.

Man. I really, really hope I'm not actually on to something here.
posted by Sys Rq at 1:39 PM on November 15, 2011 [7 favorites]


I read this thread too much and was really too bummed out overall on this yesterday, but luckily it led to my dream being the finale of the show, in which they have another paintball game, but the paintballs were replaced with actual bullet paintballs. So I'm good now. I won't tell you who lived.
posted by mannequito at 1:41 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Apparently its not as dire as we thought...
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:41 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Back to Remedial Chaos Theory for just one moment, the timeline with Troy's turn to get the pizza is maybe the three most perfect minutes of television I've ever watched, and everytime I watch the episode, I back up to the beginning of this scene to watch it again before continuing on. I mean, it's a thing of beauty.

Apparently its not as dire as we thought...

We should probably still take hostages just to be sure.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:53 PM on November 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Sys Rq: "Why, none other than Whitney herself! (Seriously, who is this person? Does her dad own Warner Brothers or something?)"

Seriously. I first noticed her earlier this year when I caught part of her (pretty dull) stand-up special on Comedy Central. Since then she's kept popping up in various places. It's like a computer at NBC spat out a card saying CONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE FEMALE COMEDIAN WITH RAUNCHY MATERIAL and she's been fast-tracked to fill that slot.
posted by brundlefly at 1:54 PM on November 15, 2011


If they're cancelled, with all the references to mental illness this season, I kind of hope that the finale involves a total break from reality where the whole cast decides to go live in the Dreamatorium permanently.
posted by speicus at 1:55 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


It's like a computer at NBC spat out a card saying CONVENTIONALLY ATTRACTIVE FEMALE COMEDIAN WITH RAUNCHY MATERIAL and she's been fast-tracked to fill that slot.

That's probably exactly it, aka: "We need some of that Sarah Silverman dollar" (you can mentally apply the accent)
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 2:07 PM on November 15, 2011


Sys Rq's prediction that the Disney Channel is the future has made my blood run cold. That thing is a wellspring of pure crap and the kids just slurp it up.
posted by whuppy at 2:08 PM on November 15, 2011


The appeal of Whitney is simple: She's anti-feminist.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:47 PM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Sys Rq, at first I scoffed at your theory, because when I was a kid, the Disney Channel showed old cartoons, endless promos for movies, and Canadian series like Danger Bay and The Edison Twins. If your theory was correct, then my favorite shows would be Canadian sitcoms and dramas.

Then I remembered that my previous favorite sitcom before Community and Parks & Rec was... Corner Gas. (And I think Da Vinci's Inquest and Flashpoint are not too bad.) Maybe there's something to it.
posted by infinitewindow at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2011


the timeline with Troy's turn to get the pizza is maybe the three most perfect minutes of television I've ever watched, and everytime I watch the episode

To be fair, however, that was one of the only funny bits in that whole episode. I admit it was hilarious.

Now, that said, come to think of it, Community bears a striking resemblance to the prior generation of Disney Channel fare, before it all went to pot: Quirky, smartly written, well-acted, laugh-track-free, one-camera things.

Brady Bunch
Gilligan's Island
Happy Days
Mork and Mindy

???

That's the sitcom crap I grew up with. They all had laugh tracks, I believe. I wouldn't really call them smartly written, either. I mean I dug Barney Miller and Sanford & Son, but I can't say they are much better than Big Bang Theory or Two Broke Girls.

BTW, I can't find a clip, but I'm pretty sure Happy Days also ended by breaking the fourth wall, albeit very gently ... Joanie married Chachi, and I think Tom Bosley toasted Happy Days fans ...

Ah, here it is. He looks right at the camera and says "So thank you all for being part of our family. To Happy Days."
posted by mrgrimm at 3:31 PM on November 15, 2011


OOPS. Nevermind. I thought you mean pre-Disney Channel fare. Ignore me and carry on.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:33 PM on November 15, 2011


[Also, who the hell is Whitney?! NBC claims she's some kind of sensation? Did she come out of nowhere overnight or have I been under a rock? If I've been under a rock, would someone help me find that rock again? I want to go back there.]

Whitney Cummings has been an up and coming comedian for a few years now. I first saw her on Chelsea Lately, and then on the Comedy Central Roasts. The reason (I think) she got the deals for Whitney and 2 Broke Girls is because she got universal praise for her segments on these roasts.

She's very talented, but I feel like both shows need a stronger showrunner, who can steer them back on course. She may also want to hire some better writers, as in people who don't rely on puns as punchlines.
posted by reenum at 3:42 PM on November 15, 2011


It seems somehow really awful that "Community" got more promotion on Joel McHale's basic-cable "The Soup" than it ever did on NBC itself. Seriously, I see "Whitney" promos every freaking hour on that network. I think I saw a "Community" promo once at like ten after midnight.

