Community
I just watched the entirety of the show in about a week. Random, jumbled thoughts after the jump…
Reading a lot about TV gave me a lot of information about Community before I began watching it. There were comment battles between whether Parks & Rec was funnier, or what the best theme episode was. Critics spoke of the ensemble cast and format. And I can say all of these things are worthwhile in a discussion of the show, but in the day-to-day conversation over the show, I feel some larger things have been left out.
My main battle while watching the show is that I don’t care for the characters. I understand them and wish them well, of course, but if Malcolm Jamal Warner left Shirley, I’d feel bad for her in a that-sucks kind of way, not a oh-no-this-is-debilitating-to-that-woman kind of way. (Example: I’d hate Pierce for the things he did this season no matter who he did them to. (Also, what a bizarre character. I really hope he leaves or they figure out how to write him. It’s like there’s either this tonal shift or he reverts into his old jokey archetype.))
There’s a huge difference in the way I feel about any of these characters and Leslie Knope, basically. I want her to succeed because I know it’s important to her, it’s important to me, and the people around her care and respect her. I know that everyone likes Jeff, for example, but it’s not so much important to everyone that he succeed (in whatever he wants, of course - I’d never assume Jeff to do something Important).
There’s an obvious counter to this type of argument - this isn’t what the show is. The show is much more detached and aware than Parks is, and that doesn’t mean it’s worse. This is true. But the moments of sentimentalism the show often engages in via speech then group hug - which is often forced, particularly in early S1 - seem to indicate there’s some type of love we’re supposed to feel for these characters, if not on the hardcore-Leslie level.
This has to do with the outlook of the show. It’s removed, so it means it’s emotional in a different way. This makes the show different from something like Seinfeld, which was detached from its characters but specifically outlawed hug-it-out moments. Where Seinfeld created a bond through general antipathy and removal from society, Community creates it through the opposite.
This creates what the show does best - hanging out. “Cooperative Calligraphy” was perhaps the best episode this season, and it’s no coincidence it was a bottle episode. The best scenes in any episode are often the ones where everyone is just hanging out at the study lounge, and that episode is full of it. There are plenty of character emotions and motivations, of course, but the plot bends itself to get the seven of them to sit around and talk.
Another of the year’s best, “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons,” essentially does the same thing. They just all talk, although all of it is (brilliantly) set around the fictional world of the game. Apart from having perhaps the funniest scene on television this season, the episode was great because it had a bunch of dark subtext - namely, that Fat Neil was close to suicide, and that Jeff, and the group by extension, felt partially responsible and wanted to help. I loved that this wasn’t too preachy (even though suicide is something I think it’s acceptable to get preachy about) and was in the background of the episode while our characters grappled with it in the back of their heads too.
Another of the character beats I thought that worked was in “Critical Film Studies,” the episode Dan Harmon said essentially destroyed him. There’s a reason Abed is the breakout character, and it’s because he’s essentially the show in a nutshell. Clever, adaptable, and in cultural overload, Abed mentions during his Dinner With Andre dinner that through all of the pop culture references he felt like he could never really connect and have a real moment. Although this is muddled by the nature of the dinner and that Abed used it in a scheme, I feel like it’s an apt metaphor for the series. The show doesn’t connect wholeheartedly due to its nature, and it can’t become completely detached either. It’s in this weird middleground, where everyone loves each other but realizes this is only temporary, and that in a couple years they’ll be going away. This isn’t a diss on the series - some people love that level of awareness and feel that it takes it to a dark new level, maybe not one that’s comforting but one that’s appropriate.
I’m not really one of those people. I think it’s an interesting perspective, and I do love how it’s out of the typical sitcom box. But often the show feels weirdly hostile and I think it keeps the audience at a healthy distance to make that okay. Thing is, it also keeps me at a distance when I should be let in the most. This probably makes for the most laughter - Community will probably make me laugh more than any show other than Arrested Development after multiple viewings. But the show is increasingly relying on its own awareness for character development, I feel, and I think that hurts the show. Sometime, I wish the show would get out of its own way and let the characters do what they want. I felt the show succeeded in this way during most of “Critical Film Studies” and “Mixology Certification.” The latter felt genuine, like I was really spending a night with these people. Most episodes, while I catch references and TV cliches turned on their heads, I do an “ah-ha!” and smile, but I’m taken out of the experiences with the character.
It’s like the show doesn’t want to be predictable at all, and in that frenzy, has lost focus. Yeah, it dropped clues that Jeff and Britta were having sex, but it fit together more like a puzzle than a meaningful moment. Parks is often too predictable, but the journey is still fun. Here, the journey is fun, even though the destination is often a let-down.
Some episodes embrace the crazy, which is why I loved “Conspiracy Theories” so much. It used the tension between two characters to create a compelling storyline and just went with it. Yeah, an effective conspiracy thriller parody was created, but I remember it for Jeff and Annie, not the twists at the end. I remember “Modern Warfare” (which, by the way, is a masterpiece) for Jeff and Britta’s sex, not that Jeff won the paintball game. These concept episodes work so well because there’s character motivations lying at the very heart of them, not just on the fringes or in a hug at the very end. That’s why “Basic Rocket Science” didn’t work - the character at the center was, at best, muddled.
Some other episodes work simply because they’re funny, like “Paradigms of Human Memory.” There’s really no character there, just a bunch of gags. It’s not one of my highlights of the season because of that, but it will be an episode that will be a staple on DVD. Those work too.
One other issue I have is the romance. The Jeff-Britta pairing in early S1 was groan-worthy, but I like how the show has made them a reluctant kinda-couple that makes the group groan. But I think the show needs to do something with the romances. There’s a bunch of chemistry, and bringing it up every few episodes to remind everyone that there’s chemistry is frustrating. I don’t want the show to turn into entirely a who-will-end-up-with-who, of course, but there needs to be some narrative development in that in S3. I can’t imagine how this plays to people who watch the series every week.
But maybe they don’t care about couples, just the group as a whole. This goes back to my first point - I think Jeff and Britta as a reluctant couple work, but I think Jeff and Annie would be worth trying as a legitimate couple now that Jeff has embraced the group. But if they all don’t work out? If the show ends with them all going separate ways and having their own jobs? I’ll be sad that they won’t enjoy the group anymore, but individually, I won’t be upset. It’s part of being an ensemble, and the show creates the sense of hanging out with friends excellently. But the sympathy for an individual character is lost, and that’s important too.
For me, the best pieces of art let you in fully and tell you what it’s like to be human. I enjoy snark and sarcasm as much as anyone else, but I don’t feel like Community is at that level of art yet, the level the best shows hit. The aggravating thing is that it could.
