Dan Harmon

TV News: Comedy Central Adds ‘Community’ Off-Net Rights to Network

TimBMartens — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:09:29 -0400

CHICAGO – It was only a few weeks ago when the cult favorite “Communtiy” didn’t have a home at all. Through two and a half seasons on NBC, the show was put on hiatus as the network decided what to do. Now, the hit comedy is returning to the NBC Thursday night lineup tomorrow night at 7 p.m. CST and it has also found a new home.

Comedy Central has officially made a deal to bring the off-net rights of the show to the basic cable network. The comedy, starring Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Chevy Chase, Jim Rash, and several others, was created and written by Dan Harmon and the nerdy, pop-culture themes in the show make it a perfect fit for the comedy network.

David Bernath, Executive Vice President, Program Strategy & Multiplatform Programming at Comedy Central was excited to share the news: “Within the chaos of the current media landscape we are fortunate that we live in a timeline where “Community” comes to Comedy Central,” said Bernath. “Our staff is celebrating with a game of paintball in the offices today.”

Three seasons of “Communtiy” will make it to Comedy Central in the fall of 2013, while the second half of the third season will begin tomorrow on NBC. If you haven’t seen the fan videos/trailers for the beginning of the second half of season three, check out one of our favorites here (a parody of Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” trailer):

By TIM MARTENS
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
tim@hollywoodchicago.com

TV News: NBC Chairman Claims ‘Community’ Will Not Be Cancelled

TimBMartens — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:02:20 -0500

CHICAGO – Good news for those passionate fans that feared the worst for several weeks: “Community” will apparently not be cancelled. After much speculation about the show due to its removal from NBC’s Thursday night lineup for the winter/fall, NBC has come out to say that the show isn’t getting the axe.

NBC entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt confirmed what fans were hoping for at a semi-annual press tour in Pasadena: “I wanted to dispel any notion that it’s quietly disappearing from the schedule,” Greenblatt said. “‘Community’ was moved to 8 p.m a couple years ago and that’s an incredibly competitive time slot now on Thursday and I’m really curious to see what something else would do there.”

Grenblatt continued: “I don’t know if it makes sense to ask it to start off the night again. We’ve tried to migrate some comedies to Wednesday this year. It’s a matter of looking at what happens with the six comedies we’ve got, to figure out where ‘Community’ makes the most sense.”

Though the show (created by Dan Harmon and starring Joel McHale) has not received incredible ratings, the fact remains that the fans of the comedy are incredibly loyal. The uproar of tweets and other social media protests that came up when the show wasn’t included in the spring lineup immediately forced NBC to make a notice that the show was on hiatus, but not cancelled.

While the remainder of the third season may now be expected from NBC, Greenblatt did say he was not sure about the status of the show being renewed for a fourth season. At the very least, one of the best and most original comedies currently on TV (in this humble writer’s opinion) will hopefully be returning very very soon.

By TIM MARTENS
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
tim@hollywoodchicago.com

DVD Review: Brilliant Second Season of NBC’s ‘Community’

BrianTT — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 13:20:48 -0400

CHICAGO – The program most unforgivably missing from Sunday’s Emmy telecast is NBC’s brilliant comedy “Community.” It’s almost as if the Academy decided there were too many NBC shows at the party (“The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “30 Rock”) and so left out arguably the best of the Thursday night bunch. See the second season, now available on DVD, and see the level of Emmy injustice for yourself.

Television Rating: 5.0/5.0

“Community” went through some growing pains in season one but returned from the brink of cancellation more creatively confident and daring than nearly any program on TV (only two comedies of 2011 — “Parks and Rec,” “Louie” — were arguably better). Dan Harmon’s show is the kind of comedy made for DVD in that you can watch episode after episode after episode and never tire of the show. Stand-outs in season two include “Basic Rocket Science,” “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design,” “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” “Celebrity Pharmacology 212,” “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons,” “Critical Film Studies,” and the two-part paintball finale. How many shows can weave references to “My Dinner with Andre,” “Apollo 13,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Frosty the Snowman,” and much more into one consistent series? “Community” might be the smartest show on TV.

