Welcome, PopWatchers, to your first discussion section for the lecture that is NBC’s Community. This is not the place to get a detailed summary of the show — you either saw the lecture or you didn’t. No, you keen devourers of all things pop-culture related, this is the place to expand upon Community. This is where we shall evaluate the show’s best triumphs and worst missteps, as well as anything else you might consider relevant (shouting “First!” doesn’t count). So let’s go around the room and have everybody introduce themselves. Actually, I always despised that part of college discussion sections, so let’s just begin…
The first episode of Community didn’t quite work for me, but that is often the case with comedy pilots. It’s a nearly impossible task for a show to introduce 10 or so characters in 22 minutes and find its comedic rhythm. As a result, the premiere felt disjointed and rushed, as if the writers decided to barrage us with a plethora of jokes while desperately hoping that some of them would stick. A few did, though, and since I want to give the series the benefit of the doubt for now, let’s focus on the moments that did work:
– We first meet our protagonist Jeff (Joel McHale from E!’s The Soup) as he was in the middle of hearing what sounded like the entire life story of Abed (Danny Pudi), an overly talkative half-Palestinian geek. Jeff’s snarky response: “Abed, nice to know you and then meet you, in that order.”
– Jeff chatted with Duncan (John Oliver from The Daily Show), a psychology professor whom Jeff had previously helped get out of a DUI charge. Jeff explained that he had to enroll in community college because the state bar suspended his law license after discovering that his college degree was illegitimate. Duncan asked, “But I thought you had a bachelor’s from Columbia.” Without missing a beat, Jeff replied, “And now I have to get one from America!” Community‘s narrative progresses with such speed that this joke may have zipped by many viewers’heads simply because they weren’t given enough time for Jeff’s remake to register, and yet, I appreciate that the show didn’t feel the need to explain the pun. (Though if you caught enough commercials, you’ve seen that joke one too many times.)
– Speaking of missing jokes, I caught this one only on my second viewing. Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Jeff’s Elisabeth Shue-lookalike love interest, mentioned that she doesn’t like small talk. Jeff then asked her, “What’s your deal?” She countered with “That’s not small talk?” And Jeff, again barely even taking a breath before speaking, responded: “What’s your deal and is God dead?” I believe I heard Jeff’s quip on my first viewing, but how it fit into the joke’s sequence didn’t hit me until the second time around. I have an inkling that the entire season of Community may operate in this manner.
– And then there was Jeff’s epic speech regarding the central dissimilarity between humans and animals. “We’re the only species on Earth that observes Shark Week,” he claims. “People can connect with anything: We can sympathize with a pencil, we can forgive a shark, and we can give Ben Affleck an Academy Award for screenwriting.” Okay, the Affleck jab may be stale by a handful of years, but it was delivered so unexpectedly from left field that I couldn’t help but chuckle. Jeff’s speech also had a kernel of truth regarding humankind’s ability to become emotionally involved with pretty much anything, including inanimate objects (see Spike Jonze’s brilliant IKEA ad). Of course, if a real gave this type of speech during a study-group meeting in real life, we’d all probably vacate the room; but, in the land of television, Jeff’s monologue was right at home.
By the way, who noticed that Abed name-checked both The Breakfast Club and Dirty Dancing in the course of a few seconds? Talk about unfortunate timing. Obviously, the show’s writers wrote this episode long before John Hughes and Patrick Swayze passed away, but it still remained eerie hearing the names of both of those iconic movies within a heartbeat of each other.
So, PopWatchers, what did you make of your initial week with Community? Do you plan to enroll and return next week? Raise your hands, one at a time please…
I absolutely loved this premiere, but I fear that the show is too intelligent for a general audience. There was way too much subtlety and not enough knock you on the head humor to please the ratings for long. Community, I will enjoy you immensely while you last!
I don’t think its inability to ckick with audiences will be because it’s too clever for people. If it does fail, it will be because it rams its cleverness down people’s throats. Everything about it was self-consciously clever a la JUNO, and that can be off-putting, too. BTW, I loved ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT and dig THE OFFICE and 30 ROCK, so it’s not like I’m not its target audience. It could work on its timing, too, which felt a bit off to me.
Denny, you’re stupid. Sorry no one told you sooner, buddy.
Compeletely agree with Denny. I came in watching this show, absolutely wanting to like it, but the episode felt forced and wanted to be funny every other second.
And Matt, way to make the audience of Community sound as “subtly witty and intelligent” as the show.
You, like this show, seem altogether too pleased with yourself, which is off-putting.
You, like other defenders of this show, are an ass.
Did not find it funny at all… I love shows like 30 Rock, It’s Always Sunny and the Office… this did absolutely nothing for me. No interest in tuning in next week.
Sure, I’m in. Not the greatest ep, but I see the potential, and there’s nothing else on at that time.
Agreed. I like the actors, there is a lot of humor to be mined here, and it’s a million times better than Kath and Kim. The premise of the episode was weak and forced. But, now that this strange group of people are friends, the show can concentrate on the funny.