Yeah, I wonder the same thing. It seems as if NBC is relying on the critical praise to bleed through, and thus not have to spend any money on promotion. This makes no sense. IIRC they promoted the hell out of Friends when it was still on top.

Although the finale may have held up, the rest of MASH has not. I tried to watch an ep recently and was really struck by how unfunny I found it, especially since it cracked me up so much as a kid.

He said, dating himself.
posted by waraw at 4:20 PM on November 15, 2011


Whitney Cummings is the new Fran Drescher.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:55 PM on November 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


Maybe there's something to it.

I can't stomach most Canadian TV, but if you want a recommendation, the first 2 seasons of Being Erica were pretty good. (Season 3 was silly but watchable, and I ultimately gave up this year).
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 5:14 PM on November 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Dan for Mayor has funny moments too.
[Ending derail, sorry]
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 5:25 PM on November 15, 2011


I LOVE THIS SHOW!!
It's smarty-pants meta humor always made me wonder how many people on Mefi loved it too.

It's a shame too, cause they just had their "Mirror, Mirror" episode. I was totally looking forward to seeing the bearded alternate time line Troy and Abid again.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 5:49 PM on November 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Didn't NBC also cancel that other cult favourite, Star Trek? Be brave of heart, Metafilter -- in 20 years they will launch Community: The Next Generation. History repeats itself, right? Right?

This sucks.
posted by The Hyacinth Girl at 8:23 PM on November 15, 2011


You know, if/when they cancel it in season 3, I hope the last episode is a "One Year Later" graduation where we see everything that happened in the last year on fast forward, followed with epilogue shots a la Animal House.

But seriously, we're probably doing awfully well that this show lasted 3 seasons, and I can't even be surprised any more, really. I am just here to enjoy it while it lasts. Sad but true, what else can you do? Shows I watch do not make the money that dumb hot girl shows do.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:08 PM on November 15, 2011


I love the characterization - how naturally the paths diverged in Chaos Theory, or in the second paintball episode, how obvious it was, even before rewatching and looking for card colors, that only Annie would've voted to keep Pierce in the group.

I want four years. I don't want them to graduate and then each start work at a pet shop across the street from the school.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:05 AM on November 16, 2011


Brady Bunch
Gilligan's Island
Happy Days
Mork and Mindy

That's the sitcom crap I grew up with. They all had laugh tracks, I believe.

Happy Days had a laugh track for its first two seasons, then switched to being filmed live with an audience. Mork and Mindy was filmed live with an audience from the get-go.
posted by hippybear at 5:48 AM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Has anyone ever been a Neilson viewer? I always thought it would interesting.
posted by PJLandis at 8:43 AM on November 16, 2011


I was, once. I got a dollar I think [maybe five] and had to keep track of what shows I watched in a week [almost none] and filled out some very complicated paperwork.
posted by jessamyn at 8:49 AM on November 16, 2011


A couple of times, I got a Nielsen survey in the mail. I didn't have a TV at the time, so my results probably weren't that useful. (On preview, yeah, with $5, like Jessamyn said.)
posted by Zed at 8:50 AM on November 16, 2011


You know, if/when they cancel it in season 3, I hope the last episode is a "One Year Later" graduation where we see everything that happened in the last year on fast forward, followed with epilogue shots a la Animal House.

...

I want four years. I don't want them to graduate and then each start work at a pet shop across the street from the school.

You guys do know the name of the show is Community, not University?

As in, community college?

In the United States, community colleges are primarily two-year public institutions of higher education and were once commonly called junior colleges.

So you're already 1 year over schedule. Take Season 3 and be happy.

Jeff was a lawyer until the Colorado Bar Association found out that he did not get a bachelor's degree from Columbia University but, in fact, got one that was "less than legitimate" and "better than real"[citation needed] from the country of Colombia. He returns to college by attending Greendale Community College as a deal with the bar in order to prevent him from being disbarred. He consequently hopes to graduate as quickly as possible.

What happened to that plotline? Shouldn't he have fulfilled his undergraduate requirements by now?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Community is a lot like Family Guy--a main "plotline" doesn't exist; characters float between various realities; and a lot of the humor is non-sequitur and culturally referential (Cougar Abbey, My Dinner with Abed, the D&D one.)

Like Family Guy (and Arrested Development), TV audiences haven't really seen anything like it before. So it will take some time to catch on, and probably die before it does.

Unlike Family Guy, though, there are real actors involved. including one from Mad Men and two other rising stars (Glover and Pudi) that will certainly get other offers. These folks are too talented to wait. Also, it's unlikely to get picked up by another network, like Family Guy did.

