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ashpanash posted:I understand the impulse, but why can't we enjoy the different seasons and different feels for what they are? I don't see people saying "Every season of The Wire should have been like season 4." I know it's a lovely comparison but still, there's something to be said for a show that keeps trying something new and different instead of just settling into what is the most popular and churning that out. I want the show to run long enough to have a Rick and Morty crossover a la Archer and Bob's Burgers.
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Apr 19, 2014 04:49
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I do wonder if the show would get better if they got a last concrete season for them to go all out with ending storylines and giving people final closure. It just seems to me like season 3 and 5 both had issues towards the end with trying to make an ending that would work if they got cancelled, but gave them open work to use if they got renewed.
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Apr 19, 2014 04:51
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I get more negative about the finale the more I think about it. It's really soured me on the show for its future. The weirdest part is that this season started so strong, the first half was season 3 quality. But then it just kind of fizzled out into that meh-ness. It used to be that a season of (Dan Harmon run) Community would end with us going "It MUST be brought back! It's Community!" and now we're all kinda like "well, I guess it can come back. Basically just because I don't want THAT to be the ending." Community used to feel like an event to me and now it's "just TV" and that sucks. The characters have gotten wackier, their faults are exaggerated and their positive aspects are basically gone. I mean have we even had a genuine moment of friendship between anyone this season? Or a real Winger speech? Part of it is the shark-jumping cast changes (Although I did really like Buzz Hickey) - that it's just so far removed from what it was without Pierce AND Troy. I kind of wanted to see a proper, satisfying ending for these characters I liked and cared about, but after that I'm not sure Harmon and co. can even do that. I guess it was asteroids.  (Or choose to remember season 3's ending as the end of the show.)
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Apr 19, 2014 05:00
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I wonder what future viewers (in syndication or on the internet) who haven't obsessively followed the production issues of the show will make of things like the characterization shift during, and subsequent treatment of, season 4 or the "whatever doesn't fail" bit at the end there.
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Apr 19, 2014 05:12
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VagueRant posted:The characters have gotten wackier, their faults are exaggerated and their positive aspects are basically gone. I mean have we even had a genuine moment of friendship between anyone this season? Or a real Winger speech? Faults cause conflict, conflict drives plot. Plus, there's not much to explore in a positive aspect unless you exaggerate them to the point of being faults. We know these characters by now and so it's easy to overlook their positive sides. I feel like we had a good moment between Jeff and Duncan, and Abed's farewell to Troy was genuine, just wrapped in Abed's twisted mind. I will grant that we could have explored the tension of Abed and Annie living together a bit more. We had the big choose the next roommate episode, but that theme wasn't expanded in the following episodes. There was no resolution for how they'd manage to live together without a bit of Troy-lube as well. Otherwise, Abed's spinoff speech in the finale might have had more of an impact. VagueRant posted:Part of it is the shark-jumping cast changes (Although I did really like Buzz Hickey) - that it's just so far removed from what it was without Pierce AND Troy. It was missing Troy a lot as he was both comic relief and a foil for Abed. Without him, Abed was an empty character, something they touched on in the season. VagueRant posted:I kind of wanted to see a proper, satisfying ending for these characters I liked and cared about, but after that I'm not sure Harmon and co. can even do that. I guess it was asteroids. That's the drawback to having a show that doesn't know if it's going to be renewed or not. If they knew it was a series finale, they could have given them all the closure you wanted, but since it wasn't, they had to leave something open. Otherwise, if they were to get renewed, it would be like the scrubs spinoff where they had great resolution in the finale and then suddenly we're supposed to pick right back up with some of the same characters (in the few episodes Zach Braff was actually in)?
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Apr 19, 2014 05:25
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kayakyakr posted:Faults cause conflict, conflict drives plot. Plus, there's not much to explore in a positive aspect unless you exaggerate them to the point of being faults. quote:Abed's farewell to Troy was genuine, just wrapped in Abed's twisted mind. quote:It was missing Troy a lot as he was both comic relief and a foil for Abed. Without him, Abed was an empty character, something they touched on in the season. quote:That's the drawback to having a show that doesn't know if it's going to be renewed or not. If they knew it was a series finale, they could have given them all the closure you wanted, but since it wasn't, they had to leave something open. Otherwise, if they were to get renewed, it would be like the scrubs spinoff where they had great resolution in the finale and then suddenly we're supposed to pick right back up with some of the same characters (in the few episodes Zach Braff was actually in)?
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Apr 19, 2014 05:37
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I didn't think the episode was too bad but I think creatively the show is drying up. And that's not to say that there isn't anything left to offer but the last two episodes were weak for me. It just doesn't feel the same. Maybe it's the fact that the season was short and they wanted to ensure they fitted as much inventive stuff as possible but I miss the character based stuff like the pen episode. There just doesn't seem to be room to breath anymore. I think it's a show I'll always watch but I just don't think it's as good anymore.
