By Gunarso Nguyen
Kicking off a start to the season with a brazen mockery of Fox’s Glee, Community opened its third year on air with a bizarrely high production musical number that set the tone for the rest of the season.
Chevy Chase returns to his role as the incorrigibly racist Pierce Hawthorne, ostensibly reformed after he took the character to new heights of villainy last season, a return that was in question at the finale of second season. Thick with in-jokes, the first two seasons of Community were a paean to nerds and movie buffs, rife with brazen references to a wide variety of media that is far too extensive to list. The third season is no less full of in-jokes, almost unapologetically so, as the season opener makes two homages (that border on theft were it not for the obvious humor) to Stanley Kubrick in the form of a Space:2001 scene and another, subtler scene where Jeff Winger (played with sleep-deprived insanity by Joe McHale) attacks the community table with a fireaxe, a scene strongly reminiscent of the Kubrick’s The Shining. For the proper nerd, the premiere also opens up Abed’s new favorite show, Inspector Spacetime, a blatant parody of the classic science-fiction show Doctor Who, which he instantly declares as the greatest show he’s ever seen, much to the delight of sci-fi fans. The alacrity with which “Inspector Spacetime” has reached internet meme status is a testament to Dan Harmon’s (lead writer and creator of Community) ability to keep his finger on the pulse of popular geekery.
The season premiere has the old crew, reunited, facing off against their latest obstacle in the form Michael K. Williams as the ex-convict biology professor. Once again, Community riffs on pop culture by giving Williams’ character a background as an ex-con as homage to his stint as Omar Little on The Wire. Later episodes this season take jabs (occasionally more like roundhouses) at Fringe, Whitney, and others, to be certain. Despite all the in-jokes, for the uninitiated, Community manages to be funny and engaging with complex characters who defy one-dimensional analysis, except when it’s funny to do otherwise. Community is on every Thursday at 8:00pm, EST, on NBC.
By Gunarso Nguyen
The strangely heartwarming shenanigans of Parks and Recreation’s Amy Poehler returned last month with a satire lifted from almost directly from Obama’s birther-conspiracy fiasco. P&R steals directly from modern events the way Law and Order used to, only from political fiascoes instead of criminal ones, filing off the serial numbers for copyright purposes and slander shielding. It does so in a way that is simultaneously both mind-numbingly mundane and starkly surreal, striking some sort of bizarre balancing act, like a drunk bear juggling on a unicycle on a tightrope. P&R could easily fail, and fail hard, but stays afloat on the genius of the awkwardness of the main characters. The brilliance of P&R lies in its ability to satirize government bureaucracy in a microcosm of small town escapades without resorting to caricatures or directly impugning either major political party, and at the same time be remarkably on point.
The fourth season premiere kicks off with the start of Leslie Knope’s announcement of a political campaign for a seat on the town council, followed by a series of awkward face-palming mishaps that threaten to endanger his career before it even gets started. Amy Poehler, even when pushed to the background a bit as she was in the second episode of the season, Ron and Tammy’s, brings a delightfully bizarre absurdity to the table, manifested in small and subtle acting that hints at a deeper pathos.
It is the third episode of the season, however, that directly mocks the Obama-birther conspiracy fiasco, as it comes to light that Leslie Knope may not have been born in Pawnee, over a completely inconsequential detail that is blown entirely out of proportion. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, I suggest you pull your head out of your donkey and read a newspaper once before you die, and Parks and Recreation may not be for you. Parks and Recreation is on every Thursday night at 8:30, following Community.
By Nicholas Proch
The most popular of the big shows on NBC Thursdays is starting to get lost. It’s lost in its own world of mediocrity. The shows previous strengths have now become weaknesses. The actors seem to lack devotion to their characters. This ship has sailed.
The Office used to play on inter-office relationships and conflicts better than any show of its kind. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t another show of its kind. It was unique, the characters were well-developed and they took every day occurrences and made them in to pure insanity. It was magic watching this show several years ago.
Then came something that the producers didn’t see coming; Steve Carrell didn’t want to be Michael Scott anymore. The show’s biggest source of conflict was suddenly about to walk (or fly) out of the story. How could they replace him? He’s a major player in this show.
The end of last season was spent deciding who would be the newest boss. It included hilarious appearances by Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Ray Romano and Warren Buffett. All of these characters helped to bring the story forward. They chose to employ James Spader, who plays Robert California, to be their new boss.
He’s a fantastic actor. So great, that the other characters don’t interact with him very well. It’s half intended this way and half by accident. The lovability about this show is now gone. The characters that once had a place as supporting cast are now expected to do too much. There’s too much Stanley, Kevin and Phyllis.
The supporting cast has now become the main cast and that’s unfortunate. This should have been Dwight and Jim’s show to run, but NBC hasn’t gotten that right to this point. Through only a few episodes in this season you can tell that this show has come off the tracks. Hopefully they can fix that and get back to the place they once were. Otherwise, we’re going to be watching a slow, public and painful death to a once-great show. The Office airs every Thursday at 9:00pm, EST, on NBC, following Parks and Recreation.
