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Re: season 1 - I don't know if it's the best but I think the debate episode (subplot is Abed's show predicting the group. Shirley is going to die by werewolf!) is the first GREAT episode that shows how good the show can be.
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Dec 24, 2013 20:30
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fez_machine posted:I think the worst thing for Pierce was that he started off as a strong Dan Harmon analogue, he literally draws a story circle in the second episode, but then all that attention shifted to Abed, leaving him without much of a character. So rather than being the Dan Harmon type who has crazy ideas, alienates people through insensitive comments, and then redeems himself through a brutal honesty and passion, he became racist and old, literally the only character traits the writers seemed to draw on when required to make a joke. I remember viewing the first episode of season 2, and seeing how they introduced Pierce again and thinking to myself "oh, pierce is just old jokes now". I would really like it if he came back for one scene just to give us a bit of closure. Killing him off off-screen is a little...Much. At the end of the day, even when underwritten and even with all the problems Chevy Chase brought - he was part of the show we all loved. Season 2 needed that villain.
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Dec 26, 2013 08:20
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Can I just remind everyone how great the season 2 Christmas special was? I know it's divisive, but you can't tell me that final song isn't the ultimate beautiful description of modern Christmas. (Down to the self-destructing pterodactyl) And season 3 gave us Christmas infiltration, which was also amazing. Hell, season 1's Christmas ep gave us the aforementioned Forrest Whittaker eye. And a Christmas melee to a Florence and the Machine song. I'd really like it if the thread title could just celebrate the fact the dude who gave us all that is coming back and that we're all hopeful (and bracing for disappointment!). After all, t'is still the season where the longest, coldest, darkest nights can be the warmest and brightest. 
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Dec 27, 2013 14:44
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Ludwig Gorannson (the show's composer) released a medley of tunes that wasn't on the original soundtrack. (He still has yet to release the tunes from Fistful of Paintballs though!) It is both awesome, uplifting and amazingly nostalgic. (for something that is 4 years old) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzdJFyHM5cc This show. 
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Dec 29, 2013 00:49
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I just saw that the writers of season 4 did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit about a year ago and it's kind of heartbreaking to see nice, funny human beings associated with that garbage.  quote:Q: Is there any episode or scene that you wish you could have a redo, because you were never satisfied with how it read or because you came up with an alternate punchline that worked way better?
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Dec 31, 2013 12:08
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That was about what I realistically expected and I am happy with that. Definitely better than season 4. More quality, rapid-fire jokes than the entirety of the previous season. Some good character stuff. Mike from Breaking Bad was pretty cool. But overall, I'd say it was the quality of some lesser season 3 episodes, with the "wackiness" and some of the lines. I thought the Scrubs voiceover was a little much and the Magnitude line in the first episode was meh. But it's honestly nice just to see good jokes again. (So many lines and exchanges that I expect to see giffed all over the tumblrs.) And the idea of improving Greendale instead of moving away from it is a great move. Davros1 posted:I mean, did Troy suffer brain damage? Or has he always been that stupid? "You faked a robot fight?" And yes, how dare they have Pierce grow and change but ultimately stay true to his character in a line that was endearing and funny? (Even if the hologram thing was really really stupid)
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Jan 3, 2014 04:17
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"That's like me blaming owls for how much I suck at analogies" is funnier than anything in the previous season.  (The very shadowy lighting is a bit weird though. I still miss when Greendale looked clean and spacious.)
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Jan 3, 2014 05:01
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Just rewatched the episodes (now they're all nice and HD on the official NBC website - gotta love that) and thought they were even better. There's a few tonally jarring, overly-wacky bits (the Scrubs voiceover, the Dean's French song, the existence of that kind of hologram technology) but for the most part it is pretty old style and character-centric. Plus, in a higher quality and on a TV screen, the dark lighting was not an issue at all in the second episode, it did look more like season 1 and 2. The show has become a weird monument to Dan Harmon's circles with the chart in the study room, Jeff's circle of truth, Abed's Nick Cage wheel. I also like that in introducing a 'new' character they haven't made the mistake of going "let's make the first episode ALL about the new character so our audience know them better!" (Which makes the audience HATE the new character because they came here to see the original people: Coupling, Just Shoot Me, etc.) And the dialogue is back to being so fast paced and joke-after-joke that there are quality little lines you miss first time through. Troy: Will I get to be a surprise witness? Wait, don't tell me.
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Jan 5, 2014 16:53
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Yeah, it's diegetic but it's still jarring. I didn't really find it funny, just kind of hack to end the episode on a recycled JD voiceover.
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Jan 5, 2014 19:10
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I didn't like that line too much. Like, Chevy aside, does no one in the study group have any affection for Pierce after three years?PriorMarcus posted:It was newly recorded by Zach Braff just for the episode.
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Jan 6, 2014 04:58
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Oh my god, that was Paul F Tompkins of Comedy Bang Bang fame? Whaaat? (I was freaked out when I recognised Hal Rudnick of YouTube's ScreenJunkies in the last ep of season 3) PriorMarcus posted:According to Alan Sepinwall the Zach Braff voice over was a new recording.
