Community, the tv show

Britte and Chang subplot was less funny I think - they're making Britte a bit TOO self-parodic now.

OTM

Also, da croupier OTM but pretty much anything would be a disappointment for me after s2 tbh.

the only part of the episode that strained credibility for me was the idea that anyone would let Chang carry a taser, but then I remembered we'd already passed that event horizon when they made Chang into a security guard

lol @ this, I mean that is where you draw the line re: credibility?

I have found Chang much less funny since he stopped being a teacher. Also seems like a self-parody to me.

yea, he was best as a teacher because he was almost completely in control. when his desperation is at the front of his character he's way less dangerous and less funny.

considering that the s2 finale was basically a cliffhanger about pierce leaving the group, i took it as a given that they'd have to address that in the premiere. if we get three or four episodes into the season and the group dynamic stuff is still dominating the stories, then i'll complain.

― some dude, Saturday, September 24, 2011 8:51 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

gripe gripe -- but no this was a good ep

omar's legos tangent was wonderful

YES.

I have that as an internal monologue once a week, I think.

i said after the first episode i didn't want them to fight anymore, but i didn't have a problem with this. the whole thing had a comfortable season 1 feel to it and i liked it the best of the three so far.

omar's legos tangent was wonderful

he was otm but LEGO IS PLURAL FFS AARGH

not in america tho!

surprisingly polarized reactions to this episode are showing up in the avclub/sepinwall comments sections -- a few people going so far as to say it's the worst community episode yet. i was like "that's ludicrous" but then i realized i don't really have a "worst episode" previously picked out. maybe the wine tasting episode where pierce almost gets remarried?

oh that one was terrible. pretty sure in the Harmon season breakdown on avclub he outright apologized for thy one.

yea, he was best as a teacher because he was almost completely in control. when his desperation is at the front of his character he's way less dangerous and less funny.

This is why there's such potential in Chang as the security guard. Not seen the newest one though.

the writers seem to think Chang is best used as a total insane maniac

I think we need to see a lot less of him if this is to be the case.

also, poor Magnitude

i thought Chang was hilarious this last episode

man i didnt laugh once at chang's storyline, just didnt feel right at all, kind of laborious high-school-sketch-comics setup

i died, absolutely DIED laughing at "while he was spying i found a turtle!"

Definitely hope Todd returns.

things i lol'd at re chang: veronica the leg, the matchbook conspiracy, the saxophone playing (was hilarious), the scene when he is voiceover laughing evilly, "this conspiracy goes to the very top of Arizona" -- not as amazing a psychotic break as Charlie Day's Pepe Silvio but still full of lulz.

the Todd-bashing was really great, yeah

poor Todd

I did laugh at Chang's fire but that was about it

The Arizona backwards is Arizona killed me. Also, loved the takedown of Magnitude. Great use of him.

ha yes, I forgot that Arizona joke

the veronica the leg thing was funny.

Honestly the Chang stuff was the only part of the ep that almost got a chuckle out of me.

I liked Todd, poor guy.

Omar killed it, once again.

I like Chang as a psychopath but wish they keep it on the dl from now on. It's p much all they've done this season.

lol at the britta needs penis gag.

omar's legos tangent was wonderful

And so true.

i loved that they played the dreamy "secret garden" music from the trampoline episode when he was talking about legos, it made the whole thing sound so mournful.

Todd was awesome! His voice & intonation was so great...

throwing the flaming ballots in the wastebasket with the turtle in it was top notch

"you know they're laughing at you, right?" was the best. the chang stuff was pretty funny too, though not the most original setup i guess

don't really feel like michael k williams is that good in this? he's just getting by on who he is and basically transporting his tough-guy image to a silly comedy, but he seems stiff and doesn't really deliver most of the lines very well. the magnitude zing was his most effective bit so far. it's weird to see people complaining about chang and praising williams; the chang character might over the top but ken jeong is an amazing comedic actor.

