On reflection I think I have to agree with these two posts. Too much packed in, trying too hard to be quirky. Dan Harmon understood the level to take it effortlessly, and when to push it over the edge. But they went a little too crazy with it.
One thing I did like was the fake TV shows they were advertising in the chyrons.
It’s possible I pre-decided to not like it without Harmon but I honestly don’t think so. I was eagerly awaiting it, looking forward to it, then barely smiled throughout it.
I’m not abandoning ship because of one episode. But it felt like an unnecessary sequel to a surprise hist comedy movie. All the same jokes, but more so.
We’ll see.
After reading the Grantland piece and several of the reviews here, I expected something much worse. I think there were some poor choices and the Annie/Shirley and Troy/Britta subplots suffered because of too little attention, but I like the episode overall. It made me laugh at points. I especially liked sitcom Abed’s happy place, a “Muppet Babies” Community. I thought that Jeff’s speech only being in Abed’s head was a nice touch. His actions spoke for him instead of yet another Winger speech.
I can forgive anything that shows how terrific Fred Willard would be in the Chevy Chase role.
Another “It was better than most sitcoms, but wasn’t Community” vote. Maybe once it gets its sea legs back it will help.
I almost screamed when I saw Chang return- he damns any chance the show has, imo. He was funny as a professor they hated, but even under Harmon he simply didn’t work as a regular and is a far weaker link than Pierce has ever been.
Also working better in small doses and not at all missed if it’s absent completely: the dean’s lust for Jeff. We get it: he thinks he’s closeted and he’s neurotically obsessed with Jeff Winger, but that’s the joke and we got it so move on already. “Move on already” does not mean the dean should now be Jeff’s neighbor, which along with Chang just cannot mean great or interesting plots.
Twixt Modern Family and this, it’s been a winner week for Fred at least.
I thought that was a brilliant moment, but then it got milked. We think “flat” is pretty accurate, they were going through all the motions but the spirit was missing. It seemed like a compilation of everything they’d already done, a stew of leftovers.
I did think they overdid the Dean’s lust for Jeff, but that tango was hilarious.
I don’t believe so. According to Wikipedia, Harmon was fired in May 2012. I doubt that they had started the fourth season at that time.
Personally, no, that’s not the case. I really wanted to like it but just didn’t. What about you? Did you like it?
I liked it conceptually, mostly because it was a wink to what fans of the show feared would happen without Harmon. But the execution seemed belabored.
Wow I thought this was phenomenal. I loved the fake sitcom, the greendale babies, the “new” Jeff and was it just me or was Alison Brie looking hotter than ever?
I actually think the show had gone downhill last season and only had a couple worthwhile episodes but this new one was fantastic. The fountain scene with Troy and Britta was a bit off, I agree, but everything else was brilliant!
Overall, I liked it. I laughed out loud, and I appreciate the overt theme of “Change isn’t always bad.” The show is aware of the real-world controversy and fears of its fans, and is addressing them using its own voice. That’s a good thing.
Was it as good as Community’s best episodes of the past? No, not at all. But it’s their first shot, and I’ll give them time to find their feet again.
I don’t think they care much about new viewers at this point. It’s on its last legs-- finished-- they’re just running out the clock for the die-hards.
I am a huge fan of Community, yet I also went into last night’s show ignorant of the fact that Harmon was no longer involved. That fact and the drama behind it was irrelevant to my perception of the show.
I commented to my wife after watching the show that I was really disappointed that after so long a hiatus, that was all they came back with. I very much liked the mockery of the laugh-track, cornball stupid situational comedy evident in Abed’s happy place. Even the way that all the characters ended up speaking dialog while physically in a line across the set was, I thought, something of an amusing commentary on typical tv comedy versus what Community is capable of. However, even that got to be a little tired after a while.
The rest of it was really just flat.
The laugh-track/studio audience bit made me think they were poking fun at their time-slot competition, Big Bang Theory, which uses one.
I was pretty disappointed in last night’s episode. Just not very funny.
I could google obviously, but, does anybody know the straight dope on Chevy Chase? Will he be leaving the show in the first few episodes or did he remain a regular?
I believe he’s in 10 or 11 of the episodes. Because they shot out of order, one of those is the finale.
I also thought it was a little off, not bad, just off. But then, there have been off episodes of Community when Harmon was running it. I’m not certain what I would have thought if I hadn’t known what happened behind the scenes.
I didn’t read this thread before watching, but I agree it was off. I didn’t laugh once, and my girlfriend deemed the episode “annoying”. It came across as Community fan-fiction to me.
Pretty much this. I’m so grateful it’s back that it could have been a lot worse and I still would have been glued to the screen. It’s still a hell of a lot better than The Office and most anything else I can think of. And now that 30 Rock is gone, Community and Parks & Rec are mandatory.
Exactly! It felt like a spec-script.
And for a better shot at syndication.