Community, the tv show

MKW is cool but i mean John Goodman is a giant (no fat joke), you don't bring him in for a multi-episode arc that flimsy

Goodman was at his best when interacting with Rash, and that only happened twice.

Cripes, no wonder that AVClub writer gives every episode of this a rave:

I don’t know about you, but I could listen to Chang play the keytar all day long. I hope the show has a full episode of him doing so next season.

Really, AVClub guy? Really>

lol

I wonder if there was initially meant to be more Goodman in the season and then he had other commitments. His death seemed really abrupt, like he'd been built up to be this big villain and then... he wasn't. Wish he'd interacted with the other characters as well, the aircon subplot was weird because it shunted Troy off to the side when he really needs other characters to bounce off. As it was we got loads of Goodman and Troy, a couple of great scenes with the Dean and maybe one with Abed.

i liked his pony tail.

xpost

Many eps in season 3 seemed rushed, like they had too many ideas and not enough room to fit them in.

OTM

not related to Community (I just posted it in the Mad Men thread), but there's interesting insights into the writer's room in this: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201206/roundtable-discussion-matthew-weiner-vince-gilligan-david-milch?currentPage=1

the eating-twin-in-the-womb joke was done by dwight schrute years ago iirc

also i hate that family guy ruined the very concept of pop culture references for everyone. not that community does it perfectly, but it IS possible to incorporate them artfully + meaningfully

Has anyone rewatched this season all the way through yet? Because I found that my hardcore love for this show didn't really kick in until I'd watched seasons 1 and 2 straight through. So I'm inclined to think watching season 3 may be a slightly different experience outside of the weeklong online bitchfest cycle.

I've rewatched it straight through (and in order - with 'Contemporary Impressionists' before 'Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts' as produced and 'Digital Estate Planning' right after 'Advanced Gay', which just makes more sense.) and it works a lot better - especially the back half of the season, where the serialization is a constant build of story and funny without the breaking of the suspension of disbelief in between each week.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/leaked-memo-dan-harmon-community-studio-talking-points-nbc-328815

feel bad that the cast now has to play this game.

• Gillian Jacobs ‏@GillianJacobs

• Paul F. Tompkins ‏@PFTompkins

• Gillian Jacobs ‏@GillianJacobs

<3

can somebody translate that for me?

Jacobs posted that she missed a certain guy's American Idol recaps. Certain guy responds by asking if it's nice that he's alive, at least. She responds "eh".

Gillian says she misses Paul F. Tompkins' recaps of American Idol on The Vulture (because he no longer writes them. Paul says she should perhaps be appreciative that he's still alive, at least. Gillian shows ambivalence to that information.

I think what Gillian is saying there is that she wants to marry me.

Those are some pretty sizable lines you're reading between.

I thank your formatting for that.

ambivalence is when you're torn between opposing options. "eh" expresses disinterest, i think

You are right. Or wrong.

Fever also skipped one by Tompkins collaborator Ben Blacker, introducing the notion of death and mourning into the conversation, which has led to stiltedness and confusion here.

i have no fucking idea what you guys are talking about.

track the coverage and conversation and circle back if you feel the need to reshift our plan or messaging

That studio memo makes my flesh crawl. DON'T TELL ME HOW TO FEEL, YOU FUCKING SUIT!...would be my reaction, were I in a position to have received that memo.

i think that memo is probably pretty par for the course. it's just unusual that it got leaked.

It's gross that they pushed all the supportive cast tweets about Harmon under their PR umbrella-- "It was good that you got that shit out of the way early so now the dumbass fans can forget about it."

ambivalence is when you're torn between opposing options. "eh" expresses disinterest, i think

disinterested is when you're impartial. "eh" expresses uninterest, I think

It is jokes

Megan Ganz is returning for s4.

thank god. i do wish mckenna had stayed, but this is great news nevertheless. there was that interview a few months ago with ganz and alison/gillian/yvette, and i remember being impressed with both her take on the show and her rapport with the women.

That's cool for her, though Now we'll be like, that must have been a ganz joke--it was actually funny

yeah the return of someone from the old crew will hopefully loosen people up to actually admit when things are funny

Tompkins played the guy who hit on/discussed Farscape with Abed btw

Tig Notaro was in that episode/bar as well

as long as donald glover is still surreptitiously writing all the gags i'm sure everything will be fine

He ad libbed the "I've got the stragest boner" line

i would just read those talking points verbatim in a dry, monotone voice whenever asked an anticipated question.
after 3 of these i would then just start repeating "i am very excited for the new season" over and over with the phoney-est smile i could plaster across my face until they stopped recording and left the room.

Obv if Community had been cancelled and the actors were promoting a new movie they were in that would be the line--"community was great but I'm so excited about my new movie". Still it feels Orwellian here

they are professional actors with careers

however much they liked or disliked dan harmon and however much the internet would like them to rise up, there is no upside to them shitting on sony/nbc whatsoever. come on now

yeah i mean, as far from ideal as the situation is, it would just get worse if everyone who is still contracted to do the show just stopped giving a shit or started turning the whole thing into even more of a media clusterfuck

That's the entire problem with a show that starts us thinking that that there could be integrity or whatnot in a network/corporate context--obv there can't be, which is why Harmon was fired. Still we don't have to become publicists or apologists after the fact. All fans need to say is fuck Sony and community Season faux.

if i thought any act of protest was going to get the guy his job back or have any kind of positive effect on the show or the careers of anyone involved in it i'd be like sure right on, but i can't imagine it being anything other than a shitshow. like the only time i've ever seen this show mentioned on the front page of whatever msn news page is on my work computer's broswer home page is when harmon was feuding with chevy or when he got fired.

if one of the actors was going to start throwing flames over this, the talking points would be useless anyways, as the actor would be ignoring them completely.
not liking talking points and the mundane, robotic interviews they spawn is a far cry from advocating a public actors revolt and/or shitting on sony etc.

they are professional actors with careers

however much they liked or disliked dan harmon and however much the internet would like them to rise up, there is no upside to them shitting on sony/nbc whatsoever. come on now

Unfortunately, I'd probably take that tack anyway. But then I'm probably much more like Harmon in the workplace than I'd care to admit (although I do work my ass off to make myself pretty effing indispensable before I start openly expressing disgust towards every idiotic decision the higher-ups make).

sounds like andy bobrow and a couple other s3 writers are also coming back

Alison Brie is about to be on Conan tonight, so we'll see whether or not she sticks to her script.