# The Jerkass trope taken to Pierce levels **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341 "2017-03-03T21:22:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/1 "2017-03-03T21:22:27Z")
On Community natch. So…is the point that Harmon is just trying to break the trope the other way? (I’m in season 2 btw). Cause it isn’t Lost in Space where they’d have to kill or strand Dr. Smith. Or Archie comics where Reggie at least has some appeal to women. Pierce should have been dumped lonnnnng ago. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/2 "2017-03-03T22:32:49Z")
I know Chevy Chase isn’t everybody’s preferred flavor, but I always thought he was quite funny on _Community_. Would the rest of them put up with Pierce’s shit for so long in real life? Probably not. But the Rule of Funny applies. (Even though they stopped putting up with Chase’s behind-the-scenes shit after the 4th season.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/3 "2017-03-03T22:52:57Z")
“Pierce is a jerk” is basically the main Season 2 plot arc. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/4 "2017-03-03T23:39:36Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > I know Chevy Chase isn’t everybody’s preferred flavor, but I always thought he was quite funny on _Community_. IIRC, I read somewhere that Chevy Chase’s default schtick – which may or may not be someone’s preferred flavor – is (a) the nonchalant but smirk-prone WASP who thinks he’s the sharpest guy in the room and _may not be wrong_: sure, granted, maybe he gets his comeuppance when he’s working an angle but _maybe he pulls it off,_ because he’s not an obvious punchline headed for a fall; he’s a guy who _could_ plausibly be a step ahead of everybody, a guy who could earn a little smugness when talking people into stuff, a guy you’d figure to have a clever quip at the ready. That guy. Which is to say: (b) Joel McHale’s character. So what did that leave Chevy with? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/5 "2017-03-04T00:01:24Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Which is to say: (b) Joel McHale’s character. So what did that leave Chevy with? I always thought the point was that Pierce was Jeff in 30 years if he didn’t grow as a person. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jerkass-trope-taken-to-pierce-levels/781341/6 "2017-03-04T00:16:38Z")
I think the other characters may cut him a little bit of slack on his behavior\* because they feel sorry for him, being old and lonely and having no other friends. Especially after they meet his dad. \*Well, some of them more than others.