Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Eleven months ago, I made a list of my ten favorite TV shows from the 2000-2010 decade. If I were to amend that list, it would be to add Community, a comedy on NBC that is now in its 2nd season.
I’ve seen plenty of sitcoms, but most of them are just, well, okay. If you click on the link to my list (above), you’ll see I only have 3 sitcoms listed in my top ten. And one of them – The Office – isn’t even very funny anymore. Perhaps Community will go the way of The Office at some point, but for now, it’s my favorite current sitcom. Modern Warfare, an episode from the end of season 1, has got to be one of my all-time ten favorite TV episodes from any TV show – sitcom or drama – ever. (Here’s the obligatory link discussing the episode, but don’t read about it if you haven’t seen it. And don’t bother to just dig around online and find that one episode, like most TV show episodes, it’s not as rewarding if you haven’t seen everything leading up to it.)
I didn’t start watching Community right away. It wasn’t until mid-season, when a couple people directed me to some funny clips, that I began to watch the show. Jennifer and I watched the episodes together, trying to catch up on them. Somehow, during the spring, we lost track of the show and didn’t see the rest of the season. Two weeks ago, however, a co-worker let me borrow his copy of season 1 on DVD. Jennifer and I quickly watched the ones we hadn’t seen (I think we watched four episodes in a single night) and then we watched the season 2 episodes that are available online. I’m happy to say that I’ve now seen every episode, and I’m gonna make it my aim to keep up with the airing of new episodes.
I know that this doesn’t prove my thesis that Community is the funniest sitcom on television, but I think it’s pretty hilarious/interesting anyway:
In the recent (04 November) episode “Aerodynamics of Gender,” we are shown the point of view of the character Abed. But it’s not just a typical point-of-view, it’s a Terminator-style view wherein Abed merely has to zero in on a person and all sorts of data begin popping up on his ‘screen.’ Here, take a look:
Here we see Abed focusing his attention on a lady in his school. Our attention, meanwhile, is focused mainly on the list of ‘flaws’ this lady possesses; out of style jeans, and heavy mascara, among others. But notice the other info on the screen: on the far right, we see what is called a ‘Current Synopsis.’ And, in fact, it is a synopsis of the episode. More specifically, it is a current synopsis, in that it is exactly how I would’ve described the episode had I stopped watching it at this point (~10 minutes into the episode). Notice, too, that the display on the left indicates Annie (not the woman pictured) is projected to ‘cycle’ on November 11th. And, yes, that means exactly what you think it means. And it’s also what happened: one week later, during the episode “Cooperative Calligraphy,” it is implied that the character Annie has (or is just about to get) her period.
Now check out this still, which I grabbed from ~18 minutes into the episode:
Look! The “Current Synopsis” has been updated, and now it reflects a more refined description of the episode. Meanwhile, we are now privy to Shirley’s “Projected Cycle,” which just happens to be the date the episode aired. This also comes into play in the next episode, in which we learn that Shirley has just picked up a pregnancy test – something a woman could be predicted to do when they are a week ‘late.’
So, I’m going to use these two images to make some predictions: The first image states that Troy’s birthday is in 14 days (18 November). I’ll be curious to see if his birthday is mentioned in the episode “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design,” which is scheduled to air on November 18th. Meanwhile, the second image indicates Abed wishes to “Get Rudolph for Xmas” and make a blanket fort. I’m gonna hold the writers to this and see if both memos come to fruition in the next few episodes.
I agree that the Office is too stale in rehashing Michael’s juvenile antics. I hope the show ends this season rather than going ahead with a new boss.
We just started watching Community last month, I would say it is the best sitcom on now. The episode a few weeks ago was great with the zombie infection and ABBA music playing was fun.
It’s funny, the other day while I was talking to you about this show I was approaching the conversation as if I had recommended it to you, completely forgetting that it was you who turned me on to it (clips posted to Facebook). Thanks again.
Contemporary American Poultry is another great episode.
Yes, the zombie episode (“Epidemiology”) and “Contemporary American Poultry” were two other awesome episodes.
David- I can see why you forgot I introduced you to the show since, during our last conversation about it, you had ‘trumped’ me in your dedication to the show; you had seen every episode, I had seen only about half. I’ve done this before, too, where someone tells me about something, I get all excited about it, then later, I talk to them about it as if I ‘discovered’ it, only to have them say, “Yeah, I know, I’m the one who first told you about it, remember?”
UPDATE:
The episode “Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Design” DID include a blanket fort! It also noted Abed’s love of “Cougartown,” which, though I did not mention it, is indicated on one of the stills I inserted into my blog.
Also, it was Troy’s birthday, but no mention was made of this. Perhaps this can be rationalized by recalling that, in the episode “Comparative Religion,” Troy self-identifies as a JW, meaning he would likely allow his birthday to pass with no mention of it.
Have you seen the Uk version on The Office? Far superior, and it was the original. There were only two seasons and one special.
No, I’ve never seen an episode of that, though I’ve heard from several people that it’s a good show. Thanks for the reminder, I should go Netflix it right now.
I just read the synopsis for tonight’s episode. Ruh roh — (they) missed it by that much.
Yes, I saw the preview, too. I haven’t watched the episode yet, but boy, did they ever botch that up. Maybe I don’t like the show anymore.
(I’m also curious to see if this blog post gets a new comment every Thursday until all of Abed’s predictions come to fruition.)