Community is a terrible facsimile of what it once was. I don’t want it to come back. I want it to be canceled because knowing it’s out there going through the paces makes me sad.
The common retort I hear is that I don’t have to watch it. This is true. But, for one, I am a big enough fan that, even though I’ve decided it’s not the same show, I probably will keep watching it and I probably will keep getting sadder and sadder.
But this is beside the point. Who cares if I watch it or not? I think, internally, the show should care about itself. I think shows should have enough respect for their own settings and characters to pull the plug when it’s no longer working.
This is about people in creative positions having the sense to move onto a new project. Creativity is by nature meant to be fun and exciting. If you’re repeating ideas and things are getting stale, you should move on for the sake of the project. Otherwise you get the unfortunate situation The Simpsons is in where ideas have run so dry that characters are now routinely completely betraying the things that once defined them (for example, Mr. Burns became a superhero in an episode this season). It’s offensive to fans, but, more than that, it’s offensive to the show when it was at its best.
Barring some kind of miracle (Jim Rash as showrunner, maybe?) I suspect seeing Zombie Community on TV is always going to make me sad. But, ultimately, for me, this isn’t about how a lesser Community is a disservice to the fans. It’s about how it’s a disservice to itself.
I really advice you to stop watching the show. I agree with you it should have been canceled, but you’re not doing any harm to the show by not watching it. In fact it’s a nice gesture to the original show, to stop watching the crap after it.
Maybe Jim Rash will make the show better, and then you can watch it after it all has been filmed. But as you say this isn’t the same show anymore, so there’s really no logic in watching it anymore.
Season 4 has really made me think about why all of it’s crap didn’t work, and may eventually have inspired me by being so incredibly bad as opposed to the original.
BTW, this is a Dutch Cartoonist I really like. It takes a very particulair taste, but maybe you like it: http://www.gummbah.nl/pages/gummbah-the-book.php
I recognize you’re basically right, believe me. I have already separated Community in my head as two different shows: Season 1-3 and then 4 plus whatever other crap comes after.
But I do have an unhealthy fascination with seeing how something I love (or once loved) changes over time, even if it’s for the worse, which is why I’ve, amazingly and masochistically, seen all of The Simpsons. It’s interesting (though also saddening) to study how everything is going wrong probably as much as it is to see something being done incredibly well.
Additionally, Community is one of the only shows I feel I understand deeply enough that it feels worth it to me to contribute (in whatever small way) to the conversation taking place about the show’s current state. I do still enjoy just discussing and analyzing it with people, even if most of that analysis ultimately comes down to negative ranting.
Plus, if I’m still writing for Den of Geek by the time the new season comes out, I get paid a little cash for each episode I review so there’s some small incentive there too…
I liked some of the comics! Some were interesting and had a pretty cool anarchic feel to them. Pretty creepy drawings too.
I share similar unhealthy fascination for things. I watch a lot of comedy simply because I want to analyze it, or something.
But Community was so close to me, similar to what you feel I guess for the show, that I didn’t want to see this version anymore. I thank you, without irony, if you continue watching it. I will probably read you’re reviews to find out if it will be worth the trouble.
Nice you liked some of the cartoons! These btw aren’t the best cartoons of him imo, but somehow he has chosen to put these translations on his site. He has also chosen to color a lot of his black white drawings in his English compilation book, which doesn’t really add to the experience imo.
YO MAN. Posted this on denofgeek also but wow:
http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2013/05/dan-harmon-says-hes-been-asked-to-return-to-community/
Bizarre. And cool.