author_by_night (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
author_by_night) wrote2016-08-12 09:00 am
author_by_night) wrote2016-08-12 09:00 am
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Thoughts on Community Rewatch
I've been rewatching Communty. Some observations:
-. I can't decide whether Brtta and Annie were just written as similar characters, or if they almost change characterizations/roles. Briitta initially serves as the person telling Jeff not to be an asshole, not to come to meetings late, etc. She's more of a partner-in-crime later on, whereas Annie kind of becomes Jeff's Voice of Reason. Annie also gets a little less neurotic, Britta gets more neurotic. But I think it's more that they were just written as similar characters - both a little neurotic, both trying to fix things (whether in the world or with their friends) but not always really knowing what they're doing or talking about, etc. I do think they made Britta more of a granola girl even in the second episode, but the second episode also establishes that she's not as granola girl or knowledgeable about All The Issues as she wants people to believe. So basically, she's everyone on the internet. ;)
I do think I like Annie's character development better, but then, Annie's also the character I most relate to.
- Pierce's character's purpose seemed to change, but I think a lot of that had to do with the tension between Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon. (I'm on team "they were probably both at fault." Because that's usually how it goes anyway.) In any case, he wavers from misunderstood, well meaning father figure to buffoon to woobie to jerkass. Same with Senor/Kevin Chang, actually.
- I love Troy and Abed's friendship. That is all. And Abed and Jeff's subtler friendship - Jeff is generally the most impatient with Abed, but I think Abed actually likes how straight Jeff is with him, because in the episodes where Abed Gets Real, it's usually Jeff he's being real with.
Also, I don't know if I ever pointed this out, but I always saw Troy, Jeff and Piece as following a pattern. Many episodes imply Pierce is who Jeff could've been, but I also think season one Jeff is who Troy would've been, albeit not quite as clever. They all become better anyway, but there did seem to be a pattern there.
- Having watched 30 Rock, I have to admit I think it did a lot of the same things Community was trying to do, especially given that Troy's actor (Donald Glover) was a writer for 30 Rock. Parodies of other shows/tropes, slight surrealism, and Kenneth is the spiritual love child of Shirley and Abed. But I think in a lot of ways 30 Rock was a bit more accessible in ts parodies, whereas Community could be less so, which was probably partly why 30 Rock did a little better. To be honest though, I don't think any of NBC's comedies have done really well since around 2002. I don't think comedies have done well in general since about 2002.
- I finally watched more of the last season. (I tried watching it on Yahoo, but it never worked. I had to stop watching because Yahoo would stall most of the time. Fortunately it's on iTunes now.) I didn't love it, because honestly, without 1/2 of the original characters it just wasn't quite the same. And there were some episodes that I just didn't bother watching again, because I didn't like them the first time around. But the finale was actually pretty good, considering I've decided it's near impossible to have a 100% satisfying finale.
-. I can't decide whether Brtta and Annie were just written as similar characters, or if they almost change characterizations/roles. Briitta initially serves as the person telling Jeff not to be an asshole, not to come to meetings late, etc. She's more of a partner-in-crime later on, whereas Annie kind of becomes Jeff's Voice of Reason. Annie also gets a little less neurotic, Britta gets more neurotic. But I think it's more that they were just written as similar characters - both a little neurotic, both trying to fix things (whether in the world or with their friends) but not always really knowing what they're doing or talking about, etc. I do think they made Britta more of a granola girl even in the second episode, but the second episode also establishes that she's not as granola girl or knowledgeable about All The Issues as she wants people to believe. So basically, she's everyone on the internet. ;)
I do think I like Annie's character development better, but then, Annie's also the character I most relate to.
- Pierce's character's purpose seemed to change, but I think a lot of that had to do with the tension between Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon. (I'm on team "they were probably both at fault." Because that's usually how it goes anyway.) In any case, he wavers from misunderstood, well meaning father figure to buffoon to woobie to jerkass. Same with Senor/Kevin Chang, actually.
- I love Troy and Abed's friendship. That is all. And Abed and Jeff's subtler friendship - Jeff is generally the most impatient with Abed, but I think Abed actually likes how straight Jeff is with him, because in the episodes where Abed Gets Real, it's usually Jeff he's being real with.
Also, I don't know if I ever pointed this out, but I always saw Troy, Jeff and Piece as following a pattern. Many episodes imply Pierce is who Jeff could've been, but I also think season one Jeff is who Troy would've been, albeit not quite as clever. They all become better anyway, but there did seem to be a pattern there.
- Having watched 30 Rock, I have to admit I think it did a lot of the same things Community was trying to do, especially given that Troy's actor (Donald Glover) was a writer for 30 Rock. Parodies of other shows/tropes, slight surrealism, and Kenneth is the spiritual love child of Shirley and Abed. But I think in a lot of ways 30 Rock was a bit more accessible in ts parodies, whereas Community could be less so, which was probably partly why 30 Rock did a little better. To be honest though, I don't think any of NBC's comedies have done really well since around 2002. I don't think comedies have done well in general since about 2002.
- I finally watched more of the last season. (I tried watching it on Yahoo, but it never worked. I had to stop watching because Yahoo would stall most of the time. Fortunately it's on iTunes now.) I didn't love it, because honestly, without 1/2 of the original characters it just wasn't quite the same. And there were some episodes that I just didn't bother watching again, because I didn't like them the first time around. But the finale was actually pretty good, considering I've decided it's near impossible to have a 100% satisfying finale.
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That would make it all about Jeff. Which it kind of is. So is Jeff Winger Dan Harmon's wish fufillment, or his reality?
Damn. Now I want to write Community fic.
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I see Dan Harmon as being a combination of Abed and Jeff, tbh. He's said that he didn't realize how much of himself he put into Abed, but I think he has a lot of Jeff.
I tried writing Community fic, but never managed.
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No requirement to read if you aren't interested, and it does have a trigger warning for school shooting.
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Me too.
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And sometimes very satisfying season finales happen, now and then. Like Being Human US and Downton Abbey, for me.
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