I expect it to go the Arrested Development route--premature cancellation + rumors of a movie every few years. Sorry, fans.
posted by mrgrimm at 8:59 AM on November 16, 2011


PJLandis, my mother & sister were a Nielsen household in the early/mid 2000s. I think they had either a set-top meter or people meters, rather than the diary. Plus they were an "internet" Nielsen household, which I personally found hilarious. (Mom had only just been coaxed online, and pretty much all she did was read email. I got my sister to visit all the oddball blogs I was into at the time, though.)
posted by epersonae at 9:13 AM on November 16, 2011


In the United States, community colleges are primarily two-year public institutions of higher education and were once commonly called junior colleges.

I'm not sure what your community college experience is, but I worked in one as a librarian and students frequently [as in this show] were "non-traditional" meaning that they'd take night classes, or one class per semester, or whatever. But yeah, if you're trying to graduate as quickly as possible that's not too tough to do in a short amount of time presuming you can pass your classes.
posted by jessamyn at 9:14 AM on November 16, 2011


I actually decided to watch Community because I wanted to get the Inspector Spacetime jokes. I refused to come in partway through the series, so I have watched the entire series since season 3 started. I had seen it mentioned here and there, I think both on Alan Sepinwall and Abigail Nussbaum's blogs. It took quite a while to get into it, honestly, and it was only because someone I share tv show taste with told me to stick with it that I got far enough into it to enjoy it. (I enjoy it despite my active dislike for Jeff and passive dislike for Britta.)

It's a very smart and funny show that occasionally makes very odd casting decisions (Ken Jeong's plotline is played out, John Goodman doesn't really seem to fit yet).
posted by jeather at 9:54 AM on November 16, 2011


if you're trying to graduate as quickly as possible that's not too tough to do in a short amount of time presuming you can pass your classes

Yeah. I'm pretty forgiving of plot holes, but when the entire premise of the show is fraudulent, that's a bold move.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:01 AM on November 16, 2011


It seems like there should be a model of TV shows created for streaming + downloads + dvd that could afford to produce a show like community. Remove the marketing costs, and how big can the budget of a show like that really be?

I find it both amusing and ironic that one of the loudest "fuck you Imma downloading stuff for free off the Internet and you can't stop me" voices in the interminable copyright debates on mefi is suddenly concerned about how we fund creating art.
posted by rodgerd at 10:11 AM on November 16, 2011


I'm pretty forgiving of plot holes, but when the entire premise of the show is fraudulent, that's a bold move.

Those people spend their entire lives in a bar and yet none of them has a drinking problem? The husband is a doctor and the wife is a lawyer and yet they spend all their time at home? 20 years and those kids are still the same age?

Most sitcoms are based on somewhat fraudulent premises, because real life is notoriously kinda boring and not readily amenable to snappy 22-minute plot lines.
posted by lunasol at 10:18 AM on November 16, 2011 [3 favorites]


It's a very smart and funny show that occasionally makes very odd casting decisions (Ken Jeong's plotline is played out, John Goodman doesn't really seem to fit yet).

I get the feeling the John Goodman part was written for Rip Torn, but, um, yeah. The character's last appearance was basically an extended Men in Black gag, with Goodman standing in for Torn.

To their credit, John Goodman kind of looks like Rip Torn these days, but he can't really pull off that seething, authoritative intensity the latter is known for.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:20 AM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Speaking of both Mom and community college, she went back to school part-time when I was in junior high (7th grade?) to get a laser (!) technician certificate, and IIRC she finished when I was in high school (10th grade?). So probably about four years.

From later experience working at a community college, that wasn't totally unusual, particularly among older students who were working or raising kids. And it seemed like some of the Running Start kids (taking CC classes in high school) were around forever. Now that I think of it, one of my part-time assistants did two stints at my CC: gen ed Running Start classes when she was in high school, then later a graphic design program.

On the other hand, there's always lots of students taking just one class, or just one quarter, to make up some requirements before going on to a four-year, or to get a skill for their job, in addition to the "traditional" two year degree students.

Not to mention that there are many students who come in with skills not strong enough to take college-level classes who have to do a few rounds of "remedial" math or English first. (Generally without being able to get financial aid, BTW.) Have a very good friend who had that experience.

tl;dr: Community college students have remarkably diverse academic careers.

Also, sadly, mom never actually got a job doing stuff with lasers.
posted by epersonae at 10:21 AM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Some colleges run 3 or 4, tri or quad, mester years. I know my community college was 2 semester but had several other schedules for certain types of classes like night, weekend, or non-credit courses. I spent two weeks camping between semesters for an enviro science class.

Its funny that the only Neilson subjects, above at least, either didn't watch or have TV's, and epersonae's Mom was barely internet literate. I'm sure I'll be surveyed on my radio listening preferences next.

