Community

[Bob Loblaw]

Community was discussed in a thread a little while ago and I thought it deserved its own thread, giving that it’s coming back soon.

Oh, and also because this trailer just came out and it’s the best trailer of the year: http://www.tv.com/news/community-watch-the-trailer-for-the-rest-of-season-3-video-28037/

Topic

[TheLeen]

Okay, so why was Harmon fired? I thought he did an awesome job and I can’t find anyone who disagrees.

It was pretty stupid to give Community a slot exactly up against BBT, but just scheduling it half an hour later would have ensured that most people who watch BBT on a Thursday night automatically switch to Community immediately after. I don’t see how giving it a COMPLETELY different slot on another day is doing anything.

At least that’s how we do things in Germany, usually.

[Carlito]

> Okay, so why was Harmon fired? I thought he did an awesome job and I can’t find anyone who disagrees.

Nothing has been announced officially, but the general consensus is that he was a public relations nightmare, was erratic and high maintenance, struggled to bring the shows in on time and within budget, directly led to a high turnover in writing staff with his words and actions, and refused to acquiesce to repeated instructions to open the show up to the more casual, mainstream viewer.

You gotta respect him for standing up for himself and his vision. You also gotta concede, I guess, that it’s his own fault he’s gone. Still, very short sighted of Sony and/or NBC to figure “fuck the product – let’s get rid of this pain in the ass, churn out the remaining number of shows we need for syndication, then end it” rather than put up with Harmon for another half a year just to complete what he started so that the show, while costing the same and performing the same, will at least please the fan base it has acquired under Harmon and have a consistent tone throughout for syndication.

[TheLeen]

Thank you.

Well; that sucks a bit.

[si]

So, season four begins very soon in the US. God knows when we’ll see it on the tellybox over here, but my sister is currently asleep on the settee, planning on getting up in about an hour, to download the new ep as soon as it’s on the interweb.
I went back and started watching season one this evening, rewatched the first four episodes. It really is a great show, isn’t it? Very funny, so clever. :)
Any views on s4e01 from American types would be interesting. ;)

[Phil]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/history-101,91985/

Not my review, obviously, but if you wanted opinions from American types…

I read it, and it didn’t feel spoilerish at all. But, as always, read at your own risk.

[HelloMabel]

And it is back on network TV, not just Hulu! Makes it much easier for me to watch, not having internet at home. Yet another show that G&T turned me on to.

[si]

Just watched it. Happy. :D

[Ben Paddon]

I found the first episode of the season to be very disappointing, like it was written by someone who doesn’t quite get what the show was about. It felt very Series VII, which makes sense considering the behind-the-scenes changes.

[NoFro]

I was pretty happy with it overall, though it was the first time I felt like the 22 minute runtime was a problem. Really felt like they didn’t have a time to fully develop some of the ideas. There was also a feeling of trying to recreate the Community vibe, which I thought they did really well for the most part but then I realised it was because they were retreading a lot of old material.

This isn’t to say it was a bad show. I really enjoyed it. It just felt like they were overloading it with stuff to convince fans that EVERY SINGLE THING you liked about the last 3 seasons is still going to be there. Optimistic for the rest of the season though.

[NoFro]

After being quite happy with last week’s episode, this one just didn’t work for me at all.

[si]

Not watched last night’s yet. Meanwhile, my sister – massive Community nut – won a signed scrpt (from the Advanced D&D episode) and a Joel McHale-designed t-shirt last night on Twitter. She’s rather happy about that.

[NoFro]

Wow that’s really cool! Will be great for the description of the “love scene” alone.

[si]

If anyone’s remotely interested, my sister’s prize arrived this morning. Don’t worry, it’s from a *good* episode.

[si]

Sorry, I’ve ballsed the size up, haven’t I? Oh well, nobody reads this thread, it doesn’t matter.

[HelloMabel]

And now for season 5. Two episodes in, it’s not hilarious, but it’s promising. Jonathan Banks was good. I couldn’t say how much better season 5 is than season 4, which I haven’t watched, but tonight I had quite a few chuckles and one or two good belly laughs, courtesy of Abed, of course. Plus the familiar whooshing sound of references going over my head, which just makes me extra giddy about the ones I do get. Bring it on.

[Ben Paddon]

So far both episodes of season 5 have been far funnier than the entire fourth season. So that’s a plus.

[HelloMabel]

Yeah, I was advised to avoid season 4 by enough people. At some point I’ll watch it and form my own opinion, but currently there’s just not enough time.

Thursday’s episode was great, though I felt the ending was a bit of a cop-out.

[Author]

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