Community, the tv show

dan "i luv boobs" harmon

random bothersome thought that popped into my head right after this ended: what does shirley get out of being friends with these people? i can't remember many moments where she seemed genuinely happy with them, or really any moments of happiness that aren't immediately interrupted by someone else making a joke at her expense. and her thoughts about them never go much further than "they're dimwitted sinners who haven't been saved yet." she could be spending a lot of this time with her family! now i won't be able to watch without thinking about this and feeling bad for her

you kind of just have the accept the premise on faith, though -- that all these folks would hang out w/ each other and ONLY each other.

Shirley doesn't have much else going on outside her family, her kids are at school during the day, and she really really enjoys judging

plus she obv likes the thrill of being exposed to ppl with different attitudes and feeling like her virtuousness is being tested and winning

or in other words, she likes them

amateurist: i can understand the others, though, on some intrinsic level. the writers still don't know what do with with shirley (big news i know) or really how to write her in relation to the others. her big storyline last season was all about chang and theo huxtable. sucks that they spent so much time playing with pierce but have barely even attempted to figure shirley out beneath her exterior traits. get harmon drunk and i bet he'll tell you he regrets creating her.

sic: you could sum up abed at the beginning with "he's obsessed with pop culture" and jeff with "he's snarky and misanthropic" but harmon and co still developed the characters plenty. and your second post doesn't make itself relevant very often. i don't think shirley really sees herself as winning in the end

in the end of most micro-struggles between good and satan, that is.

get harmon drunk

not much of a challenge iirc

he's openly trashed on all his commentary tracks

Shirley really likes and has pretty strong relationships with Jeff, Annie, Troy and Abed. It's only Britta and Pierce she has real friction with and everyone has friction with them.

That said I do think her character is getting less play this year - she had A LOT of time last season so maybe Harmon isn't so arsed, but I like where the Britta and Shirley relationship is going. Otherwise, don't really get the last few posts, she is hilarious wtf?

Also how is Shirley a less developed character than Troy?

troy gets episodes like mixology and the zombie one and "i like football but also i don't" and tender moments with annie, where shirley is pretty much defined by her christianity (or she's pregnant or she's offscreen) and she never shows any development in that one arena.

i dunno, i probably have to rewatch the series with this in mind, but from memory at least most of shirley's lines are brushed off or antagonized, or she's dealing with jeff being a dick about her cooking, etc. other characters connect with each other on some deeper level, that never really happens with her. correct me if i'm just having big holes in my memory.

Just caught this. I think I've rewatched the medley sequence six times already.

It bears repeating: 'Kiss From A Rose' is an awesome song.

oh god it's really not. It was hilarious for that clip but it's been stuck in my head all day and RAGH I WANT IT OUT

Nope, awesome. Maybe better than Killer...

Shirley really likes and has pretty strong relationships with Jeff, Annie, Troy and Abed. It's only Britta and Pierce she has real friction with and everyone has friction with them.

I think this was truer in previous seasons. Shirley does seem a bit disconnected this season to me as well.

(And I think Troy is much more developed, possibly the most complex character on the show, between the ambivalent jockishness, Reading Rainbow love, dance lessons, bro-dom with Abed, genius plumbing skills, ...)

The Troy 21st bday drinking episode seemed to indicate an intention to develop his character a lot.

what a garbage episode

I kind of agree about Shirley being underused this season, but there's still time. The drinking episode from last season was fantastic for her.

Also want to point out if it hasn't already that the group resolved its issues without Jeff this week.

ahem.

i would just like to announce that i used jeff's speech at the end of the pilot episode the other day in a class i'm teaching to illustrate the human capacity for projection to my students.

i was pretty pleased with myself.

BABY

craigular joe

that bedroom gag was totally borrowed from the futurama where fry moves in with bender

i think shirley's lack of storylines has more to do with her being the one main character who doesn't have loads of romantic potential w/ other characters and isn't played by chevy chase. she gets plenty of LINES and they're frequently hilarious.

Umm, you also have to remember that she has scared off previous friend/family groups via gossiping and drinking and fam issues. The group accept Shirley and try to help her moderate things that have scared off people in the past and isn't 'being accepted' enough for anyone, esp. those in this group?

Also the chaos theory episode underlines that she's the self-appointed mother figure in the group and the rest of them are ambivalent or uncomfortable with that. Her interactions with Troy and Abed are quite sweet.

"she gets plenty of LINES and they're frequently hilarious"

OTM

"the dreamatorium is more important than all of us."

"I picked the wrong time to quit."

"How long have I been out? Is Napster still a thing?"

this recent string of pierce/technology jokes has been A++

Community is being pulled from NBC's mid-season schedule.

NOOOOOO

fuuuuuuuuuck

The new drama “The Firm” moves into the Thursday lineup (10-11 p.m. ET) beginning January 12 following its two-hour premiere the previous Sunday (January 8) from 9-11 p.m. ET. The first-season comedy “Up All Night” will also move to Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. (ET) on January 12 which is also the night that multiple Emmy Award-winning “30 Rock” returns for its season debut (8-8:30 p.m. ET). “Parks and Recreation” (8:30-9 p.m. ET) and the Emmy-winning “The Office” (9-9:30 p.m. ET) remain in the same time periods.

:D

I wonder if the cast/Dan Harmon were warned ahead of time? This has to be the downside of having a Twitter presence, everyone's going to be baying for answers/reassurance.

Ah, the satisfaction of hitting suggest ban. xp

http://twitter.com/brianstelter/statuses/136218962139688960

;_;

The best part is that Whitney is moving to Wednesday. Thank christ.

oh fuck. heartbreaking news.

oh noooo

RIP 2nd best comedy on television. Fuck NBC.

If it's not canceled but in time-slot limbo, that's a little more reassuring; putting a known quantity like 30 Rock against all the heavy hitters at 8:00 is probably a better move on NBC's part. But if Thursday is closed to Community, and Wednesday is the Whitney/Chelsea Handler Power Hour, there really isn't anywhere for it to go...

Part of me hopes the Thursday @ 10 drama flops and they go back to a 3 hour Thursday comedy bloc.

I mean, conceivably it could come back late in the season, or at the beginning of next season...but I fear that if it does, it'll be with serious trying-to-grab-ratings retooling.

I hate to say this, but I'd be less upset if 30 Rock was cancelled outright.

shouldn't be surprised, really.

In any event, all 22 episodes ordered will be shot and aired.

And guys, there's no ratings-grab they'll be able to do. This doesn't change anything regarding the show's future.

silver lining: donald glover will now be able to dedicate himself full-time to childish gambino. right, guys?

and dan harmon can dedicate himself full-time to alcoholism