And aside from it's commercial applications the Neilson Ratings sounds pretty cool. Just one big, long, well-funded study. Especially so now with all the different media we consume. I wonder if they open any of their data, maybe historically, to academics or whatever.
posted by PJLandis at 10:28 AM on November 16, 2011


I enjoy it despite my active dislike for Jeff and passive dislike for Britta.

I think we're supposed to dislike those characters, as well as Pierce. Annie is the only character where I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to like her or feel ambivalent about her or not. I find her annoying, and her mushy scenes with Jeff feel forced to me and I always just want those scenes to end immediately, but I get the impression she is beloved to some extent. To me, Troy and Abed are the only characters on the show that seem to be people we are supposed to actually like without reservation. And yet I still manage to adore this show and everyone on it (maybe except Chevy Chase, but I don't even want him to leave), and it's the only comedy on TV right now that regularly makes me laugh. Also, even though I don't love every part of every episode, I never feel like they're just phoning it in.

It is a really strange show that I think appeals most to sort of awkward people who feel sort of like aliens. I don't even know if I'd like watching this show with another person in the room. I like watching it all by myself, without distraction. This development makes me sad because it's a program that makes me feel a little less like an alien. I can deal with new episodes airing during the summer, but I really hope it gets a fourth season.
posted by wondermouse at 10:58 AM on November 16, 2011 [3 favorites]


Paging naju: you are not alone.
posted by psoas at 11:17 AM on November 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


Community Colleges Challenge Hierarchy With 4-Year Degrees

Greendale offers 4-year degrees. Jeff is pursuing one. Move on (or don't -- whatever.)
posted by Zed at 11:27 AM on November 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


I am not sure we're supposed to dislike Jeff. I agree we're supposed to dislike Pierce, but I don't; or at least, I think he's a good addition to the group in a way that Jeff isn't. Jeff is the leader of the group -- despite the interesting stories lately about how things are lots of fun when he's not around, like in the Chaos Theory episode, and a bit in Annie's Big Move, there's always been a sort of "let's wait around for Jeff to solve all the problems" storyline that has irritated me.

I agree, also, that we're supposed to find Britta annoying. She's been somewhat better lately, I think, so that she's still irritating but not someone I dislike so much, which is pretty much true for the other characters. (We like Troy and Abed and Annie, yes, but I don't actually want to interact with them in real life.)

The one thing that drives me nuts in the show is Britta doing her "I'm so much older than you" schtick to Annie. Alison Brie just doesn't look 10 years younger than Gillian Jacobs (she is apparently 1 year younger).
posted by jeather at 11:31 AM on November 16, 2011


the timeline with Troy's turn to get the pizza is maybe the three most perfect minutes of television I've ever watched, and everytime I watch the episode

To be fair, however, that was one of the only funny bits in that whole episode. I admit it was hilarious.

Maybe the disconnect (not with you in particular, but many viewers) is funny vs. clever.

A lot of what I appreciate about the RCT episode is cleverness rather than ha-ha humour. Getting to see what moves Pierce from shouting "Feel the terror of the Norwegian troll!" to quietly throwing the thing in the trash (and everything between) is interesting, enlightening, and (I think) entertaining. Troy shouting "I DEMAND TO BE HOUSEWARMED!" is hilarious for its own sake, but I took and take a tremendous amount of pleasure from how information was revealed, used, and sometimes withheld.

And that's all I'll say about that episode. Promise.

Now, in Modern Warfare...
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 11:33 AM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


How does Nielsen maintain its monopoly? Why don't the networks band together to form their own ratings system if they think Nielsen isn't accurately representing their product? Hell, why don't cable companies, who presumably have remarkably accurate information about what people watch and time-shift, just put Nielsen completely out of business?

These are the questions.
posted by valkyryn at 12:50 PM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


ANielsen doesn't have a monopoly; it just does it best (or so the industry claims). They also own ComScore, I think.

Jeff is the big problem, imo. You need a funny(ier), empathetic lead to be a successful series, barring rare exceptions (Friends). The supporting cast is fantastic. Think what poehler, bateman, carell would do with that cast.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:33 PM on November 16, 2011


valkyryn - I was wondering the exact same fucking thing. I have a verizon dvr, why the hell don't they see what I spend my time watching. DVR / On Demand; whatever.

My seat of the pants answer: tv channels don't fucking care about accuracy, they have a business model and they don't want to fuck with it by trying to gather "data," and analyze them with "statistics."

That Nielson company can go ahead and suck my #$% @#$% @#$@@# though for its belligerent laziness.
posted by stratastar at 1:38 PM on November 16, 2011


One by one they all just fade away...
posted by hootenatty at 2:39 PM on November 16, 2011


One by one they all just fade away...

Funny, that theme song always seemed to me like an in-joke from the creators and a preemptive "this is crazy, who knows how long this show will even last?" Especially the dead in a year part.

