Before you ask, no, I'm not linguistically cultured, I just remember seventh grade. On that note, my memories are fleeting, sporadic and often irrelevant. Does anyone else experience this trauma?
Anyway, back to the matter at hand.
When I type "community," I'm not referencing large groups of individuals who live within a very close proximity to each other. Instead, I mean the highly popular and lucrative television series. The negativity of this article will overshadow the opposite, but that's because I don't mean to talk about the things I enjoy. That's easy.
- The Moral - If there is one thing that upsets me about adult television, it's when it, for the sake of adorable hilarity, masquerades as a show that makes serious attempts to teach those watching a valuable lesson. Even worse, if that show integrates the concept into the core of the script, dedicating unnecessary time to the emphasis of said lesson (in a sense, 'drilling' it into the brain of the viewer), I begin to dislike the show as a whole. Community is written in such a way that it doesn't hinge on this principle, however, several episodes do end in this fashion. Some seem to effortlessly save themselves in the face of this catastrophe (citation: Anthropology episode), however many spend too much screen time focusing on a message that anyone with half their cranial filling has retained and understood for decades. The type of epiphany garnered by the characters on Community nearing the end of each episode is not fit for a show of this age-range; the mix of adult, crude humour and moralistic learning curve is kin to oil and water. I'm not saying don't try to educate viewers morally, but if you want to, don't approach it like a caveman, as though everyone watching is a one-legged retard with missing teeth and a sister-mom.
- Theme episodes - Whether or not I've touched on this in previous posts (perhaps, for instance, my stance on Metalocalypse could tie in well here), I feel the need to iterate my hatred for throwaway episodes that focus the attention on a change of, as an example, production style or progression format. Citing the Christmas episode from either season one or two of Community, I question the motives behind making the entirety of the episode a fabrication in the Abed character's mind, and, more importantly, doing it wholly in clay. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy witnessing a director or producer spread their artistic wings in an attempt to be creatively diverse or press their luck at a different medium. What I don't like, however, is when what is essentially a sketch comedy show in a longer format tried to be something is isn't. If I wanted to watch Robot Chicken, I'd blow my brains out with a shotgun and save my eyes/ears the trouble of sitting through it. Additionally (and in relation to my previous argument), the episode revolved completely around Abed's coping with his mom's integration into a family that was not his. In other words, the whole episode was about coping with divorce. Once again, focusing too much and too long on a subject not fit for the audience that the show initially pitched itself to.
- Senor Chang - Put bluntly, there isn't enough of him.
For the time being, these points are the most important reasons I have for not enjoying the show thoroughly. However, I should make clear that I think it's a hilarious experience, it deserves more credit than it gets (from people who aren't on the internet), and the issues I have with it are worth wading through in order to view this sensory gold.
Piss, shit, and dicks.
Just filling my swear quota.
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