Talk about Community here

[Porochaz]

The middle of season 5 there is a few Shirley episodes. Meow Meow Beanz and the episode before are pretty Shirley heavy but Im not convinced there was much development there. It almost makes up for the fact that they completely removed her from the episode immediately before and after

[BBmolla]

I'm confused what hole in the group Buzz was supposed to fill? Like this is a show of group dynamic, so I can understand not wanting to put in the same exact characters, but they lost their two clueless characters and didn't replace them with one? I donno.

[Porochaz]

I think it was changed to play to Gillian Jacob's strengths, I think she's a very goofy actor and they felt limited in using that by having her in her foil role.

I don't think I agree with that. I really don't like goofy Gillian Jacobs.

[SleepyKrew]

What I will say is the storytelling in Community far surpasses every other show, and I don't know why no other show has been able to replicate it since.

if you're interested in a comedy show with a strong narrative I recommend The Good Place

[BBmolla]

What I will say is the storytelling in Community far surpasses every other show, and I don't know why no other show has been able to replicate it since.

if you're interested in a comedy show with a strong narrative I recommend The Good Place

I've heard it has a similar feel, I watched the first four episodes and was disinterested cause I hated the characters. But someone spoiled the Season 1 finale spoiler so now I'll probably go watch it once I'm done with Community.

[BBmolla]

I think it was changed to play to Gillian Jacob's strengths, I think she's a very goofy actor and they felt limited in using that by having her in her foil role.

I don't think I agree with that. I really don't like goofy Gillian Jacobs.

I think I worded it poorly, I think she's prefers to play goofy, I liked Season 1 Britta more than any other Britta.

[Porochaz]

So finished season 5, I think the last few episodes and I think it lost its way. The episodes aren't bad, just that it went to the high concept well too often and repeated previous season stories but not as good. Then the finale went just a bit too off the rails.

So to go onto season 4, the big thing about the premiere is that its gimmick is Abed's headspace being a generic sitcom. Except the non-gimmicky parts of it move that way as well. There is an argument that that could be deliberate but it continues onto episode 2. I mean Pierce spends episode 1 sitting there saying "balls", "gay" etc. and they run through things like the dreamatorium, the dean being the dean and everything else with almost a knowing wink. That's including the Community Babies segment, doing high concept for the sake of it. Yet none of these stories feel like they have any stakes. Shirley and Annie plan to do a prank - they do a prank. Abed struggles with the groups final year, he resolves it with no help from anyone. Britta and Troy have an argument, they solve it off screen. Jeff enters the games, decides he cares more about his friends so stops. There is no journey in any of these, it is just a checkpoint of beats with no rhythm.

Episode 2 is the same, I'm only a few minutes in but it's all very contrived set-up that isn't smartly or naturally done at all (and I remember liking this episode). I wrote that sentence as the Dean walked in, in an outfit and that ticks that box. There is a lot of explanation to get from point A to point B. That's lazy storytelling and then they feel the need to use exposition to explain previous character history.

[BBmolla]

Finale was perfect.

Here's hoping we get a movie.

[Porochaz]

Finale was perfect.

Here's hoping we get a movie.

Season 6 finale? Yeah it was really good.

[Porochaz]

So I just finished Season 2, only Season 1 to go. 4 wasn't as bad as I remember, it's still a step down, mainly because they felt they had to explain the jokes in that season rather than just let it flow and they were all playing caricatures of themselves.

What is eye opening watching it backwards is how it actually dropped in quality before 4. 3 isn't as good as I remember, and I remember being vaguely disappointed in it. My worst episode is still the impersonator episode, especially since I didn't overly mind the Tricia Helfer episode... sorry the convention episode. But there were other episodes in there where all the characters get so cartoonish that I got disappointed. It's a good show, one of the greats, but 3 failed in some regards. Especially since I watched 2 after and 2 is amazing. The characters actually feel like real grounded people even when 2 went off the deep end of concept episodes, the tone and the characters changed in the premiere of season 3. Even Pierce in 2, who threatens to become a comic-book villain at points still retains enough human-ness to be sympathetic, the stories that run through the whole series like Shirleys pregnancy also help in that regard, Troys jealousy of Jeff, Annie trying to find her place, etc. They feel like flawed humans, Troy is young and naive but smart in his own way, which disappears as we go on. Britta is principled and whilst a lot of that is unfounded, it's not totally, and she's caring and smart - that completely disappears, when in season 2 they balance that off her goofiness well. Also I hated Abed through season 3 (and then subsequently 5/6) at a certain point the selfishness of his character, which I know is the point in the show sometimes overtakes his positive points and makes him one note, the opposite of what Harmon intended.

