Community Review: "Studies in Modern Movement" (3.7)
“Studies in Modern Movement” was one of those episodes that helps illustrate how much Community can do within the old-fashioned sitcom format. The episode centers around Annie moving apartments, and there could hardly be a more predictable set-up for the characters to be in. This is the type of high-stress environment that the show’s format loves, one where stakes aren’t super high but they’re moreso than just sitting around a table. There’s a way in which Community takes each one of its four stories revolving around this and pushes them to the absolute limit.... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Advanced Gay" (3.6)
Community‘s ambition to make every episode an event of sorts frequently has its less-themed episodes struggling for an identity. With last week’s Halloween episode, for instance, there was a clear hook that resulted in a something memorable, but it’s when the show needs to come up with something more organic to the normal school dynamic that Community tends to fall into trouble. Unfortunately, the less wacky episodes are also where the show has to find its emotional resonance. “Advanced Gay,” however, succeeded at for once bridging the show’s wackiness with the seriousness of these characters lives. This was the first... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity: "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" (3.5)
The two-week break between last night’s episode of Community and the last one was a good thing, simply because for all of their mutual quality, they’re quite a bit similar. That “Remedial Chaos Theory” was originally episode three of the show rather than four makes sense because it’s hard to imagine that Community‘s creators wanted to have two episodes in a row about variant stories being told by slightly changing the character dynamics. Still, that doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a riveting Halloween episode; it’s just that a little bit of its punch was blunted compared with “Chaos Theory” or,... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Planning Holiday Musical Episode
NBC’s Community is staging a Christmas-themed musical episode. TVLine.com reports that the cult hit is stepping it up a notch and will produce an entire musical episode a la Glee with all original songs. read more
Found in: TV, NewsThe 10 Best Derrick Comedy Skits
Chances are, even if you haven’t heard the name “Derrick Comedy” before, you’ve seen some of the Internet sketch group’s work. read more
Found in: Blogs, List of the DayCommunity Review: "Competitive Ecology" (3.3)
The criticism that Community has long suffered from is that its gimmicks overshadow its characters, that if you’re interested in a spaghetti western done as a sitcom, it’s a good show for you, but if you find that sort of thing irritating then it’s not. This has never been my concern. I have a love for the gimmicks, not just in and of themselves, but also how much they rely on what we know about the show’s characters already. The zombie invasion Halloween episode was fun, but I find myself wondering how comprehensible much of it was to people who’d... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Geography of Global Conflict" (Episode 3.02)
From the start, Community has been less about the experience of going to a community college (which seems to require a great deal of exaggeration to make interesting) than about throwing a group of interesting characters together who would otherwise never meet and watching how they grow and learn together. It’s like, as NBC’s ad campaign used to continually remind us, The Breakfast Club, just over an extended period of time. But since season one the show really hasn’t known what to do with the Annie/Jeff relationship and that largely comes to a head here and is also the... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Review: "Biology 101" (3.1)
The end of Community‘s second season featured a real finale, real in the sense that it that actually had an effect on the show’s dynamics. With Pierce culled from the group seemingly forever, I’ve been wondering all summer what role he would play in season three. Without his constant antagonizing it seemed like this huge change would have an effect not just on the study group’s dynamics but also on pretty much every other aspect of the show. If you look back at the second season, a large number of plots revolve around Pierce’s love-hate relationship with everyone else and... read more
Found in: TV, ReviewsCommunity Auctions Off Walk-On Role For Charity
What’s better than a show being hilarious? Being hilarious and charitable, and that’s exactly what Community is. read more
Found in: TV, NewsDanny Pudi to Have Cameo Role on Chuck
Last season on _Community_, Danny Pudi’s character professed his love for the sitcom _Cougar Town_, resulting in one of the funniest dialogue exchanges of the show. For those who don't remember, Pudi's character, Abed, was on the set of _Cougar Town_ and he "was just standing there and poop [his] pants." The execs at Abed’s favorite show thought it was funny enough for Pudi to have a cameo in their show…in character. read more
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