Give me some rope
Tie me to dream
Give me the hope to run out of steam
Somebody said it can be here
We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year
I can't count the reasons I should stay
One by one they all just fade away
posted by naju at 2:58 PM on November 16, 2011 [4 favorites]


Hell, why don't cable companies, who presumably have remarkably accurate information about what people watch and time-shift, just put Nielsen completely out of business?

Because your DVR / cable box doesn't know WHO was watching. Single people tend to miss this distinction, but the networks sure care if it's mom or granddad or sis watching.
posted by smackfu at 3:14 PM on November 16, 2011


Maybe the disconnect (not with you in particular, but many viewers) is funny vs. clever.

Well, I know I find Community clever more than funny.
posted by smackfu at 3:16 PM on November 16, 2011


valkyryn,

To answer your question, there are several reasons. Often, the cable companies have the data but don't know what to do with it. Many don't have strong quantitative analytics teams. There is also the problem that smackfu mentioned of separating out individual viewers. And, of course, cable companies are not keen on sharing data with their competitors, so getting a comprehensive understanding of national viewing is still difficult.

Occasionally, a company will come along with a new way of looking at things like set-top box data, or a new way of collecting viewing data (such as with sound detecting software loaded on to cell phones). Nielsen will often buy these companies and sit on the technology until they can use it in a way that does not disrupt the continuity of their traditional revenue streams.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 4:02 PM on November 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Hey, me, too!

But when most people say "I don't find Community very funny", "funny" = "entertaining" seems to be the implied equation. Which is definitely not the case for me.

That theme song. I don't know what it is. Have kinda had some rough times recently, and I could be having the worst day, perspective shrunk to the size of a raisin, and watching the opening theme sets endorphins firing in my head. I can't explain it. It cheers me when I don't want cheering with no regrets for having done so.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 4:02 PM on November 16, 2011 [4 favorites]


We were a Nielson household during the July sweeps of this year. We got a minimal amount of cash, and a diary for each television. It was actually kind of complicated, because I watch most things time-shifted, and you're supposed to note not only what you watch on live television, but what you record and when you watch the recordings. It was kind of fun, but I think our results weren't all that useful to them. Our diaries were full of PBS, Turner Classic Movies, premium channel shows, and other things which generally don't feature commercials.

Still, it was nice to actually get to "vote" for once on what I think is worth watching on television.
posted by hippybear at 4:13 PM on November 16, 2011


Yeah. I re-watched Remedial Chaos Theory recently. Loved it again. Was even more impressed about how they pulled off having a narrative arc across multiple portrayals of the some few minutes.

It didn't occur to me to think about whether it was funny. Community has wormed its way into my three-sizes-too-small heart and it just plain makes me happy.
posted by Zed at 4:14 PM on November 16, 2011


Nielsen will often buy these companies and sit on the technology until they can use it in a way that does not disrupt the continuity of their traditional revenue streams.

That's the answer I was looking for. The next question is "Why doesn't Justice care about this?" I mean, antitrust, anyone?

I think the answer there is because consumers don't buy what Nielsen sells, so there's no political motivation for Justice, which has plenty to do already, thank you very much, to do anything about it. Further, the only parties who might theoretically be directly financially harmed, i.e. have standing to bring a private civil suit, are the networks themselves, who don't seem to give a rat's ass.

So there you go.
posted by valkyryn at 6:00 PM on November 16, 2011


>I was, once. I got a dollar I think [maybe five] and had to keep track of what shows I watched in a week [almost none] and filled out some very complicated paperwork.

>We were a Nielson household during the July sweeps of this year. We got a minimal amount of cash, and a diary for each television.

>(On preview, yeah, with $5, like Jessamyn said.)

WTF? I did that a few years back and I didn't get jack! I WANT MY FIVE BUCKS!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 6:12 PM on November 16, 2011


I think we actually received $4, two when the initial "what kind of household are you" survey arrived, and two more with the diaries.
posted by hippybear at 6:43 PM on November 16, 2011


Community is a lot like Family Guy--a main "plotline" doesn't exist

It's a lot nothing like Family Guy!

Great, now Community goes on hiatus, but if I do a search in my program guide for Family Guy, the cable box starts to overheat.

While the "Occupy" analogies are no doubt cliche, "We are the 1% of television-equipped households" sadly isn't that much of a stretch.

But I'm sure I'd feel much worse about this if it weren't for Parks and Recreation's ultimate return. And if I weren't under such heavy sedation.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:05 AM on November 17, 2011 [2 favorites]


Monopolies are not illegal. It's non-competitive practices that are illegal. If no one else can or will do what you do, then your not obligated to create a competitor out of thin air.
posted by PJLandis at 6:03 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think we actually received $4, two when the initial "what kind of household are you" survey arrived, and two more with the diaries.

