I'm curious to see what direction the show goes once it comes back. I could see them going all-out with high-concept episodes because that's what their most hardcore fans want. I could also see them going the other direction and going to more traditional sitcom episodes as a way to hedge and try to become more casual viewer friendly.
A nice return to form after a long hiatus.. Britta is as hot as ever and Annie got fat in the face....
Wonder when they actually shot this episode; I'd imagine Mad Men is likely to take a pretty significant jump forward in time so they can keep using Sally, and to accommodate the long hiatus. If Trudy Campbell survived the annual cast cut downs (wonder what Paul Kinsey or Sal Romano are doing...), Brie would be playing a married woman in her 30s with a child; at the same time as she's playing a 20 year old college student...talk about your anti-type casting! I don't think you could possibly have asked for a better return episode; muting Troy and Abed, and by extension, all the meta jokes worked extremely well, and really demonstrated that there are some great, 3-dimensional characters beneath all the weirdness. Britta is the very definition of steering into fan hate, and the joke of her being the worst at everything except being a wife is just the cherry on her lactose free, locally sourced sundae. Apparently the episode had some pretty good ratings numbers, and still has another week before BBT returns to get up to at least Chuck levels of support. Plus, Comedy Central just bought the syndication rights; I can't think of a more perfect landing spot, and having 91 episodes to sell rather 69 might be enough for Sony to make some huge concessions to NBC for one more year.
I agree with Britta devolving. She was the best in season 1, when she was the cool. Eventually, she became a caricature of herself to the extreme and just got plain annoying. Still hot, though. But she her personality was hotter in season 1.
Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon Hate Each Other Chevy Chase is a huge douche. 'Fletch' was the only performance of his I liked.
Cracked: "The 10 Most Improbable Celebrity Fistfights" [rquoter]#8. Bill Murray vs. Chevy Chase The Backstory: Chevy Chase is a dick, plain and simple. Between that and the star treatment he got as the breakout member of the Saturday Night Live cast, anyone who worked with him could be excused for taking a shot at him. But here' the thing: Bill Murray never actually worked with him. Murray replaced Chase after he left SNL for a film career. Murray also got a lot of hate mail telling him he was a s---ty replacement, so there's that. During the show' second season, Chase returned as the guest host and Murray, channeling the resentment of the rest of the cast, decided it was go time. "I got into a fight with Chevy the night he came back to host. That was because I was the new guy, and it was sort of like it was my job to do that," Murray says. "It would have been too petty for someone else to do that. It' almost like I was goaded into that." The Beatdown: Tension simmered between the two all week and finally boiled over in a pull-apart brawl only moments before the show went on the air. Witnesses say Murray started it by pointing out how everybody hated Chase, while Chase responded by comparing Murray' acne-pocked skin to the surface of the moon. "I don't know if Chevy provoked it or not," says cast member Laraine Newman. "But it culminated with Billy saying to Chevy, 'Why don't you **** your wife once in a while? She needs it.' And I don't even remember who threw the first punch, Billy or Chevy. But it was ugly." Recalls Blues Brothers director John Landis: "I didn't know Bill Murray, but he's screaming, you know, foaming at the mouth, 'F---ing Chevy,' and in anger [Murray] says, 'Medium talent!' And I thought, 'Oh boy, that's funny. In anger he says "medium talent."' That really impressed me. I went, 'So, Bill Murray - wow, who is that guy?'" The Winner: Murray. Chase gets credit for going out and doing the monologue only moments later. It' true-you just can't reasonably call him a no-talent. And, he claims to have buried the hatchet with Murray when the two appeared together in 1980s Caddyshack. But look where the two of them are now. Murray' a critically acclaimed comedic and dramatic actor with triumphs such as Rushmore and Lost in Translation. Chase is barely working and was scarcely able to scrounge up any old friends to lambaste him at his Friar' Club Roast. Since this is more or less a battle of words, Murray wins for his scathingly precise diagnosis of Chase' talent years before Chase would prove him right. [/rquoter]I always loved this anecdote. Murray's correct: Chase is talented, just not commensurate with his occasional (self-)regard.
It was only a matter of time before things broke down. Chevy is famously hard to work with and you had to know that at the first sign of trouble, he would play the "sitcoms are beneath me" card.
as opposed to what? the 'vacation' movies? It doesn't surprise me Chase gets very little work these days unlike Bill Murray who works with all the big directors.
Trust me, I'm with you. But Chevy Chase clearly thinks he is a bigger star than he is and that's always been the case.
In fairness to Chevy Chase, the first Fletch, the first Vacation, Caddyshack are all classics. And Norm MacDonald likes him, so he can't be all bad. It is kinda sad watching him in his golden years playing the fifth or seventh wheel/providing the least of the contributions on Community (I do prefer his character to the Shirley character).
Wow, tonight's Law and Order parody was amazing. I can't believe how note perfect it was, from the color saturation, to the camera angles, the cutaways, the fonts, the scene with Neil and the keys... Glad to know that Community is stepping up it's game for sweeps; even more glad that Michael K Williams finally got a Wire reference, so sad that we're not going to see him with a Paintball shotgun... Perfect sweeps episode: High concept with broad humor, no prior knowledge of the characters necessary, but as always, tons of goodies for the loyal Greendale Human Being watchers (loved Troy's Spiderman tie as a call-back). And to close my rambling: the song that is guaranteed to be stuck in your head if you watch this show: <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XXvuUp-KY5g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Don't know, it seems like he's been appearing less and less. But I could see them bringing him back a la Kenny on South Park where he just shows up and nobody mention the meth lab.
Perhaps he's attached to another show that got picked up? Considering the uncertain future of Community, it's a wonder that none of the principal cast went out to get a new project.
Ever since I heard they were going to do a L&O episode I was waiting with anticipation. I can't wait to check it out tonight. As far as Chevy is concerned, his reputation as being a horrible person to deal with is famous. The book 'Live from New York' basically has everyone in the history of SNL give their personal recounts of their time there. And NO ONE has anything good to say about him. I've even read a totally random interview where Billy Corgan had a bad encounter with him. At this point it's clear they aren't crazy about having Pierce do much, it feels forced now and it's time to write him out. BTW, the guy that plays Star Burns has primarily made a career out of comedy writing and is also a writer on the show.
Community since back from Hiatus has been a home run for me.. Each episode gets funnier and funnier...
The guy who plays Starburns is a "consultant" and part of the writing room on the show. He also created Morel Orel and Mary Shelly's Frankenhole on Adultswim. His claymation company handled the claymation episode of Community.
