Hmm… Am I the only one who thinks that every episode of this show has been sitcom-formulaic? I don’t think this is a criticism of the show. I like the show. But I don’t think the show somehow eschews or undermines sitcom formulas. I think it takes them up, mostly unironically, and follows them pretty much to the letter. Yet manages to still be a pretty good show.
Am I the only one who thinks this?
No you’re not, Frylock. I like the show despite its formulaic stories. The plots might be a tad predictable, but the character’s behaviors are not. And I think the dialog is some of the best.
Abed was hilarious as The Dark Knight. “Predictable, but appetizing!”
And this was the first time on this show Chevy had me cracking up like I knew he could. “Whose hands are these?!”
That whole trip-out scene was great.
I’ve been holding off judgement, but after last night’s episode I have a new favorite show. It is now one of only three sitcoms and only six (non-sports, non-documentary) shows that I DVR. I haven’t liked a 30-minute show this much since Arrested Development. Now it will be cancelled I’m sure.
I loved Jeff’s line, “It conflicts with the enjoyment of my life,” and the Mexican Halloween throwaway lines. And the writing and direction is so good it has made Chevy Chase funny again, the first time in 20 years.
Good episode… I really got a kick out of the Beastmaster and Eddie Murphy “Raw” costumes.
I thought it was established that Abed was Palestinian, or at least of Arabic decent.
Loved this episode. Best one yet.
Last night was hilarious. This show has what the great sitcoms all have - great, snappy dialog. The banter between Jeff and the stats teacher was classic.
As for the formulaic plots… So what? Sitcoms are like the blues - the basic structure may be repetitive and simple, but the genius is in what you do with it.
I about peed my pants when Batman rescued Piers and Jeff from the furniture fort.
And they’re better when they’re deeply, deeply, deeply weird as this one was.
I agree completely with this post. I love the sitcom format. In a way, it reminds me of working with short poetry forms. If you do it right, it can be brilliant. I think Community is doing it right. I laughed at it more than any of my other Thursday night shows (Office, 30 Rock, Project Runway, It’s Always Sunny).
I loved the scene with Pierce and his bad trip. I also like how the show is branching out and showing other classes, which opens up more possibilities.
Thank you, thank you Community.
Thank you for making Chevy Chase funny again.
Thank you for letting me experience Joel McHale twice a week, and an extra special thanks for the cowboy costume.
Thank you for Troy and Abed.
This is my new favorite show. I hope it lives…
Is there a new “Scrubs”?
THAT’S who he was! I was thinking Michael Jackson? No. MC Hammer? No.
I watched the Troy football episode and last night’s Halloween episode back-to-back, both good episodes but the Halloween one was great.
I like the slimy dean guy, I remember him from Reno 911 as another slimy guy who was always doing crazy sex stuff and talking “street” slang.
I’m starting to look forward to those bits with Troy and Abed at the end. Those are great. Could get stale after a while, but so far I’m loving them.
No shit. That was the best cowboy costume I have ever seen.
Yep. It’s going to change locales to a university or something and Turk and Dr. Cox will be teaching. Bascially a spinoff with the same name.
I got a kick out of the reaction to how tight the pants were. Also, was it just me or did his cowboy costume make him look just like John Travolta in Urban Cowboy?
I guess I was thrown off by the Ravi Shankar reference in the episode with his father.
As to “old” Scrubs, I was referring to the NBC version (which frequently ran on Thursday nights) vs. the ABC version of last season. Yeah, the new new version is going to be quite different.
Yeah, this was a great episode. My wife and I both laughed out loud when Abed swept in at the end, and she doesn’t laugh out loud very often.
Last week’s episode had some of the best dialogue I’ve ever heard on a TV show:
Jeff: You have to play football, it’s in your soul.
Troy: That’s racist.
J: It’s in your spirit.
T: That’s racist.
J: It’s in your eyes?
T: That’s gay.
J: That’s homophobic.
T: That’s black.
J: That’s racist!
Ha!
