Community

[jackstraw94086]

No, tediously would probably be best for what you're going for there.

I'm on your side, guys. I love this show. I have all the seasons on DVD, yada yada. All I'm saying is that this show probably, and unfortunately, isn't going to be around much longer; and this is one of the reasons for that.

I mean, just look at some of the other shows on right now. Parks & Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother. All funny shows. And all of them have a linear plot. And all of them have characters who are depicted as real and believable people, characters the viewer can and does on some level care about. It's a necessary component of any television show, not just daytime soap operas or whatever was suggested that I watch (which was a ridiculous statement, by the way). But anyway, without that component, Community just isn't going to last. Again, I hate to say, but it's the truth.

Also, people watched Seinfeld because it was the greatest show ever to air. Comparing Community, or any show for that matter, to Seinfeld is just a mistake.

I'll grant that parks & rec has a semblance of a plot, but that's not why people watch it. There's no "plot" for Office or how I met your mother either except in a few short strings of episodes. And claiming a linear plot for 30 Rock is ludicrous. A sitcom, pretty much by definition, doesn't have a progressing plot. The whole point is that next week they're pretty much back where they started, with perhaps minor tweaks to tune the show, but generally the more successful a sitcom is, the less it changes.

And denying any analogies to Seinfeld simply because you really really really like it is absurd.

just watch your damn plot rich soap operas.

[miilkshake]

Well, people have different ideas of what makes a show successful. It's kind of what the show has been talking about lately. Whether its better to sacrifice your artistic vision in order to be accessible. Every show doesn't need to last forever. Not even every good show. This is a tired conversation in general. If you like what you're watching, just enjoy it and don't worry about whether it will get renewed. There are all those other sitcoms for you to watch if this one comes up short for you. Making Community into those shows is an impossible and dumb idea.

Agreed, with that last bit especially. I guess it's because I think the show is doing so well artistically that I want to see it really thrive. I want it to be remembered as more than just that one show that tried to stretch the limits of what a TV show can be, but rather the show that did all that and at the same time showed it was still capable of having an actual story amidst all the flare and gimmickry.

I'll grant that parks & rec has a semblance of a plot, but that's not why people watch it. There's no "plot" for Office or how I met your mother either except in a few short strings of episodes. And claiming a linear plot for 30 Rock is ludicrous. A sitcom, pretty much by definition, doesn't have a progressing plot. The whole point is that next week they're pretty much back where they started, with perhaps minor tweaks to tune the show, but generally the more successful a sitcom is, the less it changes.

And denying any analogies to Seinfeld simply because you really really really like it is absurd.

just watch your damn plot rich soap operas.

What. Are you fucking kidding me? How I Met Your Mother, as just one example of how utterly wrong everything you've said is, is pretty much a textbook example of a show with a linear plot. If not for wanting to find out what happens next, why would anybody watch the show? There are far better comedies on television right now, that's for sure. But the show's created a group of characters that people actually care about, and so they watch from week to week in order to find out how things end up for all of them. And although The Office's main plot kinda ended with Pam and Jim's wedding, the same could be said for it prior to that moment. And if next you're going to tell me that nobody actually gave a fuck what happened to Pam and Jim, then you're more clueless than I thought.

[jackstraw94086]

If not for wanting to find out what happens next, why would anybody watch the show?

because they make jokey jokes and people laugh, moron. Pam and Jim is not a fucking plot, you damp meat sack, neither was Ross and Rachel. They're EXACTLY what I said they were. Small nudges to course correct a languishing SITUATION in a fucking sitcom, to base new jokes on and potentially make room for new characters.

If you find a satisfying plot in how I met your mother, or were glued to your TV to see if Pam and Jim ever worked out, then you're quite simply an idiot.

[miilkshake]

Well, if we're just gonna throw insults back and forth, then I see no reason to continue this conversation.

