I can't count the reasons I should stay, One by one they all just fade away. Community S6! #andamovie

I'm a bit behind the curve, I just finished Season 2. Wasn't as funny as season 1, it got a bit more serious and poignant, but still excellent. And the return of the paint-ball competition was a welcome surprise.

February 7th is the October 19th of February. In my heart.

If years were seasons, this December would be the December of our December.

Great write up on the Verge

Against all odds, 'Community' returns for a fourth season tonight

I am tentatively excited for tonight and happy that Chevy Chase is gone towards the end.

Eek. And the update at the bottom: NYT review.

One of the many reasons to watch the first three seasons of “Community,” the fiercely quirky and unapologetically smart NBC sitcom, was that you actually had to watch it. Every offhand remark, every reaction shot, every bit of physical business communicated something (usually something funny). More than any other show in prime time it demanded that you pay attention.

The sad simulacrum of “Community” that checks in Thursday for Season 4 makes no such claim on your concentration. Send a few e-mails, look at the television, order a pizza, look back at the TV. You won’t miss anything important, because there’s nothing important to miss.

...

The show has been dumbed down, its humor broadened past recognition, and the two episodes provided for review — Thursday’s season premiere, “History 101,” and the Feb. 21 entry, “Conventions of Space and Time” — have fewer laughs between them than a single good scene from the old “Community.”

Yeah, I'm tempering my expectations after Sepinwall and Feinberg said similar things.

Dang, that doesn't sound good.

That sounds discouraging, but I'll wait until I see a few episodes before I hit the panic button. I recall similar conversations and hand-wringing every season, though the circumstances are certainly much different this time.

Don't say it's so! Maybe we'll just have to watch the original three seasons again.

It would take something disastrous to get me to stop watching at this point--like, the show would have to transform into a 2.5 Men or something. But, I also increasingly feel this will be the last season.

Here, to be less of a bummer, I was recently sent the 100 Best Works of Community Fan Art. They vary in levels of creepiness.

I had to stop watching after about 10 minutes. I really wanted to give it a fair shake, but I just couldn't. It felt like we'd been dropped off at the corner of Trying Too Hard Boulevard and Ain't I Clever Avenue.

B Dog wrote:

I had to stop watching after about 10 minutes. I really wanted to give it a fair shake, but I just couldn't. It felt like we'd been dropped off at the corner of Trying Too Hard Boulevard and Ain't I Clever Avenue.

Haven't watched tonight's episode yet, but I was feeling that in Season 3 already—that it had gone from smart, clever, sometimes wacky show that really evoked the feel of being in college, to all-wackiness-all-the-time. The "Hunger Deans" preview didn't assuage that much...

Hooray! It didn't suck! It was actually better than the previous premieres, which fell a bit flat on first viewings. This actually has me worried.

Was relieved the Hunger Deans thing was such a minor thing. I like how it pretty much happened in the background.

McChuck wrote:

Hooray! It didn't suck! It was actually better than the previous premieres, which fell a bit flat on first viewings. This actually has me worried.

Agreed. Maybe because I thought it would suck, it was pretty good.

And yeah I remember being down on the premiere(s?) before (maybe both 2 and 3?), but the season worked itself out ok. Hope this isn't a jinx.

The laugh track had me terrified.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

The laugh track had me terrified.

That joke dragged on far too long. Might have seemed good on paper but the execution was poor. And the tag was just awful.

Still, this premiere was decent. Not as good as season 2's but that's just my opinion.

I laughed a goodly bit, and I'll leave it at that.

It was okay.

It left me cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season.

Not thrilled, but not put off either. We'll see how it plays out.

I went back this morning and watched the whole episode. It definitely had a "kitchen sink" feel to it, but I'll give the new show runners the benefit of the doubt -- it ain't easy picking up a show like Community mid-stream. Plus, I have too much affection for these characters not to see it through.

And it appears the ratings were halfway decent last night.

There were definitely moments of the show that seemed like everything was on the right track. I hope that the show will continue to improve past the premier.

Gimpy_Butzke wrote:

There were definitely moments of the show that seemed like everything was on the right track. I hope that the show will continue to improve past the premier.

There were little details too. Shirley's Sandwich Shop in the background of the cafeteria set I definitely noticed.

It had what the other season premiers of Community had. A somewhat lackluster episode with a few moments of awesome. I remain optimistic.

I rewatched it as well and I enjoyed it far more than the first time. The Senioritis plot was easily the best thread of the bunch, and even the Hunger Deans was surprisingly good. Abed's Inception felt glaringly false this time around, for a guy who has impeccable taste in television his internal sitcom was terrible. There is no way Abed could lose himself in such a mediocre fantasy.

The shout out to Muppet Babies was pretty great, my only memory of that show was an episode cut with scenes from Labyrinth. Alas, there was no David Bowie.

Meh. Not impressed.

Not horrible, but not in the realm of a great episode of Community.

mr_n00b wrote:

Abed's Inception felt glaringly false this time around, for a guy who has impeccable taste in television his internal sitcom was terrible. There is no way Abed could lose himself in such a mediocre fantasy.

I think you're forgetting his encyclopedic knowledge of "Who's The Boss?"

McChuck wrote:
mr_n00b wrote:

Abed's Inception felt glaringly false this time around, for a guy who has impeccable taste in television his internal sitcom was terrible. There is no way Abed could lose himself in such a mediocre fantasy.

I think you're forgetting his encyclopedic knowledge of "Who's The Boss?"

That show was on par with such classics as Perfect Strangers and Charles In Charge if memory serves me right.

I stand by my previous statement.

Like two thirds of the episode just felt like they were trying too hard to be funny instead of actually just being funny.

I liked it.

And Fred Willard as Peirce in Abed's head was brilliant.