Community celebrates its (apparently real) return!

Will Community actually return on February 7 as NBC has promised us, or will this be another October 19 situation? (By the way, NBC, thanks for totally ruining by birthday by cruelly yanking my Community away!) Only time will tell, but this epic Steve Porter remix of moments from the show's third season is good news.



You tried to destroy Community, NBC, but you only made it... MORE AWESOME!

Community recap: Blorgons and bitterness

"Urban Matrimony and Sandwich Arts" wasn't the type of over-the-top, completely bonkers episode, like "Remedial Chaos Theory" or "Modern Warfare" that gets fans and viewers salivating over how great the show is. It was more akin to two of my personal favorites, "Critical Film Studies" or "Mixology Certification" - a half-hour that was firmly grounded in reality, focused on character development and redolent with the pain of these people who have all, in some way or another, had their dreams snatched away from them.

That's not to say the episode wasn't funny, because it contained some truly great comic set pieces; Jeff and Britta's drunken mock-wedding was a highlight, and Gillian Jacobs and Joel McHale played the hell out of it. And there was a good amount of bonkers as well, mostly provided by Troy and Abed's hilarious attempt at normalcy. But the episode was really centered on four characters - Shirley, Pierce, Jeff and Britta - coming to realizations that they haven't ended up where they wanted to be in life, and trying to come to terms with who they are now.

Here's a trailer for the return of Community, if you're interested

You may not have heard, but Community is coming back on March 15 at 8:00 pm. And because NBC knows that you probably aren't excited by that news, they have thoughtfully prepared this epically fantastic trailer to help get you in the right frame of mind. (Apologies for the lower-quality trailer, but the official one from E!'s website is permanently set on autoplay, and it's annoying.)

I don't currently have any coherent thoughts on this trailer, because there is too much awesome here for my brain to process. So I will simply provide a list of some of the amazing things that happen in the mind-blowing two minutes and thirty seconds.

• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-inspired font and structure. That trailer has been almost as good to the comedy business as the Republican primary.
• The look on Troy's face as the study group is told they've been expelled, because it promises Donald Glover crying.
• Annie suggesting that getting a C is the equivalent of getting pregnant at a bus station.
• Annie and Shirley's "awww" at the tiny riot gear, followed by their "aaah!" at a man getting pepper sprayed.

Let's renew Community so that Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs stop crying

Source.

This Daily Beast interview with the women of Community - cast members Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie and Yvette Nicole Brown and writer Megan Ganz - is fascinating for a number of reasons. They address issues of slut shaming, infantilization as sexiness, rape jokes and teenage girls on film with a great blend of candor, humor and charm. All gets overshadowed, however, when first Jacobs and then Brie break down in tears when discussing the possibility of cancellation. My whole brain is crying just reading it.

We have officially exited the darkest timeline

There's not much more to add. In celebration, the pencil TV's goatee will be coming off, because we no longer need to break into a better timeline. Six seasons and a movie!

UPDATE: Alright, there are some things to add. For information about how Community's return affects NBC's Thursday night lineup, check out Splitsider.

NBC's casts band together in a fantastic Super Bowl Promo

Suppose you're an actor from a show on a network whose ratings are tanking faster than the GOP's enthusiasm for Newt Gingrich. Suppose that your network has one property - NFL Football - that's keeping it afloat enough that your show can continue, even though there are less people in your audience than cast members on your show. You would want to celebrate that event, wouldn't you? Well, if you are on an NBC series, you would, and you would do it with song and dance.

This promo, like so many NBC productions, is weird, fantastic, and totally alienating to its target demographic. I'm prepared to assume that there is not a huge overlap between people who enjoy sharp, self-deprecating parodies of famous Broadway numbers and people who want to watch Tom Brady either crush or get crushed by the Giants. (And no, liking the Family Guy "Shipoopie" number doesn't put you in the first category.) There are moments when NBC seems more like a niche cable network than a big four station, and at this point they should probably just embrace that.