Community
Photo credit: Sony

It’s definitely one of the best-performed. Joel McHale, Alison Brie, and Danny Pudi all deserved Emmy nominations and the rest of the cast improved in season two as well with Gillian Jacobs finding a wonderful rhthym as Britta and Chevy Chase discovering a very-dark edge to Pierce. Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, and even the sometimes-annoying Ken Jeong also found stand-out moments. I love this cast and will be broken if NBC ever choses to show them the door before the program has run its course.

The DVD-only release of “Community” is a disappointing decision on the part of Sony. Why not release a show with a loyal fan-base on Blu-ray? The thinking is that the show doesn’t really lose all that much by not being in HD but the program looks fantastic in its original broadcast and shouldn’t fans be able to own a series with the same level of quality as when they watched it off their DVR?

Despite the disappointing lack of a Blu-ray release, the four-disc DVD release is pretty stellar. It includes stronger-than-average transfers and an impressive array of special features, including commentaries on every single episode. With deleted scenes, outtakes, and behind-the-scenes featurettes, this as extensive a TV-on-DVD release as you’ll find on the shelf on this month. The Academy may not have done “Community” justice, but Sony has treated one of its best programs very, very well.

Special Features:
o Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
o Cast & Crew Commentary On Every Episode
o The Paintball Finale: From Script To Screen
o Creating Wonderland
o Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas Animatics
o Season 2 Cast Evaluations
o DJ Steve Porter Remixes Season One

“Community: The Complete Second Season” stars Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Donald Glover. The show was created by Dan Harmon. It was released on DVD on September 6th, 2011.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

TV Review: NBC’s ‘Community’ Premieres Very Special Christmas Episode

BrianTT — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:50:44 -0500

CHICAGO – NBC’s “Community” continues to climb the charts of what must be considered the most creative programs on television with a brilliant Christmas episode tonight inspired by the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated classics like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” The incredible comedy has been more and more uniquely-inspired as its amazing second season has progressed and you don’t want to miss “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.”

Television Rating: 5.0/5.0

The comedic conceit of tonight’s episode is that Abed (Danny Pudi) is the only one who sees his friends and classmates in stop-motion style. The young man who sees the world almost entirely in pop culture references may have finally snapped. Of course, we, the audience, also see Abed and the crew in stop-motion animation, allowing for some fantastic visual flourishes and incredible sight gags. Most remarkably, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” actually becomes somewhat touching with a moral message about the importance of the holiday season that resonates without the treacle.

Community
Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

In tonight’s episode, Abed visualizes his friends as somewhat freakish holiday-themed characters (as Jeff says in one of the funnier lines regarding the weirdness of Abed’s visions, “Somewhere out there, Tim Burton has got a boner”) like Jeff-in-the-box (Joel McHale) and a Britta robot (Gillian Jacobs). Pierce (Chevy Chase) is a teddy bear, Annie (Alison Brie) a ballerina, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) a baby, and, of course, Troy (Donald Glover) a toy soldier. Even Senor Chang shows up as a snowman.

Many writing teams would have merely turned the Christmas/Rankin-Bass episode of “Community” into nothing more than a series of references and in-jokes, but it’s only the best writers on TV who can transcend the reference and turn it into something more. The brilliance of “Community” this year hasn’t JUST been the increasingly-clever references but how they’re used to enrich what is arguably the best comedic ensemble on television right now.

We’ll get more into how “Community” has developed in 2010 in the upcoming Best TV of the Year feature and merely end this mini-review/preview by giving you one more detail about tonight’s Christmas episode — it’s a musical. If the visual delights, clever story, and hilarious dialogue aren’t enough, you can now know that not everyone in the “Community” cast can really sing. But, like they do every week, they put their necks on the line and give it their all. Don’t miss it.

