Community - We all need one [TV show]

How many of you out there are watching Community? It rapidly became one of my favorite shows while I was in Ireland and I watched the first two seasons back to back. I was heavily saddened when I realized I had already engulfed both seasons, and I waited very impatiently for September to roll around so season three would begin.

I wasn't prepared to live without these girls for five whole months.

[Source]

Andrew and I watch the newest episodes on Hulu the following Friday or Saturday that the episodes air. It takes a lot of effort for us to wait and watch it together; he could watch it at work and I could watch it at home, but we have a lot of fun sharing the hilarious experiences together.

Community is such a fantastic show. It is brilliantly written and I am able to find something I love and dislike in each character. They are so realistic that even though they irritate me at times, I love them for their honesty, flaws and humanity.

It's interesting how much the show has changed since the first season. I know nothing about script writing and I've never been able to carry a story from start to finish, so I have no idea how writers plan for the eventual change-of-direction for their shows. Season one saw immense character development and a story that was heading in a foreseeable direction. Currently, it is all over the place but my enjoyment has not waned.

Just as arrogant and socially inept as they've always been.

[Source]

Last month the internet was brought to rageface by the announcement that Community was not present in NBCs mid-season lineup. The show has been put on indefinite hiatus, I guess? It will return "at some point". That language is too vague for my liking.

Even though the whole TV rating thing has been explained to me, I still do not get it. The Nielsen Rating system seems so off balance. Only some TVs have a transmitter to gather data, TVs that are tuned into shows can still produce a zilch 'rating' because of the calculation used, and the numbers are taken based off of commercial viewing and not actual show viewing? What?

They're making Annie cry, and that's just not OK with me.

[Source]

A lot of information that I glean on the subject points to the fact that DVRs, Hulu, Netflix and other post-air viewing sources are completely mucking up the ratings. For instance, Andrew and I have a television, but we don't have "TV"; we don't have cable. We watch TV shows on DVD, Hulu or Netflix. That is our only avenue. This anecdote dovetails nicely with this quote from Joel McHale:

"Our fans don't watch TV the way others do," he says. "I did a stand-up show at the University of Arizona and there were 30 kids who ran the event. I said, 'How many of you watch Community?' and they all raised their hands, which was great. I asked, 'How many watch it Thursdays at 8pm?' Zero hands. I asked, 'How many of you have TVs?' Four hands. I asked, 'How many of you watch on computers?' All hands went up. That may be an excuse, but our audience skews young. But with something like this, they vote. That's how rabid they are, so that's great." - www.tvguide.com November 29th, 2011

That is us (as I stated) and almost everyone else that we know. TV is a wonderful luxury, and I can freely admit that it is a luxury, and in this modern age it doesn't seem crazy to want the option of watching when I have the time. Ultimately it's unfortunate that the actors, writers and everyone else involved in the shows have to suffer the loss of a role/job because of a faulty rating system.

I suppose the bit that makes me the saddest is everything always boiling down to money. In what world does it make sense to remove something clever and interesting only to replace it with something inane and trite?

The world of money and business, apparently.

As a final note, shortly after Community was unceremoniously ripped from the NBC schedule, an article surfaced announcing the show was awarded TV Guide's Fan Favorite 2011. It beat out a lot of other great shows, too.

Collectable covers and everything! [Source]

Is it ironic? Funny? A faceplam moment? Or simply proof that what the fans and people want does not lineup with what the ratings and executives want. Of course there is far more proof than just this, but the timing of it all is so wonderfully tasty and ridiculous to me.

This article from Business Insider has an eloquent and poignant list of why NBC needs to keep Community on their lineup. They do, of course, comment on the fact that a fan favorite isn't necessarily a money maker to NBC, and I've already stated how I feel about that kind of thinking -_- In an attempt to find at least one proactive thing to do I located an online petition to save Community. I suppose it doesn't hurt to try!

I have my fingers crossed for myself, my fellow fans, and the cast/crew/writers of the show that before too long we will receive the fantastic news that Community will be back on the air in no time.

Do you watch Community?

-MJ

Posted in: community,community hiatus,community nbc,community taken off the air,community tv guide fan favorite 2011,hulu,netflix,nielsen rating system,please bring community back,tv rating system sucks