It's also a little puzzling that the cast of Community plays such a prominent role, given the show's recent disappearance from the primetime lineup. Maybe the screen time given to the adorable, talented cast, in combination with a brief, listless shot of the leads from Are You There, Chelsea? and Whitney (seriously, the gang from SVU was having more fun), is a sign that the study group is poised to return to the airwaves. Oh, and did anyone else find it weird that the only people who didn't sing were the successful, chart-topping singers on The Voice's judges panel? And that, right after Jenna Maroney and Jack Donaghy sang their lines celebrating mediocrity, the cast of Smash was introduced?

Besides a few perplexing bits, however, the ad was great fun. The stars of Up All Night and Parks and Recreation were almost as charming as the Community cast, and it was nice to see the hosts of Today perform with their late-night antithesis, the cast of Saturday Night Live. I'm hoping that Katrina Bowden's appearance as the scantily-clad Cerie is a sign of her imminent return to 30 Rock, because I was just wondering where she had gone. And the tag, starring a tap-dancing Jimmy Fallon, was a lovely ending. Here's hoping that next year he'll make it in time.

Whitney Cummings wants you to be nice to Lana Del Rey

Photo courtesy of ComedyCentral.com.

The most hated woman on television (well, besides Nancy Grace) is defending the most hated woman in music on the basis that people shouldn't say unkind things about the hot, talentless girls who are just trying to entertain us.

“I’m not saying support bad music or that she deserved to be there or anything—not my call,” Cummings wrote, but continued that she feels everyone should “cut some slack” not only because Lana Del Rey is a performer and “performing is FUCKING HARD,” but also because Lana Del Rey is a woman, and women are judged according to the sort of sexist standards and well-worn clichés that form the basis of certain entire sitcoms. “If you’re a pretty woman you’re accused of having plastic surgery and if you’re not you’re ‘busted’ and people blog about how they don’t want to fuck you ... it’s not ideal,” Cummings says, the ellipsis signaling a 30-second pause for the laugh track. Cummings then adds, “Something about this girl brings out the petty in us. Her quick rise? Her pretty face? Something is pissing people off about this girl”—still talking about Lana Del Rey and definitely not projecting.

In fact, Cummings sees this as a learning experience, one that serendipitously could be applied to all performers who might have been on the receiving end of ridicule just for being a pretty girl whose sudden stardom is inversely proportional to her actual talents, whoever they might be. “I just think whether someone sucks or someone doesn’t we should be kinder to them,” Cummings says (most likely intending to insert the word “mean” in there and also “shouldn’t,” corrections we offer in the spirit of kindness). “I think we should be encouraging and patient,” she concludes. (via The AV Club)

This anecdote is a great illustration of the major reason that Cummings drives me insane. She constantly falls back on accusations of sexism in an attempt to silence her critics, because apparently the only explanation for disliking Cummings or Del Rey is sexism. Worse than that, though, is the narrative that she spins about the difficulties of getting taken seriously as an attractive girl in the entertainment industry. Making these claims really just demonstrates that Cummings can't take criticism. So Whitney, know this: if your show gets cancelled, it is not because you are pretty. It is because your show is terrible, and because NBC finally came to their senses and replaced you with Community. #SixSeasonsAndAMovie!

Community's Christmas special is going to knock your stockings off!

I love Christmas. I really do. There's something about twinkling lights, festive window displays and decorated pine trees that strips away my usual detached cynicism and replaces it with wonder and joy. Basically, it turns me from a Jeff Winger into an Abed Nadir (or maybe a Troy Barnes, or an Annie Edison. Depends on the day). Which is why I get so excited at the prospect of a Christmas-themed TV episode, especially when that episode is a half-hour of Community.



It might seem like Community couldn't possibly top last year's funny, charming and very bittersweet stop-motion adventure "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas," but this clip is more than promising. From Abed's plan to help Troy, a Jehovah's Witness, celebrate Christmas as a secret agent who is trying to bring down the holiday, to Donald Glover's fantastic rapping, to the continued campaign to point out how terrible Glee is, there is nothing in this clip that I don't adore. I am so excited about this that I forgot for a second that this is the last episode that will air before Community's indeterminate hiatus. (Oh god, now I remembered, and I'm all kinds of sad).