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Jan 7, 2014 19:43
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Hate to be that guy, but I thought this was the weakest episode so far. It wasn't bad, but it didn't really do anything for me. It definitely referenced movies pretty well, but it didn't really do anything with them. The jokes weren't super funny. Still better than season 4 though. Low season 3 quality. I wish they'd set up Pierce being banned from campus in the repilot too.
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Jan 10, 2014 06:59
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Apparently Annie promised to stop the rear end crack bandit way back in season 2's election episode. (And Reddit thinks ACB is Pierce.  They also normalised the pitch of the voice message - it just sounds like some generic guy. But some think it sounds like Todd.)
VagueRant fucked around with this message at 08:14 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 07:56
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Oh and backwards Chang was probably my favourite part of the episode.
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Jan 10, 2014 14:23
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I'm all for seeing more of the group's personal lives, but I don't like the idea of them getting away from Greendale - it's their own little Springfield. The gang all meeting up at a coffee shop just wouldn't be the same. Bown posted:ohhhh yeah I remember that now. The really super-serious monologue where he talked about his younger self self-harming that came out of absolutely nowhe-you know what I think Harmon had a point with his comments about that episode It never occurred to me that that part was kind of terrible. But I remember kind of liking the way they handled some of the stuff with Jeff's father. Macdeo Lurjtux posted:I thought something similar came up earlier than that. Back in season 2(?) when Chang was living with him and Duncan came over for MU Real Madrid game.
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Jan 12, 2014 12:31
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Bown posted:Yeah, I was kidding that his comments were acceptable. He said it was like watching his family being held down and raped on a park bench.
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Jan 13, 2014 07:52
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The tag was kind of funny, but "the way Pierce died" was a grotesque and incredibly cheap joke. Also bummed out that he had so little good to say/give to Aybed. But a funny episode anyway.
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Jan 17, 2014 06:06
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Another possible callback: (Are we allowed to link to tumblr images or does that count as hotlinking?) absolutely anything posted:So he died like he lived then. EDIT: also I can't believe I only just noticed the ship Troy is sailing away on is called the Childish Tycoon. VagueRant fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 07:18
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I forgot how much I missed Chang dressing "like a Cuban cab driver". Which then makes me think how cool would it be if they brought Rich back. Mike From Breaking Bad is confirmed to be in every episode after this one, right? Also y'all are crazy. There are still no good episodes in season 4. (Sure, it was fun to see Jim Rash playing Jeff - but tell me a single joke or funny line from that episode. There's nothing in the entire season that compares to something like "If I wanted the government in my uterus, I'd fill it with oil and Hispanic voters.")
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Jan 19, 2014 06:33
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Yeah, that did feel a little too much. It's a nice sentiment though. Also apparently Aimee Mann (formerly of Jeff and Britta's marriage song) specially recorded that cover of Come Sail Away at the end. (And it was set up in season by the line at the start of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTCL6f5YtDQ)
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Jan 24, 2014 08:12
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Chalk me up as another guy that thought it was the weakest episode of the season. Still funny, but totally skippable and did nothing with the characters, save for maybe Hickey. They fat dogged this one. What's with all the Brie Larson love? She was cool in Scott Pilgrim and she's okay in this... Edit: oh and it's really weird that a guy played by Nathan Fillion exists in a universe where Chang's celebrity crush is Nathan Fillion. (And Abed and Troy loved Firefly.)
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Jan 31, 2014 07:40
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The reason they couldn't just say Game of Thrones is because they can't exactly put big book spoilers for Game of Thrones/ASOIAF on TV. Come on. (Although I wonder if it will also factor into the new D&D episode.)
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Feb 2, 2014 06:34
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I don't understand why y'all care so much about that. Also when the hell is the show coming back? My life is so rubbish right now that Community was genuinely the highlight of my week.
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Feb 21, 2014 05:48
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Yeesh, last two eps haven't been great. I hope they swing this back around. Some funny Duncan content at least. Although JOliver seems to be playing it extra Britishly lately.
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Feb 28, 2014 05:49
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I had mixed feelings on this one. What was the actual point of hiring Brian Posehn, by the way? He didn't even have a line. Why not give that job to an extra? Oh and what was the "Tim and Eric" joke I must have missed that y'all were posting about? Maxwell Lord posted:I feel like we haven't seen much Annie this season, actually.
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Mar 7, 2014 05:21
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Olivia42 posted:This episode didn't really do much for me. I never watched G.I. Joe, or had any knowledge about it except a few toy commercials here and there. Most of the jokes went over my head and I had no nostalgia factor to fall back on. Usually this show is good about having plenty of humor or storyline for when you're unfamiliar with the source material, but this time it just didn't.