Each member of our household got $2.50 a week from arbitron for wearing their little info collectors. There was a nice bonus $50.00 per person at the three month and the one year anniversary. There were also sweepstakes every week to incentivize you to wear the equipment on the weekends but we never won :(
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 6:16 AM on November 17, 2011


there's always been a sort of "let's wait around for Jeff to solve all the problems" storyline that has irritated me.

Jeff benefits from a sort of first-mover advantage, though: it was he who (inadvertently) formed the study group, even if Abed invited most of the others to join. He's a natural leader in the others' eyes, since he was the only one who really had "made anything" of himself beforehand--Shirley was a happy housewife, Pierce inherited his wealth, Britta's main character trait is being a passionate failure, Abed is too much of an outsider, and Annie and Troy were just out of high school--and what we've seen of them as the show has developed is that except for (again) Annie and maybe Troy, none of the rest really want to step up and get in the driver's seat.

Plus it's totally worth it just for that Season 1 gag where everyone surrounds Jeff in the hallway imploringly and he says, "If you just let me get to the can opener, I can feed you." I know it's stupid, but it still makes me chuckle.
posted by psoas at 6:47 AM on November 17, 2011 [9 favorites]


"U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck ruled Thursday [ed: 1/13/11, I think] that while some of Nielsen's practices might be anti-competitive, WSVN's owner Sunbeam Television failed to prove that the Nielsen Company was blocking any 'willing and able competitor' from the TV-ratings business."
posted by mrgrimm at 7:38 AM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


*Community Spoiler/Question* Was this the first time Abed broke the fourth wall?
posted by drezdn at 6:27 PM on November 17, 2011


drezdn. I'll need to watch it again to be sure of what you're talking about. Word of God says that as much as Abed flirts with it, there will never be any true fourth-wall-breaking in the series, so I don't know.
posted by Navelgazer at 7:51 PM on November 17, 2011


Okay. Watched it again. Abed doesn't really break the Fourth Wall, and if he does by your estimation, no, it's not the first time. Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking was very similar in his interactions.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:18 PM on November 17, 2011


hehe. "Some Flies Are Too Awesome For The Wall'. Pretty much sums up Community in a nutshell, doesn't it?
posted by mannequito at 11:00 PM on November 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


there's always been a sort of "let's wait around for Jeff to solve all the problems" storyline that has irritated me.

What I've noticed since last season is there's a trend where episodes end with apologies to the group. "I'm sorry, guys, I guess I wanted to win so badly, I... just got carried away." I don't know if Harmon just has a thing for sincere heartwarming conclusions, to contrast with the zany ironic meta humor, and no one has realized they go to that well an awful lot.

Even in this last episode, it's Pelton who apologizes.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:32 PM on November 17, 2011


Did anyone else feel like the Dean was a stand-in for Harmon this last episode, with the ending as an apology to the actors, the crew, the audience or all three?
posted by speicus at 11:55 PM on November 17, 2011


I'm sure this will be a popular theory, and I didn't see it at first, but I guess this could be sort of be Harmon satirizing himself to an extreme. He admits to being sort of an obsessive perfectionist, but I haven't heard much about how the other people involved in the show perceive it.

This was surely mentioned in that previous Community mega-thread here, but you can get an insight into his mind in his super-detailed season 2 analysis.

But as far as results go, he has nothing to apologize for.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:52 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Last night's episode is a perfect example of what Community does that no one else does. It wasn't exactly a comedy (though there were a few hilarious moments), but a dark parody that seemed to be commenting on the creative process, the show and "Hearts of Darkness."
posted by drezdn at 4:52 AM on November 18, 2011


Gah. I have not seen the latest (and like those poor souls who don't yet have skyrim, can't make myself not read the thread) but:

*Community Spoiler/Question* Was this the first time Abed broke the fourth wall?

In "Introduction to Film", Abed is figuring out his film/religion, and at one point says "This is the movie!" and looks directly at the camera, while a voice sings Abed!.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:10 AM on November 18, 2011


Do people know that TV Tropes has Community content?

Now you can spend part of your Friday wondering whether Dean Pelton really is an Ineffectual Sympathetic Antagonist, and ponder the implications of Abed being One of Us (he knows the term "bottle episode")...
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:06 AM on November 18, 2011


I really want to check tvtropes for the trope of a character being aware they're part of a tv show, but I also want to accomplish things today.
posted by drezdn at 9:09 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


Fourth Wall Observer. Thanks skimming!
posted by drezdn at 9:10 AM on November 18, 2011


Yep. He's a Fourth Wall Observer, which contributes to him being Dangerously Genre Savvy.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:31 AM on November 18, 2011


Why doesn't NBC play this as a promo? God dammit it's the best meta thing I've ever seen.
posted by Talez at 11:12 AM on November 18, 2011 [1 favorite]


*Community Spoiler/Question* Was this the first time Abed broke the fourth wall?