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Apr 19, 2014 05:38
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VagueRant posted:I get more negative about the finale the more I think about it. It's really soured me on the show for its future. The weirdest part is that this season started so strong, the first half was season 3 quality. But then it just kind of fizzled out into that meh-ness. Weird, I'd say season 5 is a hell of a lot better than 3 because the characters are far less wacky and more deftly handled. I also found it funnier since they didn't rely on popular jokes and self-references as much (the exception being the hot lava episode where they did yet another retread of that stupid "Troy and abed in the morning" poo poo). No inspector spacetime! I liked the season 3 finale but I appreciate that this one goes in a different direction entirely instead of being another "possible emotional closure of entire series but maybe not!" thing.
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Apr 19, 2014 05:39
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kayakyakr posted:Faults cause conflict, conflict drives plot. Plus, there's not much to explore in a positive aspect unless you exaggerate them to the point of being faults. We know these characters by now and so it's easy to overlook their positive sides. I feel like in a sitcom, you can't forget to make the characters engaging and likable in each episode. It's not like a novel where you know the reader has read about your hero saving the puppies before he punches the orphans a hundred pages later, you gotta keep the well refreshed pretty constantly in episodic television, just because of the way it's going to be watched. I dunno. This isn't a complaint I've particularly had with this season but I think it's always important to keep your characters redeemable, too many shows slide into empty cynicism for the sake of comedy.
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Apr 19, 2014 05:48
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Eh I thought it was great. And I hope they get a season six because I'll enjoy that as well, and because it amuses me when people say they want a show to be canceled just because they aren't enjoying it. Very selfish.
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Apr 19, 2014 06:23
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ashpanash posted:I understand the impulse, but why can't we enjoy the different seasons and different feels for what they are? I don't see people saying "Every season of The Wire should have been like season 4." I know it's a lovely comparison but still, there's something to be said for a show that keeps trying something new and different instead of just settling into what is the most popular and churning that out. There's something to be said about a comedy that succeeds at trying something new and different, but Community in the last few years has been either downright mediocre and unfunny or a self-indulgent mess...that was also unfunny. There's a whole litany of reasons why I think Community has been on a perpetual downhill slide since season 2 and it's not like you can blame Harmon or anyone else really, it's just a confluence of several factors: -Low ratings lead to Sony slashing budgets which lead to fewer, smaller sets and no location shooting -Dan Harmon literally blew his storytelling wad sometime between seasons 2 and 3 -A high degree of writing staff turnover throughout the show's run But I think a huge part of why it all falls apart is actually the departure of the Russo brothers from producing and directing roles on the show. Both Joe and Anthony left the show halfway through season 3 and they have a pretty distinctive style when it comes to visual presentation (a style they carried over into the early seasons of Happy Endings). Joe returned to direct 2 episodes this season, the lava one and the D&D one and I think people enjoyed those episodes. Both Community and Happy Endings seemed to lose some cohesiveness when those guys left to do other projects. I think something like the Asscrack Bandit episode would've worked a lot better with those guys producing/directing the show, because they probably would've done a much better job of nailing the Fincher look than any other director the she was working with at the time.
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Apr 19, 2014 06:48
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This thread always surprises me in the number of people that pop out that I vehemently disagree with.
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Apr 19, 2014 15:20
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I liked it, I hope there is another season. My only real complaint is that Shirley is so underused.
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Apr 19, 2014 15:39
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I liked it but I'm kind of done with Chang. His appearance this episode made me realize I've seen everything his character has to offer and he isn't funny anymore. I get it, he's wacky and insane.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:06
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She appeared less in this season than Pierce, who literally did not appear.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:16
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Kuiperdolin posted:She appeared less in this season than Pierce, who literally did not appear. Well he did once, but I'm pretty sure she got less screentime/lines than Troy did and he left in the 5th episode.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:19
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ThatPazuzu posted:I liked it but I'm kind of done with Chang. His appearance this episode made me realize I've seen everything his character has to offer and he isn't funny anymore. I get it, he's wacky and insane.
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Apr 19, 2014 16:47
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computer parts posted:Well he did once, but I'm pretty sure she got less screentime/lines than Troy did and he left in the 5th episode. Not appear in person if you prefer... Nevermind Troy, it just dawned on me she has had probably less focus than Starburns.
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Apr 19, 2014 20:55
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Chang is funny when he's a crazy and antagonistic member of the group. When he becomes a crazy antagonistic antagonist it turns to poo poo.
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Apr 19, 2014 21:40
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Case in point: Ben 'Bear Down for Midterms' Chang vs. Ben 'Changlorious Bastards' Chang. 
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Apr 19, 2014 21:52
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umalt posted:Case in point: Ben 'Bear Down for Midterms' Chang vs. Ben 'Changlorious Bastards' Chang. And yet somehow Chang and the locker boys worked out really well.
