nbc's thursday night comedy poop factory

[Broncobama]

I could handle the office without tate jesus christ she's awful

[Feech La Manna]

Yeah, she had a sketch comedy show?

I can't even imagine how annoying that would be

[Robo-Chachi]

I really wish they would cancel the Office so I could stop watching it.

[Robo-Chachi]

Most of the time during the Office, I just space out and try to remember when Pam was attractive.

[Lucky]

aw i still think pam's cute

[Contristo]

i didn't understand why they put erin in front of a green screen when they were filming in front of that florida house regardless. most obvious green screen ever too
it just wasn't funny so i focused on stupid things like that

[Spotlight Kid]

Thought community was pretty great, 30 rock ruled.

[Paul E. Pasta]

this thread took a while to find.

The Renne Zellwigger line in Community made me lol.

edit: turns out that was the only thing that made me lol

[Paul E. Pasta]

Schaal was great tonight.

[lostintheair]

schaal was awesome. those two episodes were great.

[Feech La Manna]

Really enjoying reading AV Club comments about how emotionally devastating Community was

[neuartillery]

Do you think those people can muster the fortitude to leave the house?

[ifear]

Catherine Tate is so awful.

oh wow is she ruining tv for you guys now too?

[someguy]

Really enjoying reading AV Club comments about how emotionally devastating Community was

i saw people reacting to the appearance of 'evil abed' in the same way that people did at the s3 finale of lost

[Broncobama]

community was like an all-time reference uber-meta-meta overload last night

how anyone can still convince themselves it's not a festering pile of failure is beyond me at this point.

(note: I do generally laugh 2-3 times an episode, about the same as I would at Up All Night. at least the latter is less cloying and has no actual fans)

[lostintheair]

Really enjoying reading AV Club comments about how emotionally devastating Community was

i dont read these reviews often, does that dude usually say "broad" that much?

[Feech La Manna]

Community Twitter searches are pretty entertaining too

Anthony Oliveira ‏ @oliveiranth Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
#Community hanging a lantern on how archly high-concept Evil Abed was, then turned it into a character beat, shld be studied in classrooms.

[Spotlight Kid]

30 rock is really killing it since they've been back.

Community was decent.

[Broncobama]

shld be studied in classrooms.

Welcome to Shitty Sitcom Writing 101 ...

[neuartillery]

shld be studied in classrooms.

Welcome to Shitty Sitcom Writing 101 ...

at...community college

[Feech La Manna]

I mean I guess you have to give them some credit for apparently hitting such a nerve with the confederated league of dorks

[someguy]

community was like an all-time reference uber-meta-meta overload last night

to be fair 30 rock was pretty much the same thing

[neuartillery]

Now it's my turn for my pre-comment reading thoughts.

I was really worried about this episode. Just the feeling that it would be a placeholder before some really epic stuff started, a la the lesser season two episodes. Todd's grade really had me frightened. Luckily, I'm on the side of the divide that really enjoyed it. I'd probably put it above Urban Matrimony and Studies in Modern Movement (which I liked much more than most) and about even with Foosball in terms of S3 episodes.

The first half was played broad, but it still did the trick for me because it was broad in a way that reflected the characters (totally disagree with you on that one, Evil Jeff). We know that Abed can have breaks with reality to the point where it is literally shown to us in AUC. We know that Troy is torn between his deep friendship with Abed (the Elf speech) and the knowledge that he is growing up and will soon have to leave that life behind. It is totally in character for Abed to indulge some kind of unrealistic whimsy, just as it is true to Troy to support Abed but realize that he has taken it too far. It seemed to me like Troy reached the point late in the episode where Annie was in the middle of Modern Movement-Abed may be fun to be around, but there is definitely a point where that fun becomes self destructive. I was not expecting the shattered bromance arc to start so soon, but it did and I feel they pulled it off well while still setting the dominoes for later episodes.

I'll spend less time on Jeff, Britta, and Pierce because they seemed more straightforward. Jeff is defined by two opposite facets of his personality-his ego and his crippling insecurity. This episode portrayed them in conflict in a more clear way than we usually see. Jeff would normally struggle with not winning a Most Handsome award. Add in some drugs and the Hulk-out makes total sense. The most surprising fact about Britta tonight (besides the fact that she looks like white Michael Jackson) was the fact that she didn't Britta her diagnosis of Jeff. Maybe this is a sign of her growing up. Pierce, well, we spent an entire season last year learning why Pierce would want to be Fat Burt Reynolds as opposed to Fat Brando.

While watching the episode, and even now, the comparison that keeps coming to mind is Mixology Certification. While this episode didn't get quite as dark or quite as personal, I can't help but see links between the two. Both had some aspects that were played broad and both went to very personal, almost laugh free places in the third act. However, between the two, both had some spot on character moments that were used to illuminate new and growing aspects of who the characters are while playing them for genuine, heartfelt laughs.

Other Thoughts...

The Dean's reaction to the aviators was one of Jim Rash's finest moments on the show

Faux-by? Looks like we know who that second Dean in the promo was

I mentioned this elsewhere, but the bar mitzvah was almost painfully accurate. Anybody who is chirping about anti-Semitism has clearly never been to one. If anything, it didn't go far enough over the top

Chang as Patton almost killed me. This was probably the best use of Chang since pre-pregnancy season 2 and it gives me some serious hope for his coming story arc.

Along those same lines, the bit of the Dreamatorium we saw definitely piqued my interest for that episode as well as where they will go with the Evil Timeline.

Thanks for indulging me. I guess the fact that my expectations were so dramatically blown away led me to being a little long winded. Now into the comments where I expect to be summarily crushed by the people who didn't like the episode.

[neuartillery]

I just noticed that "OOC" for out of character is a thing there.

[Feech La Manna]

ronniiiiie
Anyone else notice that Abed reminded Troy of the promise they made about never messing with one another? He even mentioned the date on which Advanced Criminal Law aired (October 15, 2009).

Little Emma Adderall
I audibly gasped when Abed left him hanging.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh
It was really sad. I can't comment on it further; for me, the pain is too near.

[delgriffith]

Just watched the cold open of Community. Not sure if I can make it through this episode.

[sleigh]

Avery's mom is so hot

[delgriffith]

Just watched the cold open of Community. Not sure if I can make it through this episode.

Update, 12 minutes in, hasn't been a joke so far. This is so awful.

I mean if you ever wanted more proof that Community has turned into Family Guy then this is it.

[Broncobama]

community was like an all-time reference uber-meta-meta overload last night

to be fair 30 rock was pretty much the same thing

Definitely noticed 30 rock doing this, but since it's not every single joke it's far less grating.

I mean I guess you have to give them some credit for apparently hitting such a nerve with the confederated league of dorks

I guess, as a fellow dork, I feel like there should be some sensitivity to the immense pandering happening on every episode.

[Broncobama]

I actually think it appeals to people who are more interested in the the aesthetics of being a dork. They're not really dorks. This is hard to explain and will be worded better in my coming long-form column on content.hipinion.com.