TV gods, I only want one thing for Christmas, and that is a fantastic holiday episode of Community. However, I think Dan Harmon and the cast have that covered, so if you could find a nice spot on NBC's midseason schedule for the best comedy on television, that would be great too. We have to save Christmas to save our friends! (In that extremely opaque, labored metaphor, saving Christmas is making everyone we've ever met watch Community tomorrow night, which will save our favorite study group friends. So let's save Christmas!)

Don't let saving Community distract you from saving Fringe!

Photo courtesy of digitalspy.com.

I know that everyone is focused on some extremely upsetting news we all got earlier in the week about Community. And I know that, right now, we're all really focused on banding together, saving the show, and reading the ultimate goal of six seasons and a movie. But we can't forget about the other fantastic, innovative, ratings-challenged shows on the air. Like, say, Fringe.

"Wallflower," last night's fall finale, was a great episode of television with plenty of moving moments, character development, and a great final twist courtesy of Ms. Nina Sharp. Last night's episode contained some fantastic performances as well, particularly on the part of Seth Gabel. The newly-promoted series regular did great work as Lincoln Lee, a man trying to balance the twin stresses of his new job, his disintegrating worldview, and his fragile connection to Olivia. The final scene where he waits for her in an all-night diner and she doesn't show is heartbreaking, an emotion which is quickly replaced by shock when the reason for Olivia's no-show is revealed.

This week's case was also beautifully handled. Some reviews criticized the Fringe team's pursuit of an escaped genetic experiment - the wallflower of the title - as being too simple, but I felt that the simplicity allowed for young Eugene's sad story to take center-stage. The poor guy just wanted to be seen - another moment that, like last week's superb central mystery, was written so that it was applicable to so many characters - and his final moments of life, in which he carries on a simple conversation with a woman in the elevator before dying, was beautifully handled. The plight of the invisible man could be applied to Lincoln, waiting for Olivia to notice him; Peter, kept from interacting with the outside world to which he doesn't belong; Walter, holed up in his lab; and, finally, Olivia, who doesn't know the real nature of her relationship with Nina, her importance as a test subject, or even why she keeps getting migraines.

Unfortunately for everyone, the wallflower storyline can also be applied to Fringe itself, which continued its ratings death spiral last night. The fact that both Fringe and Community turned in some of their best episodes this week, as they rest on the brink of cancellation, is very disheartening to those of us who deeply love these shows, and who just want to see where their brilliant writers and actors can take them in the future. So, let's keep saving Community, but let's not forget about saving Fringe. Sign this petition. Join the Facebook Group. And, above all, keep watching, writing, and talking.

Help Save 'Community'!

Help save Community, or Alison Brie will kill you with paintballs. Photo courtesy of cnn.com.

I know that, like me, many of you are upset about the recent news regarding Community; specifically, the news that everyone's favorite study group will be going on an "indefinite hiatus" after Christmas. (And, as we all learned from the most recent season of 30 Rock, this kind of "forced hiatus" means that everyone needs to start working on their back-up plans, be they stand-up comedy or substitute teaching.) Now, this doesn't necessarily mean that Community will be canceled, but it's not good. At all.

However, there are things you can do about this! First of all, you should visit save-community.com, sign their petition, and then browbeat all your friends until they do the same. (If you're a Community fan, I'm sure they're used to it by now, and they'll probably just sigh quietly and do what you ask.) Then - and this is the most important part - sit down in front of your TV on Thursday at 8:00 and watch the show. Watch it live, on television, if you can; if not, watch it on Hulu or buy it on iTunes. Do everything you can to let NBC know that you watch the show and that you love it.

You can also send letters to NBC. Seriously. If they start getting enough letters, there is always a chance it will have an effect. Write to the network (yes, write, with a pen, on paper), and tell them why you love the show. Tell them about your Community Halloween costumes, viewing parties, blog posts, anything. Show them that you care. You may not think it helps, but knowing that the show has a fervent, invested fanbase is the sort of things that network executives (sometimes) take into account. Just read Maureen Ryan's piece about Community if you don't believe me, and send a letter to NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, care of NBC Universal, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA 91608. So, put on your darkest timeline felt goatees, and let's get to work! I already have.

Watching the show and writing letters might be more important, but darkest timeline goatees are FUN.