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Apr 19, 2014 21:57
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Paracelsus posted:I wonder what future viewers (in syndication or on the internet) who haven't obsessively followed the production issues of the show will make of things like the characterization shift during, and subsequent treatment of, season 4 or the "whatever doesn't fail" bit at the end there. Unless you're talking about a really long time scale (in which case most of the pop-culture and in-joke heavy--remember Gwynnifer?--early seasons won't make any sense), I think most people are aware that NBC is doing poorly without even having to watch the show. And I've met people who thought season 4 sucked that didn't know about the showrunner change so the "gas leak year" jokes will still work, you just don't get the subtext of Harmon insulting Guarascio and Port. Come to think of it, all future viewers will miss about those jokes is the knowledge that what seems like meta self-deprecation is actually Harmon bitterly insulting random Twitterers, other showrunners, and employers.
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Apr 19, 2014 22:27
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emoticon posted:Come to think of it, all future viewers will miss about those jokes is the knowledge that what seems like meta self-deprecation is actually Harmon bitterly insulting random Twitterers, other showrunners, and employers. It is? Or are you joking?
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Apr 19, 2014 22:43
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V-Men posted:And yet somehow Chang and the locker boys worked out really well. Locker boys was a two minute scene as opposed to a season-long story arc.
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Apr 19, 2014 23:21
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Space Cadet Omoly posted:It is? Or are you joking? poo poo like "streets ahead" was directly lifted from some internet drama but we haven't really seen that in two or three seasons.
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Apr 19, 2014 23:22
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Streets ahead is a real saying that old people use.
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Apr 20, 2014 00:24
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Heroic Yoshimitsu posted:I liked this finale and the season as a whole! It was good and I enjoyed myself! You're alright, Yoshimitsu.
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Apr 20, 2014 00:55
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ETB posted:To be fair, I think the show did really well having lost two of their main cast in one season. The inclusion of John Oliver and Jonathan Banks also showed how strong the writing can be with existing and new characters. If anything there wasn't enough John Oliver. I love that man.
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Apr 20, 2014 01:14
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VagueRant posted:There's also been something off with the way Pudi has been playing him. He's been smiling more and been more like a generic zany sitcom character. I'm glad someone else brought this up. I noticed abed was smiling and generally acting very differently to his usual character the last half of this season. Very irritating.
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Apr 20, 2014 02:11
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therobotking posted:I'm glad someone else brought this up. I noticed abed was smiling and generally acting very differently to his usual character the last half of this season. Very irritating. Blame Nicholas Cage. He broke Abed. (seriously, I've felt that he's been playing Abed as if he was slightly unhinged, barely hanging on. Certain things bring him back to the real world, like the lack of story. Otherwise he's putting on a face, trying to stay attached to the world).
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Apr 20, 2014 02:37
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I've taken it that Abed no longer has his anchor/mediator/social skills coach/best friend Troy, so he's flailing a bit and possibly acting out. He has been a bit more angry in the last few episodes. He just needs to find some footing again.
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Apr 20, 2014 08:18
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computer parts posted:poo poo like "streets ahead" was directly lifted from some internet drama but we haven't really seen that in two or three seasons. Partly, but it works because it's also partly just that Harmon found something in real life that was ridiculous and amusing to him and put it in show as something ridiculous and amusing. That works. That's writing. And yeah, 'streets ahead' isn't a particularly uncommon phrase in the UK/AUS/NZ in the same context as 'miles ahead' or 'light-years ahead'.
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Apr 20, 2014 13:04
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This finale was heads and shoulders above the season 3 finale, which completely squandered its darkest time line and AC school plots in an underwhelming fizzle. The season 4 finale should never be discussed or brought up. I actually liked the school board guys this time around. A lot of humor crammed into 30 minutes.
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Apr 21, 2014 19:46
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So....the world is destroyed by an asteroid huh?
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Apr 21, 2014 20:29
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I feel like everyone talking about how this season was a let-down and Community's not worth saving anymore are remembering three or four mediocre episodes at the end and not eight or nine episodes before that where we were all posting oh my god, guys, Community is back every week.
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Apr 21, 2014 20:57
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Apr 21, 2014 21:20
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What happened to Alison Brie in that last picture? How much Photoshop did the creator think was needed, considering you're already covering her face with text? Also the finale was a surreal, absurd delight reminiscent of the weirdest parts of Season 3 and very much what I watch Community for. I'm not big on "heart"; I prefer the shadow of death hanging over this sitcom purgatory the characters can almost perceive.
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Apr 21, 2014 22:04
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Ha, Shirley left out again. Must have been busy with her three kids.
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Apr 21, 2014 22:35
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YOU DON'T GET STARRING STORYLINES WITH THREE KIDS
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Apr 21, 2014 22:39
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Here you go: 
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