i love community. i watched it initially because i work at a community college and it had me from the start. i do wish they would get john oliver in more episodes. i thought he was pretty funny in his scenes with ken jeong in the pilot and also the episode where abed ruins the psych experiment was pretty good with him in it.
Well I started watching this show at the recommendations of this thread and after 13 episodes I have to say I'm SHOCKED anyone would say this is even close to being as funny as Arrested Development. Community is built for people with zero attention span and is completely 1 dimensional. The writing is predictable and poorly crafted so you really don't care about the main characters at all. Well except for Abed who holds some interest.
With that being said I am sure it will have enough followers to at least carry Community to the next season (I'm guessing) but it will get boring for the majority very soon as the "shtick" each character has can only last so long.
Modern Family is a much more rounded and thought out comedy, however, it still doesn't come close to Arrested Development. The writing style and character development is way ahead of most comedy shows airing today. I may be bias to:
Last edited by To Be Quite Honest; 05-13-2010 at 10:08 PM.
I understand that much about what the intentions of the writers might be, I simply don't find the humour funny, personally.
As for using the wrong cliches, if that's indeed done on purpose, then it's just really unfunny to me. I'm going to write something now where I characterize an Indonesian character with Chinese cliches. I expect it won't be funny at all.
Cliche's or opposites makes it "easy" to write, and simple for the viewers to understand. One of the reasons this show will be picked up again next year.
This is also one of the reasons Arrested Development failed. It was written too well and was too complicated or layered for the majority of viewers. Damn shame. One thing is for sure, Arrested Development raised the bar for comedy. Without it Community would be a 4/10 instead of a 6.5/10.
Well I started watching this show at the recommendations of this thread and after 13 episodes I have to say I'm SHOCKED anyone would say this is even close to being as funny as Arrested Development. Community is built for people with zero attention span and is completely 1 dimensional. The writing is predictable and poorly crafted so you really don't care about the main characters at all. Well except for Abed who holds some interest.
Actually, I did come off a bit prickish there. I basically said people who like that show are stupid and that is wrong and I'm sorry for that. I do however believe that we need to get picky. Community has potential, but it is just coasting through with a C average. If we look at comedy right now it is VASTLY better than the 90's and earlier. There were always gems like Larry Sanders, Dream On, etc but until the audience actually starts adjusting and demanding more than a C, it's pretty much all we are going to get. I would love more developed comedy like Arrested Development, Larry Sanders (my two Favorite) and I'm not afraid to complain to get it!
These complex layered comedies actually, in my opinion, energize the brain, (Zero actual facts to back this up) because they are multidimensional. These programs force us to concentrate and pay more attention then a one dimensional Balki Bartokomous can.
Actually, I did come off a bit prickish there. I basically said people who like that show are stupid and that is wrong and I'm sorry for that. I do however believe that we need to get picky. Community has potential, but it is just coasting through with a C average. If we look at comedy right now it is VASTLY better than the 90's and earlier. There were always gems like Larry Sanders, Dream On, etc but until the audience actually starts adjusting and demanding more than a C, it's pretty much all we are going to get. I would love more developed comedy like Arrested Development, Larry Sanders (my two Favorite) and I'm not afraid to complain to get it!
These complex layered comedies actually, in my opinion, energize the brain, (Zero actual facts to back this up) because they are multidimensional. These programs force us to concentrate and pay more attention then a one dimensional Balki Bartokomous can.
To be quite honest, I'd venture to say you haven't really watched 'Community'.
I'd argue that the cliches the show relies on are constantly undermined. The whole point of the show is to toy with genre conventions, at the levels of both character and plot.
Further, there's been much more character development than you give it credit for. From the first episode to the last episode, the characters have grown into a community and developed relationships. In fact, the strength of the show is that the characters' development has been subtle and nuanced, and something they are even unaware of.
It's funny to me that you'd contrast it with 'Modern Family', which I think desperately relies on enacting stereotypes and closes so many episodes with a heavy-handed lesson on family. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy 'Modern Family. But to me, it's hardly a model of sophisticated writing.
Of course, I can see that 'Community' isn't for everyone. It can be a little mean-spirited at times, and the pop-culture referencing can occasionally become tedious. But I think it's much more clever and witty than you're recognizing.
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To be quite honest, I'd venture to say you haven't really watched 'Community'.
I'd argue that the cliches the show relies on are constantly undermined. The whole point of the show is to toy with genre conventions, at the levels of both character and plot.
Further, there's been much more character development than you give it credit for. From the first episode to the last episode, the characters have grown into a community and developed relationships. In fact, the strength of the show is that the characters' development has been subtle and nuanced, and something they are even unaware of.
It's funny to me that you'd contrast it with 'Modern Family', which I think desperately relies on enacting stereotypes and closes so many episodes with a heavy-handed lesson on family. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy 'Modern Family. But to me, it's hardly a model of sophisticated writing.
Of course, I can see that 'Community' isn't for everyone. It can be a little mean-spirited at times, and the pop-culture referencing can occasionally become tedious. But I think it's much more clever and witty than you're recognizing.
The paintball episode was genius. IMO the best episode.
Modern Family is written better. Better paced in the dialogue and editing.
Stereotypes are used in all facets of programing TV as it is something people can relate to and understand. It takes a lot of creativity to produce a long running show without them.
As well I contrasted more to Arrested Development as a few posters on here said Community was close to. I just believe out of the two Modern Family is better than Community.
Anyway I'll just close this with a pop culture reference from Woody Harrelson:
so i'm on episode 8, i wanted to wait until the season was finished before grabbing the whole thing so i could power through it. awesome show, love the rapid fire jokes like Arrested Development and 30 Rock. Chevy Chase tripping balls and building a desk fort is my personal highlight so far, and all the Abed/Troy bits and the end of each episode are gold. so glad they got picked up for a second season
