DonaldGlover-related stories
Posted Feb 12th 2010 8:34AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E16) Suddenly I want to spend at least 40 more minutes in the world of
'Community' after tonight's episode. I wonder if those 40 minutes will come back to haunt our dear friend later?
Jeff and Abed tore it up with one of the most bizarre drunk montages I've ever seen, culminating with Abed in the absolute best "aftermath" position I've ever seen. And Jeff did it all to try and make things right with Britta again. Try as they might, those two just can't seem to get their awkward feelings for one another to stop interfering with their relationship as "just-friends."
With the Valentine's Day dance looming, Troy and Pierce tried to regain some of their own dignity early in the episode, only to lose it completely by the end of it. Surprisingly, despite his "skills" on the dance floor, Chang either has no dignity to lose, or has so much that it's impervious to anything he does.
Continue reading 'Community' - 'Communication Studies' Recap
Posted Feb 5th 2010 4:45AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E15) This episode would have been great for the scene where the study group looked around the room thinking of one another sexually. Without a single word, there was so much spoken with facial expressions and eyes and turns of the head.
I am glad we got more, though. Abed's 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' inspired movie nights reminded me of my own college experience. We used to do the exact same thing; it made 'Waterworld' and 'Battlefield Earth' instant classics. Unfortunately, we got into such bad habits that to this day I find myself mocking and ridiculing even good movies and TV shows.
Luckily, I'm a little quicker on the draw than Pierce. Kudos to him, though, for taking it the extra step and preparing for the next night. That's doing it 'MST3K' style, for real!
Continue reading Review: 'Community' - 'Romantic Expressionism'
Posted Jan 22nd 2010 1:02AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E14) This one actually hits a little close to home. Through most of my childhood, and into my teen years, I took dance classes. I even got pretty good, performing with the St. Louis Ballet Company for a brief time. But, like Troy, there was that element of shame and embarrassment in being a male dancer, primarily based on the negative response most people still seem to have to it.
However, while I've been to plenty of recitals in my day, I've never seen adults perform routines anything like the weird teapot-flower dance Britta found herself in. It was so goofy and hilarious, that I felt almost as horrified and mortified for her as Pierce did. Actually, I think Pierce was having a blast.
Continue reading Review: Community - Interpretive Dance
Posted Jan 15th 2010 3:15AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E13) I'd like to give thanks to the Executive Producer Associate Supervisor Supervising Executive for being the man, or woman, behind the new semester at
Community. When the gang returned from the break they discovered a new member in their group -- he snuck in during the group hug.
Jack Black basically plays one type of character, and that's who we got this week. There were some genuinely funny moments, but this definitely wasn't one of the stronger episodes of the series to date. With the community college setting, it's pretty easy to slip in a guest star here or there and even, as in this case, pretend they've been there the whole time. I just don't think it's necessary right now for
Community.
Continue reading Review: Community - Investigative Journalism
Posted Dec 17th 2009 11:03AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Supernatural, Watercooler Talk, Festivus, Dexter, NCIS, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, Community, Modern Family
On the seventh day of Festivus, TV gave to me... Seven shows a-thrivin'.
The 2009-2010 season is a great one to be on TV-- especially for returning dramas and new comedies. If we had 20 days of Christmas, I probably could have filled the list with shows that were either thriving right out of the gate or making a resurgence after being on the air for several years. As it is, we just have seven slots, so here are some noteworthy series that are thriving this year.
Dexter
I've always liked
Dexter, but it's never been appointment TV for me. I've generally been content to wait until the season came out on DVD and knock all of the episodes out in a weekend. However, after a creative dip in season 3, I've found myself positively glued to my television every Sunday night that season 4 has aired.
John Lithgow absolutely made the season as the creepy Arthur Mitchell. Plus the finale? I know some of you saw
the big twist coming at the end, but I certainly did not. Who doesn't like to end a season with their jaw on the floor?
