'Community' Watch: "Conventions of Space and Time"

Troy & Abed together forever! 

When NBC sent out two episodes for TV critics to review for the 4th season this was the episode they sent along with the premiere, perhaps thinking it better than people reading about the 2nd episode being Halloween themed in February,* & of the 3 reviews I read two found the premiere solid but this episode lacking & the other felt the exact opposite. So while the chance to see an episode at an Inspector Spacetime convention, the storyline Dan Harmon said he most wished he'd been able to tell, excited me  my expectations were tempered &, much like the premiere, that led to my enjoying it quite a bit despite some clear shortcomings.

*As someone who knows a number of fellow "Community" nerds & frequents Hitfix & The AV Club's reviews, & reads the well informed comments on those sites as well, I generally expect most "Community" watchers to have a good deal of knowledge both about the show itself & the behind the scenes stuff involving Dan Harmon & the various delays the last 2 seasons. Based on the comments on "Community's" facebook page though I'm apparently quite wrong as a fair number of people were ignorant as to why there was a Halloween episode on Valentine's Day, & even more annoyingly didn't seem to realize Abed's imagined laugh track version of the show in the premiere was part of that episode & nothing more. It seems for all of its fervent, intelligent, fans even "Community" has some ignorant & downright stupid ones just as "The Big Bang Theory" has some smart ones. 

'Community' Watch: "Paranormal Parentage"

Which one of these should I dress up as next year? 

Sitcoms tend to excel at Halloween episodes. From funny costumes, to trick-or-treat, to haunted houses & other horror tropes there's a lot of potential fun to be had with a Halloween episodes but over its first 3 seasons Community clearly established itself as the king of Halloween episodes. The first season's "Introduction to Statistics" was the first great episode (Abed as Batman!) & where the show hit stride. Season two's zombie epidemic, "Epidemiology," is maybe the funniest episode the show's ever done. Last year's "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps" was a fun look at the psyches, & storytelling abilities, of the Greendale Seven. So this episode had a lot to live up to & thus it's no surprise that Megan Ganz, one of the best writers of the last 2 seasons, was handed scripting duties for this episode & she delivered.

'Community' Watch: "History 101"

Community without Dan Harmon still has plenty of sex appeal.

The relationship I have with Community is different from any other sitcom I've had the pleasure of watching. There have been others that I've found funnier (Arrested Development), been totally obsessed with (The Office), that I was with from the beginning even when seemingly no one else was watching (Party Down), or that I even think have a better cast (Parks and Recreation), but there's always been something unique about Community.

 Part of it is simply a a combo of all the above. The darkest timeline in "Remedial Chaos Theory" is the funniest 90 seconds of TV I've ever seen. I may never match my obsession for season 2 of The Office but with Community I haven't been limited to one season in particular, but rather devour all the DVD commentaries & other extras & reading multiple recaps of each episode. That first season of Community I had few, if any people, besides my brother to discuss the show with before finally talking friends into watching it* or finding others who were already streets ahead. & while I'd give Parks brilliant cast** the edge there's not a weak spot in the Community cast.***

*It's possible I've done more facebook posts on "Community" than all other shows combined, I've certainly posted more clips, & that's saying something. 

**This is where I have to remind anyone not watching"Parks" to get their shit together. 

***I've had problems with Pierce &, especially, Chang but that's had much more to do with the writing than Chevy Chase of Ken Jeong's performances. 

Beyond that it's a show that in many ways seems tailor made for me, & other TV/movie geeks, with the many pop culture references, the various theme episodes, & Abed himself whose use of television knowledge to better understand real life is not altogether different than my own thinking. So when Sony announced they had let Den Harmon, the mad genius behind the show, go after last season there were some big questions about the future of this show that I, & a few million others, loved so much.

Super Bowl XLVII Preview!

In this biggest brother versus brother battle since
 the Civil War who will come out on top?

After being teased with it last year, & thankfully avoiding it as a Giants fan, today we get to see the Harbaugh Bowl. As someone with a brother equally obsessed with sports I do find this to be fascinating, but of course you're probably already sick of hearing about them especially since really all most of us want is an exciting game & we could care less about the Harbaugh family dynamics but let me offer my one thought on the issue.

Doesn't this game have to mean more to John? Not just simplistically because it sucks to lose to your younger sibling but because John's been coaching football since 1984. What was Jim doing for many of those years? Playing quarterback in the NFL from 1987-2000 (where he notably was the first player Ray Lewis sacked, & later a teammate of the deer-antler aficionado). You spend decades working your ass off, moving up the coaching ranks, while your brother experiences the glory of being an NFL QB. Then your brother spends just two years as an NFL assistant before getting a college head coaching job & now that you've finally reached the biggest game of your career, what you've been working towards for 28 years, there's your hot headed brother trying to take your glory in just his 2nd season as an NFL head coach. Yea, this game definitely means more to John.

As for the actual teams there's a narrative that they're similar smash mouth, tough defense, run the ball teams & while there's some truth to that it's overly simplistic. Sure they both like to run the ball but the Ravens do so with the great Vonta Leach leading the way at fullback, & never with their quarterback, while the Niners are the two tight end, pistol loving, team that makes running the football seem as exciting as any team without Adrian Peterson can.