Does Anyone Else Watch COMMUNITY?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Here's a nice interview with the new showrunners. I'm still smarting from it being taken off the schedule, but at least it's a comfort to know that when it does come back, these guys seem to know what they're doing.
Vulture

[Plum]

Todd VanDerWerff of the AV Club seems to be convinced this isn't a cruel move on NBC's part, and while his love for the show might be making him more optimistic than reality dictates, I'm willing to believe that NBC really is holding off to see which shows fail and they might subsequently put Community in something other than a Friday death slot with a companion as unsuited as Whitney.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I guess I just figure whatever slot Community is in is going to be a death slot, because I don't think they're suddenly going to double their audience when it comes back, even if there is a promotional push or whatnot. I imagine the vast majority of the small group of fans it has will watch it no matter where or when its aired and that's gonna be the only audience it has. And even though the AV Club guy and others see this as a reason to be optimistic, I really can't imagine Community getting picked up for another year (or even a full fourth season) regardless of when and where it lands. So I guess I don't really understand the logic of NOT putting it on Fridays, where it's going to probably pull similar numbers to where it did on Thursdays, and waiting to stick in the place of a defunct show that already has crappy Community-like numbers.

But I was flabbergasted it got renewed for a fourth season, so what do I know?

[Plum]

Oh yeah, I'm definitely going into this season assuming it's a dead show walking. But I guess by "optimistic" I mean I'm also assuming it's not going to do what ABC did with Pushing Daisies and not air episodes for months and months - except in Germany with dubbing - while fans go beserk. I think they really are going to air the show on some sort of conventionalish schedule, whether it's in a few weeks or after winter break.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Oh, gotcha. I'm with you on that. But man, I still think it was uber-crappy to announce this 11 days before it was supposed to come back.

[Plum]

Their timing really is comically terrible, isn't it? "Oh, I think this announcement should definitely come just as the promotional push with the new showrunners starts. We should definitely remind people the show is coming back and take that away on the same day."

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Did you guys know there's a (fake) Twitter feed from the new showrunners?
Follow us for info on how YOU can be in the Community studio audience this fall!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Happy October 19th

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

For ten seconds today the news was that Canada's CityTv was going to start airing the fourth season in November, but that was quickly recanted. However, now the word is that it's coming back to NBC in February.

I'll be excited when it happens, but until then, all the chatter has just become noise to me.
‘Community’ Back On Thursdays, February 2013

[mormonophobic]

They finally revealed the date of the season premiere. I know it’s not, but it feels like this is so far away. On the plus side, this means it’s back to Thursdays, so no Friday night death slot. Begin the countdown…

ETA: So close! Phyllis Rogers Stone beat me by two minutes.
Community Back Next Year

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Maybe NBC will "forget" to promote it again and announce another delay a couple days before it's supposed to come back!

[Jordan Catalano]

Is this still just half a season or will they run it through summer?

Oh, and Fuck NBC.

[mormonophobic]

Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me. Even though I want to (and often do) complain about how they’ve treated Community, they could have easily just not brought it back at all. So I guess I should be grateful for that. It’s just hard when we’ll be watching the Halloween episode some time in March. Kind of craptastic.

[mormonophobic]

I'm pretty sure it's still half a season. Though there was initially some hope that they'd extend it, I kind of doubt that now.

And I'm all for the Fuck NBC mentality. How can a network that airs some of my favorite shows (Community, Parks & Recreation, 30 Rock, etc.) also be the network that brings Whitney back and postpones Community to the new year? Idjits.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Rest in Pierce

[Plum]

Reduced budget for any subsequent seasons? Maybe?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

If it continues after this season, I'd be fine with just recasting him.

[Jordan Catalano]

Honestly, I think it'll be even stronger without him. Hopefully this means more Dean time if the show continues.

[bobs3]

Good riddance. I always thought Chevy Chase was the weak link in the show.

[strummergirl]

I demand to the promotion of Magnitude or Leonard.






The Pierce move sounds like a mutiny by the cast. There were episodes left. Wasn't there a reported racist rant he had during the film of this season? I guess if the new showrunners could not even be on good graces with him that was enough for NBC to realize it was not a battle of egos with Harmon vs. Chevy.

I am looking forward to this season. The new showrunners had a previous connection to the Russo brothers, so hopefully-- when and if it ever airs-- it will not be the mainstreaming, middlebrow insertion of the show that people are scared about. In all likelihood, it will not be as weird and esoteric as Season 3, few shows get to that level (let alone in a really good way).

To be fair to Whitney, it got retooled and remodeled like nobody's business since about mid-season of last year and it actually has gotten good reviews or at least more positive feedback-- but no ratings. Whitney ain't my cup of tea, but I read its defenders who were also critical of moments in the first season of the show post-retool that felt like regression into the front-9 but were overall optimistic about the show getting better. It is now comfortably the best show with a Whitney Cummings credit at this point, faint praise since the other one is 2 Broke Girls, I know, but it appears to be completely innocuous filler that on another network could probably have a better shelf-life.

I think Community's most direct in-network competition is Up All Night, a show that also got retooled and unlike Whitney is not getting even good feedback on those changes. And also unlike Whitney, it has Lorne Michaels in the executive producers credits, so of course, it has lived this long for a reason.

BTW, is anybody looking around other network shows to fill the Community void? Happy Endings and Don't Trust the B**** in Apt. 23 back-to-back has been my go-to (both shows also have Community connections too) and unfortunately both of these shows are also in cancellation danger, especially Apt. 23.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Up All Night's got an even bigger retool coming.

I was briefly into Happy Endings, and caught up on it in the middle of its second season, but this season has left me cold and I'm not going out of my way to watch it anymore. I do crush on Adam Pally, though. That's the kind of gay boyfriend I want.

I'm just tired of getting news about Community when I'd rather just be getting friggin Community.

[Plum]

Strummergirl, to give Chase a modicum of credit, his "racist" rant was actually him ranting about how he was sick of Pierce being a racist character.

[strummergirl]

I did hear people say that was the gist of the incident. Then again he has said ridiculous stuff completely unprompted and not related to Pierce at all.

[Plum]

BTW, is anybody looking around other network shows to fill the Community void?

I employ a combination of New Girl, Parks and Recreation, and my Middleman DVDs.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

I think the previous on-set kerfuffle had to do with him complaining about Pierce's escalating racism and then he said something to effect of "What's next? I call them [Yvette and Donald] [racial slur]?"