Continue reading The Twelve Days of Festivus: Seven shows a-thrivin'
Posted Dec 11th 2009 2:37AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E12) The Christmas, er *ahem* the ... uh ...
Holiday spirit hit Greendale Community College, and brought with it one of the funniest episodes of
Community yet. It's the end of their first semester together, and Shirley decides to throw a Christmas party in the study group room. The only problem is, not everyone in the group is Christian. In fact, none of them are the same religion at all, and Pierce may be something else entirely.
What's more, Anthony Michael Hall showed up to bully Abed, and wound up having to face off against Jeff in a bully smackdown! The dilemma for the gang: show up at Jeff's fight or show up for Shirley's party. What to do?
Continue reading Review: Community - Comparative Religion
Posted Dec 4th 2009 3:05AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E11) Annie's a unicorn! Well, sorta. Actually, it's more complicated than that. And after Annie explained things, I was even more confused.
Another solid episode; this show is really in its groove right now. The new relationship Jeff has established with Britta; the one without him trying to get into her pants every week, or her accusing him of it every week; is really working for me. I like this group more as a bunch of friends than a group of potential hook-ups. At least for awhile.
Pierce took center stage in one of the three stories juggled this week, revealing to Jeff that he can score a hot chick. Even better, challenging Jeff to do the same. Annie got involved in helping Greendale throw its STD Ball, which went as well as you'd expect. And Troy and Abed -- this may be the best comedy duo on TV since J.D. and Turk.
Continue reading Review: Community - The Politics of Human Sexuality
Posted Nov 26th 2009 3:06PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Video, The Office, 30 Rock, Dexter, TV Squad Lists, Reality-Free, Parks and Recreation, Glee, Community
It's Thanksgiving morning as I'm writing this. I've got five pounds of potatoes boiling for our mashed potatoes, the turkey is in the oven, and the butternut squash is cut up for the risotto I'm making. My baby is playing ball with his dad, and the dog is on the couch trying to sleep and just remaining thankful that said baby isn't trying to pet her eyeball right now. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, but as others have said before, me, this is a TV blog, so let's talk about television-related things I'm thankful for.
As we're getting close to the mid-season point, I feel more and more that this is an exceptionally strong season of television-- even with the whole Leno debacle. There are several new shows that I'm quickly falling in love with, and some returning shows that are better than ever. In no particular order, here are things that I am thankful for.
Continue reading What Kona is thankful for
Posted Nov 20th 2009 11:16AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E10) Hey, Jeff was kind of a selfish douche and then at the end he became a good person and did the right thing. Quick game: which episode am I describing?
I know I've complained about the predictability of this plot procedure in every episode, but for some reason it worked this week. Probably because even in the execution of it, you could see that Jeff had at least gained a sense of loyalty to his study group. In other words, he felt bad about what he was doing from the beginning. He still did it, but somehow that made all the difference.
I think the more shocking development was that Pierce offered to help Shirley with an upcoming speech she had to give, and she actually accepted. He also learned the "secret" to Jeff's power over the group, though I still think it's just confidence.
Continue reading Review: Community - Environmental Science
Posted Nov 13th 2009 2:01AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E9) Do you think the fact that this was the ninth episode of the first season had anything to do with that number in the episode title? I'm sure there could be a Debate 109 class in college, but I don't believe in coincidences that big. I do, however, believe that I really enjoyed this outing. It was nice to see Jeff buckling down and doing some work.
It's odd that he wouldn't have done that in the legal profession. Or maybe he was just used to his Legal Assistant doing all the research for him and just hitting him up with the highlights. Either way, I can't believe that he thought singing in a debate would work. Come on, Jeff.
The rest of the episode featured the return of Abed's student films. Only this time, there's something a little eerie about them, and it's freaking everybody out. And it's not just that he found people in the school who look incredibly similar to every member of the study group.
