(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.
(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.
(S01E03) Hey Glee fans, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) is Abed's father! Not the character, but the actor. We can always pretend, though. When those kids graduate McKinley High, they can come here. And Theba's not the only fun guest star we got this week. Fresh from a failed stint on Kath & Kim, John Michael Higgins appeared as the most free-spirited economics professor you could ever meet.
Throw out your books, your shoes and stand on your desk. Carpe diem! Wow, easy "A," right? That's what Jeff thought. He tried to look like he was seizing the day to earn the grade, but to truly do it requires a combination of relaxation and impulsiveness. Jeff's not capable of doing anything without planning and an ulterior motive, generally self-serving. Still it was fun watching his carefully orchestrated attempts to appear spontaneous.
(S01E02) It looks like self-awareness has come to the study group of Community, or at least to one member of it. Also coming to Community is Ken Jeong, finally. Jeong is hilarious in ... well everything he's in, and here is no exception. We were introduced to him in a lovely scene where he berates and screams at his Spanish class for no reason at all.
Now that we're past the introductions, it's time to start getting a feel for what this show is going to be like. I'm guessing that they're still trying to figure out everybody's personality, and it's going to take time to get it right. Not to mention that it will probably take a few episodes to give everyone a chance to expose their inner selves.
I guess I was a little surprised at how quickly Shirley and Annie not only connected with one another, but went on a well-intentioned but incredibly tacky protest crusade. They did confirm that the show will be more Scrubs-zany than realistic. I can hang with the more screwball humor.
(S01E01) In a rather touching tribute to John Hughes, tonight's premiere of Community honored the director in the best way possible. By creating a great ensemble of individuals coming together to form a ... yes, that's the meaning of the title ... community.
I expected to like this show. Hell, the promos and early reviews made it a foregone conclusion. What I wasn't sure of was whether I'd like it because it had funny lines and jokes, or whether I'd like it because I cared about the people in it. It looks like the answer to that is going to be both.
The study group that Jeff accidentally pulls together to try and get into Britta's pants -- because why else would you form one -- is made up of just the kind of eclectic personalities you need to make a comedy like this work. Like Cheers, these are people from all different walks of life coming together.
When I first previewedImportant Things with Demetri Martin, I was hoping it would get good enough ratings to allow Martin to stick around and explore a little bit. I've enjoyed him as a stand-up comedian, both live and on his Comedy Central specials.
Important Things was the perfect vehicle for Martin, showcasing his absurdist deadpan, allowing him to work with some talented friends like John Oliver, Jon Benjamin, David Cross, and Amanda Peet, and even letting him play a musical number or two.
There's a battle right now over President Obama's plans for healthcare, but the battle isn't going to be as funny as this one between Daily Show correspondents Samantha Bee, John Oliver, and Wyatt Cenac (well, it might be as funny, but in a sad, shake-your-head sort of way). I never want to see back-testicles ever again. (Video also here.)
NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like Life and Medium, and My Name is Earl. The fact that they're replacing these shows with not one but two medical shows, isn't exactly a confidence booster. NBC hasn't sent screeners of all their pilots yet, hence the "Part 1" in the title. But I have gotten a taste of both their comedy and drama offerings with Community, a comedy starring The Soup's Joel McHale, and Trauma, one of the aforementioned medical dramas.
Going into this, I didn't have high hopes for Trauma, and while I wanted to like Community, I had a bad feeling that it wasn't going to be the vehicle that would change Joel McHale from cute host of a basic cable show to primetime star. Now, after seeing both of them, I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by one.
This is the second clip featuring Joel McHale today. I swear I didn't plan it that way. This one is from the new NBC fall sitcom Community, and you know what? It actually looks really funny. McHale plays a lawyer who loses his license and becomes a community college study group leader. Chevy Chase is an older student, and the show also features The Daily Show's John Oliver. It's from Sarah Silverman Program producer and writer Dan Harmon and Arrested Development directors Joe and Anthony Russo. (Video also here.)
It's fantastic to see Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert team up on something other than an award show (not that I'm complaining about super-adorable Stewart/Colbert/Carell hugs, which warm my otherwise bitterly cold heart). It will be interesting to see how the boys react to the live results, but I'm most interested in seeing how Stephen Colbert stays in character. Check back later for videos Click on the jump for the full episode!
10:05: Man, those intros were hardcore. And how long is that bird going to stay on Stephen's shoulder? I'm waiting for a startled poo. I'm still not used to seeing Jon and Stephen together. It's too much awesome.
