Retrovued: Community
Retrovued is a semi-regular feature where we implore you to try something you should have already.
If you don’t have time to read this post, make sure you series link Community Series 3, Friday 3rd May 11pm on Sony Entertainment Television (Sky 157, Virgin Media 193).
Series 1 trailer
Series 3 trailer
If you have been to visit our house in the past 3 months, chances are you have heard of Community. And chances are you were forced to sit through an episode, were too polite not to smile and nod when JH starting air-drumming the theme tune (to be fair, if I didn’t have so many neuroses, I’d have gotten up and tried to skank to it) and when left with his expectant face looming down on you afterwards, gave us a resounding ‘yeah . . . it’s ok’ before running for the exit, sobbing and feeling violated.
One of the reasons we started this site is that none of our friends obsess about TV/games, or if they do, are not into the same TV/games as us, due to the fact that we are apparently weirdoes. So we could never shout from the rooftops about something we found that filled us with glee and unbridled joy. That made us what to run around a local park in our pants (in a non sexual way of course) whilst endless spewing forth quotes.
It’s especially hard with Community. If you have ever watched Spaced, and watched it before Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, you’ll know exactly what I mean. Actually, Community could almost be the ill-fated US version of Spaced that thankfully never was. It is filled with meta-humour and parodies of cinematic tropes that you do really have to be a nerd to get, let alone find so funny you have to pause the DVD to get your ridiculously loud guffawing out of the way so the next line can be heard (JH, I’m talking to you). It’s surrealism, but at a whole other level. Father Ted was insane, Black Books dark, Scrubs silly. This is surrealism with bite. Unfortunately, this being series 3 airing tonight on Sony, if you haven’t seen it before, you probably aren’t going to get a lot of the jokes. With it’s referential style, there is a lot of nudge-nudge wink-wink to previous episodes. So my suggestion is give it a go tonight to see if it’s your thing. And if the signs look go, watch a few clips on YouTube or the links above to make sure, and if it floats your boat perhaps you might order the DVD boxset for series 1&2 (you probably won’t find this in any shop, but you will find it on most reputable online retailers).
It started in the US on NBC September 2009, as the brainchild of creator Dan Harman, who after having spent some time taking Spanish classes at a local Community College, decided to write about his own experiences within his study group. I’m not going to go into too much detail explaining the premise and story so far as this has already been taken care of very succinctly by that oracle of knowledge, Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series)
What I am going to do is tell you to watch this show! It’s weird, bizarre but oh so knowing. Most of the main characters could be real people, with perhaps the dial on 11 as is true of most sitcoms. No one is the inconceivable moron, the stereotypical jock, the manipulative bitch. They are all these things and none of these things between them. But mostly, it’s the gags, the glorious, wonderous gags. And a dalmatian obsessed cross-dressing Dean. Oh, and a deranged, sociopathic former Spanish tutor called Senor Chang. Ok, so some of the characters could not be real people.
I wish this post could just be a stream of quotes to show you how good it is, but I won’t be able to do them justice so hurry and check out YouTube. Now.
