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Friday, March 25, 2011

Community - "Critical Film Studies" Review

“As I fell to the floor...I pooped my pants. I did.” -Abed

Community often walks a fine line between comedy and culture. What I mean by that is that some times Community plays for laughs by putting interesting people in interesting situations and we get laughs. Other times, like tonight, it references moments and images from our pop culture history. It pays respect to certain things that shape creative minds. I don’t believe I ever laughed once during tonight’s Community, but that isn’t to say it wasn’t bad or poorly executed. As I watched the opening scene I thought, “ I’m sure that this Community episode is a nod to something, but I don’t know what it is. That being said, I still applaud the show for its creativity. Everyone is dressed in Pulp Fiction clothing. This is where my lack of knowledge about that movie may haunt me. That and Cougar Town.” Community is so clever, but it can really alienate an audience. If I was a casual viewer or someone who had never seen an episode and I saw that one, I’m not sure if I’d watch another one.

Lot’s of TV viewers crave consistency. This is the reason procedurals and cop dramas are big hits. You know exactly `what you’re going to get from CSI and NCIS every single time out. I’ll admit, I was lost during this whole episode tonight. I kept trying to figure out all the references and it left me not really able to enjoy some of the fine acting that was going on. I had never heard of My Dinner With Andre before tonight, but I did look it up. It stars Wallace Shawn who is the “Inconceivable” guy from Princess Bride and the voice of Rex on Toy Story. It wasn’t until about 5 minutes left that I just decided to stop worrying about the uniqueness of the episode and pay attention to the characters I love,

This was an especially strong episode for Danny Pudi as Abed. That monologue he gave will be stuff of legends in Theatre Arts 1 classes in high schools for years to come. He revealed a lot of flexibility about himself, the actor. I don’t watch Cougar Town, but I understand enough that it’s totally in Abed’s personality to like that show. I bet he also loves Chuck and Fringe. Jeff had another strong episode. If Amy Poehler can get Emmy love for Parks and Rec last season, I see no reason Joel McHale can’t the same love this season. I couldn’t help but notice that Chang fit in particularly well this episode. Aside from the fact that Jeff would never invite him to Abed’s surprise party, he really seemed like a member of the group. However, he was just filling the role of Pierce as someone who antagonized and instigated. Pierce’s only purpose was to make a “balls” and “gay” joke. I’m beginning to really think the show needs to move on without him. Anything that will get Alison Brie more air time I’m favor for. She, again, played a very minor role this episode.

I still absolutely love Community as a show. I love that they DO do episodes like this, but I’m beginning to see why it doesn’t appeal to massive numbers. I know it’s been picked up for a third season already, so let’s hope NBC keeps ignoring its numbers and let us lucky few who watch this show enjoy it for what it is.

5 comments:

  1. I'm interested to hear what more people think about this episode. Between this and The Office last night was all heart and few laughs, but I'm certainly not complaining. I can't wait to rewatch Jeff and Abed's scenes again. I love that this show takes chances like this instead of going after something easy every week.
    Lack of Pulp Fiction knowledge? How is that even possible? And if you've seen Scrubs you've seen Cougar Town.

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  2. I've seen Pulp Fiction once. I'm not a big rewatcher of movies. I'm also not the *biggest* fan of Tarrentino. But yes, lots and lots of heart from NBC. I have seen Scrubs and liked it, so maybe I'll enjoy Cougar Town.

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  3. I really enjoyed this review of Community and thought it was pretty much right on point. A lot of the things you pointed out (the uniqueness, the fact that it alienates the audience) are some of the aspects that I love about the show. I sat and watched it with my wife, and she totally hated it. She was ready to turn it off within 10 minutes of it starting, but she really isn't the fan that I am.
    I have never seen Cougar Town or My Dinner With Andre either, so yeah some of the references I didn't really get, but all in all, I thought it was a great episode. The only time I really laughed, though, was when Troy referred to the wine as nono juice (the kid in me). Hopefully NBC decides to keep this show going.

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  4. Well it gets a season 3, so we'll have over 60 episodes of Community to enjoy. That's more than most thought.

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