‘Community,’ which airs on NBC, stars Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Donald Glover. The show was created by Dan Harmon. “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” airs on Thursday, December 9th, 2010 at 7:00PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

TV Review: NBC’s Hilarious ‘Community’ Returns For Second Season

BrianTT — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:35:35 -0400

CHICAGO – NBC’s “Community” took some time to find its comic rhythm but it has developed into one of the smartest and most expertly-paced sitcoms on television. The Joel McHale vehicle returns tonight, September 23rd, 2010 for a very-important start to its second season. If it can find the audience it deserves, “Community” could be on for years. It certainly should be.

Television Rating: 4.5/5.0

With the recent DVD release of season one (which we’ll get into more later), I had the chance to go back and watch the first few months of “Community” and confirm my opinion that this show was simply much better in 2010 than when it started in 2009. Like a lot of sitcoms, the cast simply went through some growing pains as they developed their chemistry. While some programs never get the time for their ensemble to gel, “Community” turned the corner in the middle of its first season and hasn’t looked back. It ended on a ridiculously high note and continues to impress with its second-season premiere.

“Community” essentially begins where it left off with Jeff (McHale) caught in a love crisis more appropriate for high school than community college. At the end of the first season, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) confessed her feelings for Jeff, who handled the situation by running off and kissing Annie (Alison Brie). Naturally, these developments lead to a few lingering problems. Britta feels publicly jilted but her shame turns to pride as her story becomes a rallying cry for other girls at Greendale Community College who turn their new hero into a romantic martyr. Jeff doesn’t take well to being turned into the bad guy and tries to one-up Britta in a hilarious exchange of public, romantic revelations. While Jeff tries to figure out the terms of his dynamic with Britta, Annie’s seemingly-growing love for him could be a problem.

Community
Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

If it sounds a bit too much like a soap opera, don’t worry, Abed (Danny Pudi) thinks so too. The most “meta” character on TV, the young man who almost entirely speaks in pop culture references, has become almost like the Greek Chorus of “Community,” commenting on the action not unlike the show’s intelligent viewers do with their friends. Pudi continues to impress.

Community: The Complete First Season was released on DVD on September 21st, 2010.
Photo credit: Sony

Finally, the writers take a brilliant stab at their network’s competition, the abysmal “$#*! My Dad Says,” by having Troy (Donald Glover) tweet the odd ramblings of Pierce (Chevy Chase) and even suggest turning it into a TV show, and Senor Chang (Ken Jeong) tries to join the gang as a peer instead of a professor with hilarious results.

The season premiere of “Community” is one of the best of the new season. There have been a few reasonably-entertaining returns (“Glee,” “Modern Family”) and some disappointments (“How I Met Your Mother,” “The Big Bang Theory”) but few programs have come back clicking on the exact same level as when they left the air in May. “Community” keeps getting better by the week and has gone from a promising program a year ago to one of the best comedies on television.

Watch the development of “Community” with a great four-disc collection of the first season courtey of Sony. Sadly, “Community” is not available on Blu-ray, but the video and audio on the standard edition is better-than-average. I still don’t understand how a show that so many people are watching in glorious HD is not available in the same quality as its original broadcast in 2010.

The collection includes a remarkable series of special features, including cast and crew commentary on every single episode and even a comic book version of Troy and Abed’s hilarious “Kick Puncher.” The set also features over ninety minutes of special features including extended episodes, outtakes, and never-before-seen footage. It’s one of the most extensive and impressive standard DVD sets of the season. Don’t miss the DVD. Don’t miss the show on NBC. Do we have to beg?

‘Community,’ which airs on NBC, stars Joel McHale, Chevy Chase, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Ken Jeong, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, and Donald Glover. The show was created by Dan Harmon. The series returns on Thursday, September 23rd, 2010 at 7:00PM CST.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com