Continue reading Review: Community - Debate 109
Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:28AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E08) Well, that ending was disappointing, wasn't it? Spoiler alert: the gag over the closing credits did not feature Abed and Troy. What were they thinking? Those were some of the funniest moments of the first seven episodes!
It was about time we saw the financial repercussions of Jeff having lost his license to practice law. There's a lifestyle that comes with being a big-shot lawyer, and it's not at all the same lifestyle of your typical college student. That's Abed's life, and we got to see that, as well.
Meanwhile, Annie tries and tries and tries to muster up the courage to talk to Troy about her feelings. The problem is, I think she's expecting him to put two and two together as long as she drops enough hints. But it doesn't look like math is one of Troy's strong suits. Or thinking, for that matter.
Continue reading Review: Community - Home Economics
Posted Oct 30th 2009 12:41PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E07) My wife bought me one of those giant weekly pill containers as a joke once. She even took my allergy medication and dispersed them across the different daily containers. Looking at it, though, made me think about that day in the future when I just might need to be taking a bin full of medication on a daily basis.
Granted this revelation that Pierce carries one of these around with him shouldn't come as a real surprise. His age is a huge part of his character. That, and the pills were a major part of getting us where we needed to go in this episode for Pierce's arc. And Jeff's for that matter, but then again Jeff is at the center of everything, isn't he?
Speaking of which, is he really all that charming and good-looking? Maybe I don't see it because I'm a straight man. So tell me, if you're not, would Jeff's best moves and lines work for you the way they were working on the teacher this week, or are you more resistant to his affectations, like Britta?
Continue reading Review: Community - Introduction to Statistics
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 1:29AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E06) See, now that wasn't so hard, was it,
Community? I knew you could give me another good episode. And finally a sympathetic side to Britta. So far she's been the annoying, self-righteous blonde that Jeff wants to sleep with for some reason. But that's about all we've seen of her personality. In fact, I couldn't even see why Jeff wanted to get into her pants.
This week, we got to get behind Britta's walls a bit and see her even take her first tentative steps outside of them. Shirley, as the social queen of the show, was right there to help her along the way. And Annie was right there, too, to give Britta the chance to be a shoulder for someone to cry one.
Which brings us to what Jeff's up to this week. I guess it's going to take a really damned long time for Jeff to "grow." Every time he seems to have a moment of self-awareness about his douchebaggery, he turns around the next week and is just as big an ass.
Continue reading Review: Community - Football, Feminism and You
Posted Oct 16th 2009 1:19AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E05) Hmmm, I'm not even sure what it was. I still really like
Community, and there were some moments that I recognized as humorous throughout this episode. And yet, I found myself kind of bored with most of it. Maybe it's me.
There was certainly plenty going on, with Señor Chang on the warpath because someone cheated on their Spanish test, Abed learning the highly cultured art of "messing with" someone, and Annie recruiting Pierce to write the new school song. You have the Dean running around still pretending the community college is Harvard or Brown, while Jeff's friend, Professor Duncan, began his quest to beat Jeff into Britta's pants.
I will state, officially for the record, that I am about as done with Britta constantly accusing Jeff of only wanting to get together with her. We're five episodes in and it's getting tired. Either he is or he isn't, but I don't need to hear about it in every scene they have together.
Continue reading Community: Advanced Criminal Law
Posted Oct 9th 2009 4:40AM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Community
(S01E04) All hail Ken Jeong, returning to the cast this week. Now we see how he can be a part of storylines even when the students aren't in his class. Despite being in very few scenes so far, I can already tell that his Senor Chang is going to be one of the funniest characters on the show.
Couple him with last week's Professor Whitman (John Michael Higgins), and it becomes clear that the teachers at this community college are going to be the ones who are completely off-the-wall insane.
Our motley crew is more eccentric. We got an opportunity to get a little further into Shirley's unique personality, as she and Jeff discovered something they could bond over and talk about. In fact, it turns out this thing is about the only thing they can talk about, and it's something we can all relate to.
Continue reading Community: Social Psychology
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