Community Review: "Modern Warfare" (1.23)
Hype is a powerful thing. NBC itself hasn’t been doing too much to talk up the “Modern Warfare” episode of Community (after all, how much can you promote a single episode of a TV show?) but the show’s creator Dan Harmon has been doing so for quite a while. When I interviewed him a week ago this episode was a lot of what he wanted to talk about, and on Twitter and in discussions elsewhere he’s been implying that the episode is pretty much the best thing made in the history of mankind, ever. I came in with some high... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Contemporary American Poultry" (1.21)
There's no denying that Community is a show suffused with pop culture. Almost every episode's plot has been done by a sit-com or movie previously, and Community does little to hide this—to the point where it sometimes revels in its referentiality. Other than Family Guy and occasionally South Park, it's a show that's most reliant on its audience knowing its pop culture references for enjoyment. This is going to be especially true of an episode centered around Abed.... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "The Science of Illusion" (1.20)
If there's one joke in Community that perfectly encompasses the show's sense of humor it's the snake in a can gag at the beginning of "The Science of Illusion." Like the show's characters, we're all aware of the old snake in the can prank. I've seen other shows comment on this before, but the commentary is usually, "Let's mention how dumb this prank is." Community took a different route, which is instead actually infusing the joke with comedy by changing things while simultaneously recognizing the joke along with the audience. Offering a totally empty peanut can is funny, and the... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Beginner Pottery" (1.18)
Amongst Community’s more immediately noticeable traits is generally the show’s self-consciousness. It’s this feature that tends to divides critics more than other elements of the show, as for some people this facet is indicative that Community is full of nothing but shallow, hip self-regard. But self-consciousness isn’t necessarily a bad thing and it also doesn’t necessarily lead to a bunch of South Park-style jokes that don’t particularly go anywhere aside from a particular episode’s heavy-handed point. Self-consciousness can actually make things feel a lot more real, despite the stylized way that they’re being used in Community.... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Basic Genealogy" (1.18)
One of the things that always sets sit-coms in particular off in their own, unrealistic little worlds is their lack of outside friendships or families. If a show is based around a family, you’d better be prepared for almost every episode centering on the characters of that family interacting rather than the reality of our lives, which is time spent at school, work and with friends. Reality is a lot bigger than the couple of easy sets used in a sit-com, and the way shows wall off one portion of the world is a large part of what keeps them... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Physical Education" (1.17)
When Community began, one of my biggest fears was that the show would be taking Abed's immediately popular quirkiness and turning this into the entire show. Remember Family Matters? If so, you might recall how quickly the show was subsumed by Urkel and went from watchable if unoriginal to frighteningly awful. Community was always a better show than that, but breakout characters run the risk of ruining the balance of things, especially when they're not really developed. For more examples, just think of nearly every running character that SNL has ever had. ... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Communication Studies" (1.16)
Community, as with every other sit-com this week, saw the need to focus on Valentine’s Day. But while for most shows I maintain a certain level of dread for these things, Community is different. The show manages this first off by having a fairly interesting love triangle with its Jeff-Britta-Michelle relationship, which this episode definitely improved, but more importantly because of the show’s intense pacing. In The Office, the Pam-Jim dynamic took years of will-they/won’t-they nonsense before things happened, and while the show has a certain level of changing dynamics ultimately it’s always about bringing things to a nice,... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsFreaks and Geeks, King of Kong Alums Help the Griswolds Pack for Another Vacation
For those familiar with 1983 National Lampoon classic Vacation, Wally World will always hold a special place in the heart. And, according to a report in Variety, the Griswold family hasn’t seen enough of the theme park either.... read more
Found in: Movies, NewsCommunity Review: "Romantic Expressionism" (1.15)
“Ok, we need to hatch a scheme.” That was the defining line of last night’s episode of Community, which as usual does a great job illustrating both how the show embraces sit-com tropes while nonetheless belittling these formulas as absurd. How often in your life have you ever hatched a scheme? Aside from a couple really odd friends of mine, I’ve never seen this sort of behavior in reality, let alone any other type of fiction. Within sit-coms, though, scheming is only natural and in some shows happens on an almost week-to-week basis. Aside from the Simpsons, though (which is... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Interpretive Dance" (1.14)
This week's Community gave us two main plotlines but the focus of both was the same: secrets. Every group of friend has theirs, but when do these need to go public if you're really in fact friends. OK, the episode doesn't treat this thematic material as seriously as that, but the story ends up a surprisingly taut tale of these secrets coming out between friends and everyone becoming closer as a result. Awww. Gotta love TV.... read more
Found in: TV, Reviews
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