Community - Season 2 Thread

Alright, bitches, let's get this party started. Thursday night!!!

(Click to animate. Grrrr...)

First up:

Just found out:

Yeah, hopefully NBC sticks with it, as it's arguably the best thing on the network next to Parks and Rec and 30 Rock. I tried watching The Big Bang Theory again this past week, just to see what sort of competition it would be, up against Commnuinty.

Ugh...WHY is the show so popular? I laughed maybe once.

Considering how epic that paintball episode was...I can only dream of what madness they will bring to this season's episodes.

(Also, why isn't there a "KICK PUNCHER" t-shirt yet?)

One more quick addendum to my last post, re: Community and Big Bang:

I don't know if I blame Parsons or the showrunners/writers for this, but Abed is everything that Sheldon Cooper should be.

Having worked for years with special needs students, I actually find it slightly offensive how caricatured Sheldon's version of Asperger Syndrome is. He pushes it into the extremely severe autistic-spectrum realm, and couples it with OCD, making the character almost literally a circus freak. Sheldon isn't a human being; he's an outsider's view of how life must be for an autistic person, for us to laugh at.

Compare him to Abed, who is just a regular guy who has some social awkwardness, but the same level of passion (only for geek shit, instead of nerd shit). After half a season, we felt compassion for Abed in "Physical Education" because of his unconventional way of relating to women, but were shown and told at the end that, "Abed, you're a god" (- Jeff Winger).

I find it very hard to believe that after three seasons, anyone would give a shit if Sheldon were hit by a bus, because he's so damn insufferable. If Big Bang Theory was anything remotely approaching the reality of special needs intervention, Sheldon would be jobless, homeless, muttering to himself in an alleyway somewhere.

And I don't care that "it's just a sitcom, not reality," because Community has easily twice the hyper-stylized elements as BBT, yet all the characters are far more grounded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Dial 

 

I think this entire section is patently false.

Slate.com: "Is the World Ready For an Asperger's Sitcom?"

Many are diagnosed in some way long before they've reached full adulthood, so I too agree that attempting to "diagnose" a fictional TV character with Asperger's (or any other condition on the Autism spectrum) is going a bit far. However, there is some difference between the real social condition, and being the caricature that Sheldon is. On the other hand, it's also a stereotypical way of writing uber-geek characters, one that's gone a bit too far in Hollywood over the years.

Frequently, the most realistic depictions of Asperger's in TV/film are unintentional. That's because writers base the character on a real person who has Asperger's, or considerable social difficulties -- e.g., "Real Nerd" Toby Radloff in American Splendor, discovered he had Asperger's after the film was released. Steve Buscemi's Seymour in Ghost World is based on Robert Crumb, who once said, "To be interested in old music is to be a social outcast!"

When Hollywood writers try to depict "Asperger's," they often create a stereotyped constellation of symptoms, rather than a real person. Sheldon is reportedly based upon several people the series' writers either met or knew personally, some of whom had Asperger's, and some of whom did not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh Dial 


These two sentences are correct.  Everything else is hokum.

How do you mean? You're not being specifically clear on this one.

I have a sister with Asperger's, so this is something that hits quite close to home for me.

From the official Community Facebook page:

And if I could add just one more, this is how I feel about tonight (click on it):

Oh, Community, how I missed you.

Oh, my GOD. I just realized -- Glover's "Spider-Man" PJs were also a reference to The Toy!

So many layers. This is the best show on television. The thing about Community is that it's as if someone designed a show just for me.

Also:

And, lastly (for the moment), I'll leave you all with this:

"Is there any room in this pocket for a little spare Chang?"

...MotherFUCKER.

More likely, after Outsourced fails, NBC will just shove another one of their new comedies in there for the juicy Office lead-in, instead of Parks & Rec. They have already have another three waiting in the wings.

And if you're wondering what those three are:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friends_with_Benefits_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paul_Reiser_Show
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_Couples

Yeah. Sucktastic. God, I almost want Outsourced to succeed, just to spare us from another Paul Reiser sitcom. I miss Ron Fucking Swanson.

Also, there's this:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/09/community_pop_culture_referenc.html

For me, Betty's Community appearance was a welcome antithesis to some of the characters she's been playing lately -- namely, variations on the "dirty old granny" role. Which, hey, is great; I'm not suggesting some sort of backlash is forming, or something. But seeing her as a total urine-drinking hardass who builds a super-gun out of many smaller weapons was great.

Just rewatched it again, and noticed this little gem:

"Maybe it's the telescope. You can look into it backwards -- SHRINK YOUR ENEMIES!!"

...Actually, that news IS NOT gay. Cool to hear. (Clicky -- just had to post that, after finding it somewhere else.)

One thing I loved was Jeff high-fiving the priest after Britta said she didn't love him. Just the fact that:

    a) This news would make him high-five somebody;
    b) He choose to high-five the priest; and:
    c) The priest actually high-fived HIM

...makes this beyond hilarious to me. I realize explaining the joke ruins it most of the time, but hey.

(I also liked that the balloons had creepy, half-Jeff/half-Britta faces on them.)

When did I start loving Britta? I don't recall the switch occurring, but I suppose I could be as susceptible to the "Aniston Factor" as everyone else.

It probably doesn't hurt anything that Jacobs seems to have gotten even more gorgeous over the last six months.