♪ challops! ♪

i think chang was the best thing about the episode. i also like michael k williams tho, legos bit was gold.

Parts of Chang's thing were great, and other parts were brutally unfunny.

The show is very hit or miss right now, even moment to moment.

was the saxophone playing a night moves reference??

don't really feel like michael k williams is that good in this? he's just getting by on who he is and basically transporting his tough-guy image to a silly comedy, but he seems stiff and doesn't really deliver most of the lines very well. the magnitude zing was his most effective bit so far. it's weird to see people complaining about chang and praising williams; the chang character might over the top but ken jeong is an amazing comedic actor.
― congratulations (n/a), Friday, October 7, 2011 4:33 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark
Suggest Ban Permalink
♪ challops! ♪
― congratulations (n/a), Friday, October 7, 2011 4:36 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i agree and i'm glad you said it. i mean he's a personable actor and his lines are funny but i don't think he really is that effective here. i guess that's kind of un-PC since everybody loves him from 'the wire' .

I liked Chang more than usual in this one just because he didn't SCREAM EVERY LINE

I like that Williams is a much needed straight man to bring down all the Pop Pop etc.

Haverchuck worked better as a straightman teacher last ep though.

Want more Goodman soon.

I think Dan brought MKW very deliberately as a straight-man and grounding source to everything. He's mentioned repeatedly his paranoia/OCD that S2 broke the boundaries he himself was comfortable with re: a setting based in "realism", and due to that and him shotgunning the Wire in the off-season, made the connection to bring MKW as a dude in authority who's had some hard time dealing with grounded reality himself.

As a completely speculative and somewhat inebriated guess, I'm wondering if Williams will act as the deliberate countersink to all the zany shit that a network sitcom of 20-odd episodes will get up to, either by foregrounding certain character mechanics("Laughing at you") or just providing a in-situ real-world reaction and commentary to the proceedings as they play out for the rest of the year.

Also, am curious how they'll handle him meeting up with John Oliver's professor, or when the Dean's FREAKness gets visibly out of hand.

The Dean using the word "dean" in every conversation still gets me.

Also, I should restate how much I enjoy the fact that the behind-the-scenes crew obviously obsess over the characters/plot/dialogue/etc even if its just a network sitcom, and they're going up against shows where, to paraphrase Dan, it's pretty clear than all the writers were home by 5pm.

yeah MKW is pretty perfect imo, in the wrong hands that character could so easily be an angry black man stereotype or maybe in the opposite direction someone overly intellectual/fastidious but they're letting him take it somewhere else (and he totally has comedy chops)

chang's metaphors were the best

this ep felt a bit different. can't think of any other times the b-plot was a genre parody and the a-plot wasn't, and the last shot with todd's face (can't remember what it's called, with the circle thing) and maybe some other things. usually they don't really play with narrative conventions unless it's fitting with the main conceit of the episode and they don't do singular gags like that. not to over-think it but maybe this is slightly a new direction wrt dan making the show more accessible.

also i am very sad about sgt nunez quitting, he's been my favorite guest character this season

this whole episode seemed weirdly unfunny to me, like there were past episodes that were not that laughworthy that had some kind of interesting character drama or observations of people, but here it seemed like it was only interesting if you got what they were parodying, really really specifically, and i just didn't get it.

Hm. Apparently I'm weird because I liked this best of the three from this season so far. Not s2 level but had me lolling, even if it was dumb.

polyphonic has it, I think. show is erratic as hell this season, and suffering for it. much prefer self-aggrandizing chang to the hot mess writers turned him into in S2. stop wasting the guy, he can be awesome but this crazy loser schtick is just tired and dumb.

still get super-excited for the whole day before it comes on (well, it and P&R together)

i always feel like people are overthinking chang. they haven't given him a single thing he hasn't been able to make funny yet imo.

the show has always been erratic, pretty much by design

but the show is my rock!