Pajiba

to quote T-100, you know, down the line when Community is cancelled, "You only postponed it. Judgment Day is inevitable."

It's Friday and while I am NOT trolling this post or anyone's love for this show, I do feel like poking the bear a little. Was last night's episode not the most unfortunate one to air on the tail end of the hiatus announcement? The original Documentary Filmmaking episode was great (thanks largely to Donald Glover and Levar Burton) but this episode felt much more like the Season 2 misfire "Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples." I thought it was, overall, a strange and off-putting episode. Guzman's cameo being the exception. Once again everyone behaves badly for the entirety of the episode and then is saved by the last minute warm and fuzzies.

I just, Community, baby, I love you. I LOVE how smart you are. How clever. I love how you purport to wave a flag for the freaks and the underdogs and outcasts. But for me (emphasis. . .this is my opinion), cleverness needs to be sustained by some better storytelling. No, in a sitcom, your characters don't *have* to evolve, change, progress. But that's the sort of lazy storytelling I expect from Two And A Half Men or Big Bang Theory. What I expect from the BEST shows. From shows written by someone as obviously brilliant as Dan Harmon, is some progression. Community's first season was pure brilliance. The second, a delight. But now that I'm seeing the same conflicts being rehashed and rewritten (albeit with new cultural references and clever, snarky one liners) I'm getting bored.

You wanna talk brilliant. Talk to me about Parks and Recreation. Talk to me about how much all the main characters have changed from Season 1. Some of that progress may be due to a realization on the part of the writing staff that the initial premise (a female version of The Office) was not working. But good god last night's episode which was ALL ABOUT characters realizing their inner frailties (Leslie and Andy) and DOING something to change it. That was just a phenomenal piece of storytelling. You can have a sitcom with brilliant hilarious (even at times dickish) characters, and still have a scene where your lead puts forth the kind of vulnerability and pathos NOBODY expects from a sitcom actress. Maybe it's comparing apples to oranges, but there's a reason why I watch Parks and Recreation before I watch Community. Because the storytelling is better and I'm emotionally invested. I hope Community doesn't get cancelled. But I also think it could be better than it is.

What if we pulled a Chuck? KFC sponsored an episode, why don't we all go eat the least dangerous item on KFC's menu and fill out a card thing saying we ate there because of Community?

@coveredinbees: I do think you have a valid point that the character progression in "Community" is different, slower, maybe less noticeable than in "Parks and Rec." Actually, I think from where they were when the series started, the study group is markedly different now, but the developments have been less sweet and heartwarming than in P&R. Which, I think, makes more sense considering the type of people the show is about. None of them besides Abed really have any clue who they are, even the older members of the group, and the show has been (in the macro sense) about each one discovering who they really are and want to be. That isn't always going to be, as Shirley would say, nice, and sometimes those lessons have to be learned over and over again for real change to actually stick. As broad and absurdist as "Community" can be, I find it slightly more realistic in that regard.

Yes, "P&R" and is a sweeter show, and I'm not trying to get into a urinatin' squabble, but I'm not certain it always earns that sweetness. Last night, I definitely would have found the episode more engaging had Ben and Leslie not gotten back together. While in a sense I'm glad the writers won't be teasing out that will-they/won't-they schtick for a second season in a row, my favorite scene was the one where Ben told Chris the truth and unceremoniously cut the ribbon. Ben sticking to his guns in the climax would have been much more real and meaningful (to me), because as it stands right now, he seems ready to be in/out of a relationship with Leslie completely on her terms. If they had decided on this "damn the consequences" thing earlier, I would be excited for it because I felt they should have done that from the beginning -- putting them through the ringer with the campaign certainly would still have allowed for the Treat Yo'self/Batman costume and last week's Model U.N. War. I know she said she needed to not take advantage of him and his feelings in the future, and that's excellent, that's right, but in the end she still kinda did. Or, I'm just a bitter, crusty old Leonard. I find Andy's evolution into an adult, on his own terms the best thing about "P&R" right now.

But, whatever. I don't see why fans of either show feel like they're in competition with each other -- other than, I guess, with NBC's abysmal ratings in general, people feel like there can be only one? They are on the same channel on the same night at different times, we don't need to constantly sit here and decide WHICH ONE IS THE BEST 'NUFF SAID every week. Neither show is perfect, but they both come pretty gorram close on a regular basis. That alone should be worth celebrating, and enough not force conflict where there doesn't need to be any.

I tried to write NBC last evening about this. I had what I thought was a passionate but smart argument. Push submit and an error message comes up about the function not working. So NBC makes it impossible for you to tell them, directly, why you think they should think beyond ratings to the demographic.

@coveredinbees: I think if you check out Dustin's GIF homage to last night's episode he discusses how they were pretty much like fuck it, here's the least accessible episode ever, on purpose.

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