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Apr 4, 2014 03:09
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I think I didn't like this one. Nice to see I'm not the only one who isn't too sure what to make of it. A part of me wonders if the episode is less an allegory for Dan Harmon running out of steam and maybe more an allegory for season 4? I don't even know. I was fine with Jeff and Britta Ross-and-Rachelling again, but the whole marriage thing was really forced and terrible. Then again, does it make sense given Jeff's last episode? Hrmm. All I know is the Abed parts were terrible.
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Apr 11, 2014 04:58
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Season 2 is probably my favourite season of television ever, so the show has earned some serious cred in my eyes. It was the funniest show, joke-after-joke style since Friends, I really care about the characters and the first two seasons had great little moments of friendship and heart reminiscent of some of the best stuff Scrubs did but on a more personal level, it does far more interesting stuff and goes higher concept than pretty much anything else in its genre AND it's made by people who know and love television, for people who know and love television, with all the knowing winks and nods to clichés as it goes. Plus incredible cast, the best (most OCD) production department and little things like this network sitcom having some of the coolest action sequences and beautiful shots on TV in those first two years. Downside is I'm talking almost entirely about the first two seasons here. Season 3 got too wacky, weirdly aimless and started recycling a lot of ideas - but was still funny. Season 4 was incredibly boring and unfunny and proved that Dan Harmon was pretty much the central nervous system of the show. And season 5 so far has been a return to the funny and despite a strong start and Buzz Hickey being a really good character - it hasn't quite lived up to the heartwarming aspect of the first two seasons. (Other than Troy's goodbye.) Probably on the same level as season 3 though. So yeah, those are my feelings on a TV show? P.S. I can't stand Rick and Morty.
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Apr 12, 2014 14:21
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I hated that. There was one or two funny lines, but otherwise that poo poo was season 4 quality. Like if those writers had Abed literally look at the camera like that, people would have been soooo mad.mclast posted:I watched co-operative calligraphy this morning [I'll make yo rear end sense] and Shirley's lack of screentime this season is my #1 complaint with it.
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Apr 18, 2014 04:43
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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 04:00
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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 04:37
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Just a few years ago, I was obsessed about this show like no other show. Season 2 is the greatest season of television ever and between that and season 1, this show is technically one of the best shows ever made and possibly the greatest sitcom... It finally gets cancelled, and I didn't really feel anything. Season 5 had a great start but really petered out and the only reason I didn't want it cancelled was because I didn't want that sucky finale to be The End. I don't want the show to get another season on Amazon or Netflix or whatever. And I doubt it will. But I would absolutely be for them doing some kind of special or movie - if they could do it right (which I don't even know) - just to give the characters a proper conclusion and give the fans a sense of real non-asteroid based closure.
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May 10, 2014 04:54
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I honestly don't know what to make of the news. I'm glad the show is going to get another chance at an ending, but man it really dropped in quality halfway through last season. Sucks that Donald Glover ain't coming back, I know that much.
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Jul 1, 2014 14:20
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Man, with all the news about the show coming back I kept wondering if they were going to bring back Pierce. I had completely forgotten that they'd killed off the character, partially due to all the distraction about Chevy Chase but also because the show did such a weird, unemotional, cheap, crummy sendoff for that character.  I would be totally fine with them just retconning him back to life or revealing he elaborately faked his death to avoid taxes. Also regarding show length, it's SUPER weird to me that the digital and commercial-less model of TV still has standard episode lengths at all. Like why aren't these shows just as long or short as they need to be when they CAN be.
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Jul 9, 2014 08:43
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Yeah, the one that ends with "that character you spent three great years with accidentally and grotesquely masturbated to death haha end credits". This isn't Rick and Morty, like goddamn. (Plus while he got some nice parting words for characters through Walton Goggins, he had no real goodbye for Aybed and that kinda sucks.)
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Jul 9, 2014 08:50
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They're not even going to try and get Pierce back, are they? ...of SCIENCE! posted:For people who don't feel like clicking through nine ad-filled pages:
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Jul 25, 2014 06:18
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Season 5 bloopers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQl1rILWQbw That might seem fun and charming, but even the bloopers have drastically lowered in quality since the majestic heights of season 1 and furthermore
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Aug 6, 2014 18:13
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Reminds me how much they used death as a punchline in season 3 (Pierce's father, Ted off-screen, Star-Burns) and how much it hosed up the tone of the show. Basically I hope they don't do that.
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Jan 13, 2015 21:25
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Season 5 is one half season 3 quality and one half season 4 quality.
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Feb 9, 2015 06:17
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Am I the only one who was super disappointed and is now super worried? I didn't think any of that was funny (okay, that's not true, the exchanged look at "New Shirley" was a laugh) and it looked like some season 4 level wackiness for the sake of wackiness. Keith David didn't seem to fit the vibe and Abed said a Big Bang Theory catchphrase. There wasn't any sign of the characterisation I like or anything super interesting. The mid-season 3 trailer was way more interesting than this. And why the gently caress is a TRAILER region locked?! SunshineDanceParty posted:Yeah they said they were going back to the outdoor shots at the school from season 1. Great change.
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Mar 3, 2015 20:51
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