It's kind of like breaking the fourth wall by implication. Abed isn't looking to the viewer, he's looking to his fellow camera man, who stands in the place of the viewer. Technically, he's looking at some unseen presumably fellow Greendale student, but implicitly, we know the writers are having him interact with the viewers.

Er, so in an appropriately (for this show) geek on technicalities, I'd say he didn't break the fourth wall last night.


Um.

Go Greendale Human Beings!
posted by Atreides at 12:52 PM on November 18, 2011


I've got to re-watch the end of the episode to see if we were still in Abed's documentary or just the show itself. If the documentary was clearly done, Abed acknowledging the other camera would be total Fourth Wall Observer.
posted by drezdn at 1:23 PM on November 18, 2011


I have been saying "Cool. Coolcoolcool." for a while now. It wasn't even an intentional reference, like when I started saying "gorram", that infected my regular speech. It's just a good line.
posted by NoraReed at 8:26 PM on November 18, 2011 [3 favorites]


I'm pretty sure he was looking at the other camera guy. It's similar to when, I think it was the "Abed delivers a baby" episode, where he says in the cold open something like "I could lay low for an episode." It was a clever line because it felt like he was breaking the fourth wall, but in his world, he's not on some NBC Thursday night comedy, it's real life, and that line still works.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 4:45 AM on November 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


The shot was hand-held (as were they all in this episode), which isn't what the show normally does: It was part of his documentary.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:50 AM on November 19, 2011


Harmon's season 2 analysis that TheSecretDecoderRing posted is an amazing read. He even provided a teaser for Remedial Chaos Theory...
AVC: Are there other TV-episode types you’d like to play around with?

DH: Well, the things that leap to mind are the Rashomon thing. There are a lot of branches coming off of that tree, the Run Lola Run thing, multiple revisitations of the same timeline, multiple timelines, Sliding Doors, all that stuff. Malcolm In The Middle did a Sliding Doors episode, and every show does a Rashomon episode eventually. They are the best episodes ever. The X-Files’ Rashomon episode was so great and so insightful about their characters. To see Scully’s perception of Mulder when she’s in a bad mood, her characterization of his persona in a typical X-Files episode where she walks into the room and he is just a little more bubbly and smug and he doesn’t have the same vocabulary. He wasn’t the real Mulder, he was Scully’s perception of Mulder, and I can’t think of a better way to reward a fan than that kind of thing a healthy amount of seasons down the road. It seems like there is a lump of like, five different things in that category, and I don’t know what you would label it—like timelines, Sliding Doors, alternate possibilities. I like the idea of the episode that takes you through four iterations of the same events given that this one random thing happened. It’s nothing new at all. Paul Reiser has done it, for God’s sake. The good news with that is that I can say, “Hey, this is pretty normal sitcom stuff.” And I would like to do stuff like that.
posted by Gordafarin at 7:48 AM on November 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


That X-Files episode, "Bad Blood" is one of my favorite.
posted by the_artificer at 11:28 AM on November 19, 2011


his brings up the second problem with Nielsen ratings- their panel is less representative of the kind of audience that might enjoy Community.

Late to this, having just had a Nielsen diary (sent with three crisp $10s), I noticed how knowing the live+3 window weighed heavily on my DVR habits and made me watch things sooner, even though the diaries aren't factored into the headline figures. It was the week of the World Series, and Fringe was pre-empted because it ran a day late, meaning that the "list shows you normally watch but missed" box was used heavily. I'm sure that Nielsen is aware that its diarists and viewing panels are skewed by this observer effect, but I'm not sure if there's an easy way to control for it.
posted by holgate at 9:10 PM on November 20, 2011


*sigh*
posted by kmz at 12:35 PM on November 21, 2011


*sigh*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Community is nice and all but I LOVE Cougar Town. Damn you NBC! Damn you all to hell!
posted by nooneyouknow at 12:40 PM on November 21, 2011


Nooooo!
I don't think there's been a single non-Community related comment on NBC's Facebook page in the past week.
posted by Gordafarin at 7:47 AM on November 22, 2011


This thread's been dead for ages, but I just watched the Christmas episode and I need to discuss it.

That was seriously hilarious. Let this thread show: it was one of the best things ever.
posted by meese at 6:24 PM on December 9, 2011


I just watched it tonight on Hulu too. So good. In a way, it was sort of a zombie movie, really, like George Romero's Glee. Sing-a-ling-ding-dong.