[SoulDischarge]

The characters on Community may be written somewhat inconsistently and at something of an ironic distance, and a few are written quite broad, but it's not like they're total cartoons. They kind of started out that way but everyone has worked to fill in some shading on almost all of the central cast (although undoubtedly some characters have been developed much deeper than others, but it's a 22 minute sitcom with an ensemble of seven, so it's understandable not everyone gets as fully formed as others). It's easy to look at the paintball episodes and say it's all just pop culture riffing with nothing underneath, but if that were true, episodes like Competitive Calligraphy and even Remedial Chaos Theory, which are just the characters confined to a single space bouncing off each other, wouldn't work. But they do, exceedingly well, to the point of being some of the best episodes of the series.

Although if you really want to get into the continuing character/story arc thing, just read the AV Club episode by episode coverage. Dude really overthinks that shit.

[Tubesock Shakur]

I watch it because I want to see them graduate and have a Troy and abed spin off.

What's wrong with you people doesn't any one go to class anymore!!!?

[SoulDischarge]

I've had "Kiss From A Rose" stuck in my head for the past week because of this goddamned show.

[guedita]

I watch it because I want to see them graduate and have a Troy and abed spin off.

What's wrong with you people doesn't any one go to class anymore!!!?

Hahaha. That they've abandoned this staple so openly is actually fantastic, when thinking about this show as a critical replica of the various forms of other TV/movie narratives.

[SoulDischarge]

And when they do go to class, they just get drunk with John Oliver. Win/win.

[jackstraw94086]

Well, if we're just gonna throw insults back and forth, then I see no reason to continue this conversation.

s'what I thought.

[samiksha]

Well, that was weird. For one thing, Shirley and Pierce weren't in the final look at us all having a heartfelt moment shot.

[samiksha]

isn't anyone watching!? this week had a shocking ending!

[frazzles]

...it can't be.

[OnlyNonStranger]

I'm going to be very surprised if that actually stays true.

[Gundam]

isn't anyone watching!? this week had a shocking ending!

R.I.P. StarBurns

[nosurprises12]

Thursday's was one of the funnier episodes of the series, let alone the season.

[samiksha]

Dan Harmon or Joel McHale or someone said earlier this season that someone would die, and the next episode is supposed to be Britta using her psyche skills to help every one cope. The last 3 or 4 episodes have been really solid, I think. I was glad they addressed what's been going on with Annie.

[lunatic core]

I'm going to be very surprised if that actually stays true.

Starburns is a writer for the show and didn't want to be an actor on camera anymore. He wasn't supposed to be a mainstay in the first place. Apparently his death sets up a series of events that ripples through the rest of the seasn though.

[fikus222]

I liked this last episode even more than The Civil War spoof and I don't even like/watch Law and Order.

[jackstraw94086]

Jim Rash deserves an emmy.


and holy shit I just realized that Starburns was Dino Stamatopoulos. I fucking loved Morel Orel. Not so much a fan of Frankenhole though.

[SoulDischarge]

The Dean started out as one of my most hated characters (he was too broad in the same way Ken Jeong was) to a pretty consistent highlight of every episode. His half/half costume from a few weeks ago, and his realization that he'd finally gone too far, was one of the funniest damned things to happen this season.

[guedita]

I just read that the season finale is going to be 90 minutes long.

[A-Ron]

I love when he loses it and ends up on the floor.

[nosurprises12]

The Dean started out as one of my most hated characters (he was too broad in the same way Ken Jeong was) to a pretty consistent highlight of every episode. His half/half costume from a few weeks ago, and his realization that he'd finally gone too far, was one of the funniest damned things to happen this season.

I seriously cannot stop saying "Sweet Deans."

[jackstraw94086]

His half/half costume from a few weeks ago

definitely the funniest bit of the season IMO.

I also loved his Uncle Sam[antha] outfit from the student body president debates last season. The one that belonged to "his sister".

[SoulDischarge]

And while we're at it.



It's time to Tina Turner your clocks ahead.

[jackstraw94086]

well that's that

[skyismad]

well that's that

Article is two days old and not confirmed, at least not yet.

I don't think I could handle the final episodes of Community, Parks and Rec and 30 Rock all on one night.

[guedita]

Anne Heche sitcom? Of course.

[nosurprises12]

Terrible news if it turns out to be true - besides Modern Family, those were the only shows worth watching on network TV.