I think what I also noticed though was the wide range in acting ability, and this all comes back to Gillian Jacobs who is really decent when she isn't being goofy. She isn't good at it, but she is a great comic actor, as is most of the cast. YNB, Ken Jeong, Danny Glover, Alison Brie, Jim Rash, Chevy Chase, all great at what they do. Danny Pudi plays his character well at times, I think he struggles at others but it's a difficult role. But the weak link I've found is Joel McHale, he gets better ironically the later you go but in 2, he is a strong contender for the weakest link in the cast acting wise which I never noticed before. But quite often he's wooden and delivers his line stilted. It was particularly apparent during the middle and end of Season 2. Maybe it's because he's the lead and he has more to do it's more apparent but when the rest of the cast is out-performing you and some of the guest stars are too... it's sad, because I like him, but once I started noticing I couldn't stop. That Halloween episode was a prime example, the wine tasting, my dinner with andre (which was a good Abed performance) etc.

Im being negative, and I really enjoyed re-watching season 2. Im looking forward to season 1 but I found it interesting that to me the problems started in 3, not 4. (except they were worse in 4)

EDIT: Huh, looked through my past comments, I'm agreeing with myself from 8 years ago. I thought I was more positive on season 3.

[Davsto]

First up, Community. Only reason I didn't get on this earlier is it's not been on Netflix here since I was aware of it but wow it's a great show and v up my alley. Series 1-3 are some of the consistently best and varied sitcomming out there. I think the misgivings of series 4 are exaggerated on the principle of disliking losing the main writer (I agree that the character writing has flaws and the plots aren't as good and don't have the strong ties to the humour in earlier series - but it's still just as funny on a joke-by-joke basis imo). Series 5 starts off a bit dark (gets kinda nihilistic with having to undo the former happy ending) and suffers a bit from losing Troy and Pierce but honestly once it gets in its stride (around ep 4 or 5) it's no worse than the stronger series. It helps that the covering of losing leads was primarily done by giving former minor characters (Dean, John Oliver) more focus so it doesn't feel like they're replacing them (and the one "replacement" plays a minor role). Series 6 doesn't have this benefit and suffers a bit. It's still funny but the pacing and storytelling feels like a very different style of show. Though the last two eps were surprisingly great.

[BBmolla]

I kind of liked how Season 6 felt different. Like, it felt right that things changed, that the good old days were done with and everything was different now.

Not intentional but on a bigger level it worked for me. Especially with the ending.

[iamausername]

season six is great. the finale is great. Frankie is great. Elroy is great. the episode where 'Subway' returns, but shilling for Honda is one of the funniest in the entire series.

#1 will always be pool in shorts tho.

[xRECKONERx]

We're also working our way through it. I felt like S1/S2 are still perfect seasons. Season 3 got a little up its own ass at times, and the ending felt rushed because Harmon figured he was getting canned. For a few episodes of Season 4, I was like, "Huh, this was nowhere near as bad as I remember". But the more it went on, there's these little moments where it's obvious the new showrunners didn't get the characters. Like, the entire puppet episode can fuck right off. Or the way that they just reduced Abed to "I make meta references so now my entire character is being meta

about

meta". Paranormal Parentage was actually a decent episode, so was Conventions of Space and Time. But the German episode, Shirley's Thanksgiving episode, the one with the rich stoner dude, the puppet episode, the Christmas party episode, all were just supremely mediocre. There were a few that skirted the line -- I both hate and love the Freaky Friday episode because the premise is so fucking stupid and Troy/Abed act so out of character, but the reveal later on as to why they're acting out of character actually lands in a good emotional spot. But the final two episodes? Where they retcon character history to have them all be "bound together by destiny" and then spend the entire finale in a fake reality in Jeff's mind so they can do more hamfisted "Darkest Timeline" stuff? No.

It's by far the weakest season. There are some good spots, but there are enough episodes here you could argue for being the worst of the entire show.

Immediately after starting Season 5, it just becomes so obvious how much better Harmon & McKenna are at navigating these characters. Everyone feels like their old selves, Abed's meta humor is used sparingly, and it's a nice little reset for the show. Then we get Hickey, who I actually like. Ass Crack Bandit... I hated it on the first go around, but this time, I liked it a lot more. And the polygraph episode made me laugh out loud enough times that I'm shocked it wasn't in my top 10 of the show previously.

1. Remedial Chaos Theory (S3)
2. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (S2)
3. Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas (S2)
4. Cooperative Calligraphy (S2)
5. Paradigms of Human Memory (S2)
6. Contemporary American Poultry (S1)
7. Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design (S2)
8. Cooperative Polygraphy (S5)
9. Digital Estate Planning (S3)
10. Romantic Expressionism (S1)

[SleepyKrew]

Just finished a rewatch. Love Frankie so much. I like Hickey and Elroy too, but Frankie felt like a seamless addition.

[BBmolla]

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons removed due to blackface, thoughts?

[DoctorPepper]

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons removed due to blackface, thoughts?

Not too happy about it. Even in the show it was kind of clear that people didn't like Chang doing it, even if he was dressed as a drow

[Ythan]

Lol(th).

[BBmolla]

I don't even care much about the joke, put a black box over Chang for all I care, I'm mostly sad because it's arguably one of the best episodes of the series.