Plus that boop-boop-be-doop-SEX! moment is about as hard as I've laughed in ages.
posted by middleclasstool at 7:51 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


It was incredible. I didn't think a new Christmas episode could be anything but a disappointment; Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas was a tough act to follow. But it proved me wrong.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the ratings weren't so hot.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:01 PM on December 9, 2011


The running Pierce "WTF is regionals anyway" gag won me over, and the Annie Boop bit was genius, but I have to confess that I laughed the hardest at "DeanDeanDeanDean CHANG! CHANG! CHANG! CHANG!"
posted by Dr. Zira at 8:55 PM on December 9, 2011 [1 favorite]


Is it true that Community and Glee shoot on some of the same sets.

And thank you for that episode, Baby Boomer Santa.
posted by drezdn at 9:37 PM on December 9, 2011


Six seasons and a movie.
posted by ColdChef at 5:36 AM on December 10, 2011


So good. In a way, it was sort of a zombie movie, really, like George Romero's Glee. Sing-a-ling-ding-dong.

I got more of an Invasion Of The Body Snatchers vibe (that shot with Britta screaming was practically lifted from the one with Donald Sutherland).

But OMG YES. This episode was so awesome. It had the perfect mix of funny/clever/heart that the show aims for but occasionally misses.

Merry Time Day, y'all.
posted by sparkletone at 8:51 AM on December 10, 2011


It was definitely incredible. I'm still not sure how they managed to pull off a Glee parody that covered both superficial reasons why it's dopey and some of the underlying issues that make it problematic, link it all together with an serious plot about feeling lonely during the holidays, give each main character their own showcase, and throw in half a dozen original songs to boot. Unreal.

I hope to the ends of the Earth that this isn't the last episode, but if it is, at least they went out on a high note.
posted by Copronymus at 8:05 PM on December 11, 2011


By the by, the post-hiatus episodes are filming - no one knows when they'll air, but they are in the works. Even if they were to go straight to DVD, Regional Holiday Music won't be the last episode. Here are a few teasers from the cast.
posted by Gordafarin at 9:46 AM on December 12, 2011


Gordafarin: " Here are a few teasers from the cast."

"Joel McHale | “You guys can look forward to some Motown Philly, Pierce saying, ‘Will someone call all of the ambulances?,’ drunk confessions on an altar, “Train Engineer” Dean Pelton, Blade, and French Stewart.”

You had me at "all the ambulances," McHale. And Blade. BLADE!
posted by Dr. Zira at 9:58 AM on December 12, 2011


Wow. My denial has been so great that I managed to not realize this would be the last episode aired for the foreseeable future. Feh.
posted by Zed at 10:11 AM on December 12, 2011


Oh, and while I'll still can, I'd like to have on record my greatest hope for the series at some point. They've already established Abed as Batman, so all I ask is for a Troy Spiderman and an Annie Catwoman.

It would be amazing.
posted by Copronymus at 1:40 PM on December 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


He would have made a great Spiderman.
posted by the_artificer at 8:10 PM on December 12, 2011


For those who might not know it, Community and all its episodes, is finally availalbe on Hulu Plus...at least as accessed from a Roku. It's available on the iPhone app, but you have to hunt it down and pin it to the virtual earth with the queue option for ease of access. I was always baffled as to why Community wasn't previously available.

And yes, the most recently aired episode was sublime.
posted by Atreides at 1:28 PM on December 13, 2011


Is it true that Community and Glee shoot on some of the same sets.

I doubt it, since they're owned by two different networks.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:38 PM on December 13, 2011


I doubt it, since they're owned by two different networks

Mad Men and Better Off Ted did, though, and they were also made by different companies.
posted by drezdn at 2:31 PM on December 13, 2011


I doubt it, since they're owned by two different networks.

The broadcast rights are owned by the networks. The productions are owned by the production companies, who can shoot wherever they please.
posted by Sys Rq at 2:47 PM on December 13, 2011


I just rewatched the Glee episode, and I have a spoilery question.

At the end, Jeff says, "I basically killed a guy." I can't figure out what that's a reference to. Todd? Mr. Rad? Who did Jeff basically kill?
posted by meese at 10:47 PM on December 13, 2011


Spoilery answer: S03E06.
posted by Zed at 12:40 AM on December 14, 2011


I actually didn't enjoy that episode as much as, it seems, many other people. But ... BUT ... I had never watched Glee before seeing it. Then just last night my friend who I'm staying with insisted on watching the new episode, and man was it terrible. But I found myself laughing more and more at my memory of the Community episode. Think I need to rewatch it now.
posted by mannequito at 11:31 AM on December 14, 2011


There were a number of jokes which only made sense if you were familiar with Glee. So don't feel bad. I missed the entire Dinner with Andre bit...myself. Er.
posted by Atreides at 2:53 PM on December 14, 2011


Zed, oh right! Thanks!
posted by meese at 4:09 PM on December 14, 2011


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