10:12: Hi, Jason Jones! Nice to see -- Whoa, what just happened? Something flashed on the screen, but I didn't catch it. Suddenly compelled to join the military, though.
Before we jump right into things, let's take a moment to think about just how amazing these past two weeks of Daily Show have been. The program has always been pretty solid, but both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention have provided beautiful fodder for both Jon and the correspondents, who seem to have finally hit their stride. This particular group of correspondents works best when they're all teamed up, and it really showed during convention coverage. From Jason Jones and Samantha Bee sucking face in front of hapless interviewees to Rob Riggle and Wyatt Cenac grillin' up some arugula in an elitist parking lot. TDS is taking another break next week and, boy, do they deserve it.
Some correspondents reported on the real reason why Republicans have gathered in Minnesota, and as it turns out, it's just to check out Larry Craig's old Minnesota airport stall. I think most audience members missed John Oliver's sneaky tweaking of the word "clockwork", unfortunately. However, the audience didn't miss any of Jason Jones' stall activities, which were especially disturbing, whereas Aasif Mandvi's handicap stall antics were just fabulous. I wonder if those dancers were just hapless interns roped into a scene. Also, the dancing reminded me of a beautiful moment from one of Stephen Colbert's old Daily Show reports, forever immortalized in this hypnotizing GIF. In other news, The Daily Show must be the only reason why Jimmy Dean Chocolate Chip Pancakes & Sausage on a Stick is still in existence.
The Daily Show team must be exhausted. Last week was Tuesday through Friday on-location coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Colorado, and this week is the same from the Republican National Convention in Minnesota. I can't even imagine how new mommy-again Samantha Bee has been handling this, returning at the busiest time in months.
"The Heart of Hopeness": Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech the other night, to a stadium full of insanely excited Democrats. John Oliver filed a report live from the site of Obama's speech. Man, John has really been putting himself on the line this week, being incredibly annoying in front of so many overexcited people. I mean, chanting "Osama!" at a massive crowd of Obama lovers is almost a sure to bring about a beating, but he totally lucked out with some relatively mild verbal confrontation. Other great moments included dancing to Jeremiah Wright's "white friends" song and making his move on hot strangers. As we would see later in the episode, it seems like the Democratic National Convention brought out the friskiness in the correspondents.
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.
Speaking of spouses, that uncomfortably long footage of Bill Clinton looking slack-jawed and slightly baffled also sent me into a spin of uncontrollable laughter. Mouth-breathers are never not funny. In other, more eloquent words: This episode brought the lulz.
(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.
(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.
(S01E03) Hey 
(S01E02) It looks like self-awareness has come to the study group of 
When I first 
NBC isn't exactly engendering a lot of goodwill among people, with their cancellations of shows like 
Before we jump right into things, let's take a moment to think about just how amazing these past two weeks of Daily Show have been. The program has always been pretty solid, but both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention have provided beautiful fodder for both Jon and the correspondents, who seem to have finally hit their stride. This particular group of correspondents works best when they're all teamed up, and it really showed during convention coverage. From Jason Jones and Samantha Bee sucking face in front of hapless interviewees to Rob Riggle and Wyatt Cenac grillin' up some arugula in an elitist parking lot. TDS is taking another break next week and, boy, do they deserve it.
Some correspondents reported on the real reason why Republicans have gathered in Minnesota, and as it turns out, it's just to check out Larry Craig's old Minnesota airport stall. I think most audience members missed John Oliver's sneaky tweaking of the word "clockwork", unfortunately. However, the audience didn't miss any of Jason Jones' stall activities, which were especially disturbing, whereas Aasif Mandvi's handicap stall antics were just fabulous. I wonder if those dancers were just hapless interns roped into a scene. Also, the dancing reminded me of a beautiful moment from one of Stephen Colbert's old Daily Show reports, forever immortalized in 
"Guess Who's Coming to Denver?": Man, I wish it were the Democratic National Convention all day, every day because it seems like it's providing endless, wondrous material for the show. Not only did they make me spend a good three minutes just laughing at Jon's crazy eyes while reacting to Governor Mark Warner's terrible speech (watch his eyes almost fall off his face when Jon says, "His speech suuucks"), but they've once again reminded me that Dennis Kucinich can do absolutely no jumping around without looking like an over-excited leprechaun. And he has a super-hot wife to make him feel better about any stupid, mean thing that I may say, so it's okay.
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