I thought the show was BRILLIANT! People weren’t on board with The Office when it first came out and I think Community will be the same. You can’t slam the show for mentioning Breakfast Club and Dirty Dancing – it was magical right down to the “la la la la” at the end.
I completely agree. I thought the breakfast club stuff was GOLD! Loved it!
Yeah, I def enjoyed the pop culture references – the show is like, “ok, yes, you can make the obvious comparison to the Breakfast Club…or we can make it for you” And the way he just launched into Bender’s speech totally at random was hilarious!
yes, funniest part of the show was how spot on Abed was with the BC monologue.
I laughed out loud, which is always the sign that I tune in for another episode, at least.
oh, and I love Abed. Best character so far, hands down.
abed is charcter I like two the most of the charcters introduce yesterday. my favorite part of him was when the people talk behind jeff’s back but not use their voice and abed say, “am I deaf? can you hear me?” sooo funny.
Me too! At the end when the group were all mouthing that they should let Jeff back into the study group and Abed asked out loud if he was deaf – I lossed it!
I dug the episode. It wasn’t a kneeslapper, but I identified with the characters. (I’m a community college adjunct instructor — and see a lot of “types” there.)
I loved seeing Joel McHale and Jon Oliver interact, and hope they get beyond lawyer and impotent Brit stereotypes. Gillian Jacobs was luminous. Chevy Chase was a welcome Denny Crane deluded father figure.
NBC has a record of letting off-beat comedies find their legs in spite of slow ratings. I hope they’ll let Community catch fire too.
I tuned in because I work at a Community College and wanted to see how badly the show might stereotype this environment. Yeah, it did, but I think I’ll stick around for a while because I think there will be some positive things that come out of it, too, such as the lesson that there is no easy ride in life, which so many young people seem to look for.
Oh, and I was overly distracted by the blond mentioning that she dropped out of high school and joined the Peace Corps before college… Um, you can’t join the Peace Corps without a bachelor’s degree. But that’s kinda knit-picky, I suppose.
John Hughes did get a mention at the end, btw, with the “In Memoriam” closing. So the producers knew about his death. They just didn’t know about Patrick Swayze’s.
Catherine, the pilot was taped long before John Hughes’death so they added the “In Memoriam” after his passing. I’m not too surprised Patrick Swayze wasn’t also included as the joke was more in passing while “The Breakfast Club” theme was recurring the whole time. Not saying he SHOULDN’T have been included, but I think that’s why.
LOL, I too got distracted by her saying she joined the Peace Corps w/o a college degree! I was like, “YOU LIE!”
that’s exactly what I thought when she said that!
The simple answer to the “Peace Corps” problem…
She’s a stripper.
Cute mid-20′s high school dropout? come on, its a no brainer:)
I thought it was great! I’ll watch this one every week, and that’s saying a lot for a working mom with kids four and under. I admit I had to rewind a couple times to get a piece of dialog that I missed the first time, but overall felt it was a smart show that moved along at a quick, but entertaining, pace. I tuned in for Joel McHale but the supporting cast was what made the show. Chevy Chase felt a little stale, but Abed – seriously, that guy stole every scene. Hilarious. Loved him. Count me in. One funny show – really hope it has a long life!
I got a dvr recorder last week, just in time for the same thing!
It was not as funny as I was expecting but I agree with John – it takes at least a few episodes for shows to hit their stride. I will keep watching.
I thought it was OK. I don’t need a comedy that does stop to explain the joke so I liked that about it. Loved the Breakfast Club references and music. It was funny at the end when the geeky guy thought he was deaf!
They did have to explain the Breakfast Club reference, though.
I thought it was great. You have to believe if According to Jim lasted for 6 seasons, this show HAS to have a chance. For a first episode of a new sitcom I thought it was very well done and show a lot of potential to be a great show.
I can’t wait to watch more. I have not found a show interesting enough to take time out to watch since Seinfeld and this show, I feel, has what it takes to be the next big thing. I thought it was smart, funny, witty and at the same time I found myself wanting to learn more about each character. This show has a lot of potential and I am looking forward to watching it grow. Bravo NBC!
I enjoyed it. LOVE Joel McHale and John Oliver!!! And Chevy…looking forward to many laughs!!
This write-up made it sound like Artrested Development, which it wasn’t. I’m not sure the jokes were too fast for anyone or went over anyone’s head, they were just mildly amusing. The non sequiturs got a little tedious by the end. It also has a very contrived premise. It was okay, but if it doesn’t get better than this, I’ll probably check out after a few weeks.
I second that opinion. The whole episode seemed to yell,”Look! We’re being CLEVER! See, Joel just said something funny because it dealt with pop culture, and don’t you see his expression afterward? It’s clever, get it?” The whole show felt like that to me.
I thought the show was absolutely hilarious. The dialogue fantastic and the actors (esp. Joel McHale) seemed to be having so much fun with it. The rat-a-tat pacing of it was great to see as well. It also fits perfectly with 30 Rock and the Office (My 2 favs). I love workplace shenanigans but it’s a breath of fresh air to see humor coming from something other than inept, successful people. I’m in.