CliqueClackCommunity is renewed, so why am I not flipping-out happy?
This past season of ‘Community’ was not a shining example of what I’d come to love for three seasons. Will the show’s renewal bring with it the Dan Harmon-like fun it used to have?
The answer to that last question is: probably not.
I know there are a lot of die-hard Community fans out there who believe their beloved show can do no wrong. We have a few at CliqueClack HQ, in fact; I’ve seen the sub-Reddit dedicated to the show too. The fact of the matter is, this season sucked — at least in comparison to previous seasons — and unless it decides to make a significant shift in its writing style, I’m out next season.
What happened to stand-out episodes like the first Halloween episodes? The first paintball episode? Advanced Dungeons and Dragons? The blanket/pillow fort war? What do these all have in common? They didn’t happen in season four. Can you name any that even come close to these gems from season four? I didn’t think so.
Sure, great shows can’t always turn it on all the time. This is different — something … changed. I tried to put my finger on just what it was this season that was missing from the others, and it didn’t take me long to figure it out. Yes, there’s the missing element of Dan Harmon, but more specifically it was the addition of something I just never needed in my Community: moments of morality. There was this sudden shift where, for example, Jeff had a conscience and started to care about the people he’d been going to Greendale with for over three years. We were supposed to start caring about Pierce. Episodes started ending with Modern Family-like life lesson moments. The recent episode with Chang deciding to mail the letter for the dean? Absurd! Episode-ending morals have worked for shows like Modern Family — and, hell, even South Park — but not Community.
The moment I had what should have been the last straw was this past season’s puppet episode. I had very high hopes for it, and I sincerely thought we’d finally get a laugh-out-loud episode to make up for what had been a depressingly dull season. Unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty awful. What should have — or, at least, could have — been filled with songs containing lyrics on-par with the likes of Community‘s hysterical musical holiday episode turned out to be awash with lovey Sesame Street-esque numbers that, while cute and all, were not at all funny. When the episode ended, I was actually angry I’d wasted my time and faith in it, and embarrassed I’d told friends they needed to be sure to watch it.
The question now is, will Community simply stick to its current formula, since it seemed to work enough to get them a fifth season? Possibly the new feel-good mentality of the show has gained it new viewers, but I have to figure it’s lost some as well. Community used to be a show you could easily talk about, laugh about and reference for days, weeks or months after you saw an episode, and that’s completely disappeared. I want my absurd, over-the-top, laugh-out-loud Community back. It doesn’t have to be Dan Harmon, but, please, someone stand up to the plate.
4 Comments on “Community is renewed, so why am I not flipping-out happy?”
I’ve been arguing that the show as sucked since the end of season two (With a couple wonderful exceptions to the rule, and no, the musical episode wasn’t one of them), but no one seems to agree with me.
For me the biggest problem with this past season (and the best evidence that even the writers/producers know just lost they are without Dan Harmon) is that despite making a huge mission statement in the first episode that things would ‘change’, but that change was good, they instead spent the entire season looking backwards, making endless references to better, funnier episodes from the first three years.
Indeed, the last two episodes of the season were wall to wall call-backs to its once self-evident greatness.
(I blather about this further in my own write up for the season here: https://drayfish.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/and-you-were-there-and-you-were-there-the-dream-of-community-season-four/)
REALLY good point re: them constantly calling back to the past seasons.
Could not disagree more. I was so pleasantly surprised that the writers were able to keep up the same voice, feel and tone of the series, even with Harmon gone. I thought it was a seamless transfer. And those end-of-episode morals you’re talking about? They’ve always been there! It’s been a device of the series for a long, long time — not something new to season 4. I’m thrilled the show has been renewed and that the writers get to continue writing inventive, hilarious scripts for such fantastic characters (except maybe Pearce — he’s the only one I’ve never cared about). Have there been some episodes less funny than others? Sure. It’s been that way every season. But for the most part, in my opinion these are the most stellar creative writers in sitcom television. “Community” remains the only sitcom on TV that consistently makes me laugh out loud.