bcd

So I figured instead of tacking on the post season 3 discussion in the season finale thread of community. I thought that we might be able to carry on the discussion here.

Harmon's Blog Post
http://danharmon.tumblr.com/post/233...-miss-anything

bcd

I for one love this show. The last season needs more time to digest but it is in my top 2 or three shows of all time. With a show like this it seems like most of the things that I really enjoyed about watching were due to the writing. With Harmon leaving and presumably most of the writers as well, it doesn't look good. I would like to think that the show can carry on, but I don't hold out much hope.

Xander

Exactly this.

JasonF

bcd speaks for me as well. I love the characters and the actors, so I'll stick with it to see if the new writers can capture what made the show so great.

Draven

Haven't writers been coming and going since the show began? I thought I'd read that in one of the articles about this.

I'm indifferent until I actually see an episode. Could be fine, could be not fine...no use getting upset now.

SpanishTechno

Well I'm not indifferent as I'd prefer Harmon stay on but I'll still watch season 4 and reserve my judgement until then.

riotinmyskull

just let megan ganz write all 13 episodes and we'll be just fine...

Goat3001

Love the show but I'm not panicking until we see a finished product.

Mordred

Mostly this. I don't think it'll be as good, but I'm certainly not going to assume it will suck and write the show off before seeing what they do.

madcougar

For the most part, I'm wondering WTF NBC/Sony is thinking with all of the recent decisions it's made on Community. On the other, I have little doubt there are two sides to every story. Harmon can't be a total innocent in any of this. Impossible. It's a shame that all parties involved got into some sort of pissing contest about one of my favorite shows.

At the end of the day, I can't imagine we get more than 13 more episodes of community. I can only hope that they do justice to the first three seasons and send the Greendale gang out with a bang.

madcougar

A really great read from Time magazine on all of this nonsense.

Dragon Tattoo

Too bad she hasn't been contacted by Sony and has heavily implied on twitter that she's gone, too.

Sex Fiend

Good article. The things that is more ominous to me than simply Harmon being gone, is the point the article makes about Sony not liking the quirky style of the show and wanting it to be more mainstream. I expect we'll be seeing a lot more of the kind of conventional and insipid plot threads that permeate most current sitcoms - ie, tired romantic relationship dynamics culminating in some "very special" episode where character A and character B finally get together.

I've appreciated that Community (mostly) consciously avoided that kind of tripe throughout it's run. But I'm willing to bet that next season, it will look a whole lot more like a different show than I am going to like.

Michael Corvin

Agreed, although if the new writers dump Chang, my indifference could sway their way.

bcd

Good read. Although, there are things that I just don't get. They already have a syndication deal with Comedy Central. If you are just trying to get through one more season to get the 80+ episodes, what can it hurt to still have Harmon at the helm? I also don't see what is gained by switching show runners and moving it to Friday nights. If you are just going to run out the series then keep Harmon and move it to Friday nights or switch showrunners and keep it on Thursdays and use the ratings of "Must see TV" to increase potential viewership.

Deftones

maybe they think they can increase the ratings, which will give them additional seasons, more episodes and more syndication money.

madcougar

That's really the only answer, but it's a pipe dream. After having a chance to think about it, I realized that moving the show to Friday wasn't the dumbest idea ever as its fan base would follow. But now without it's voice? I would be lying if I said I'm not going to watch it, but I may let it sit on my VCR for a week just to fuck with the show's numbers.

bluetoast

Here's some interesting thoughts from Ken Levine (writer on MASH, Cheers, Frasier,etc) on the matter, as an outsider but someone familiar with these types of situations:

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2012/0...g-my-take.html

Matthew Chmiel

However, Dan Harmon is not your typical showrunner. He's in that elite few where they're not only the creator, but they're also the primary, driving force behind the show's entire creativity. There's very few who have held that type of power through television history. You know what? Those are the shows that have held up against the test of time. One of them being Aaron Sorkin who is mentioned in that blog post.

Yes, The West Wing without Sorkin survived for three more seasons after he was shitcanned by NBC and Warner. Was it any good? Not really. The show began to dip, and then plummet, in the ratings and it stopped winning awards. There is a significant difference in quality control between the Sorkin era and what happened after. It sucks for fans of the show, but look at Sorkin now. Motherfucker now has an Oscar to go alongside his shelf of Emmys.

If Community only survives for these 13 remaining episodes, it gives Sony 85 episodes... enough to sell it into syndication. Not the ideal number as you get more money based upon how many episodes get sold, but it'll do for Sony. If Sony gave two shits about the show, they would've put Harmon on probation. This is just a hail mary attempt to now milk as much money from the show as possible.

For those who are fans of the show, Community is dead. However, you now get to witness NBC and Sony rape its corpse for at least thirteen more episodes!

joefrog91

I'm predicting Joel and Britta wind up together, Annie meets a new guy, Troy and Abed loose their lovable quirkiness, Shirley, Pierce, Chang and The Dean have limited storylines.

I'll give it a chance, but I'm not expecting much from this last season.

JTH182

I agree with everything but the Pierce stuff.

You can't tell me all this doesn't have A LOT to do with Sony trying to appease the almighty Chevy Chase.

bluetoast

Not really, since he hasn't been anywhere close to almighty in decades.

Anubis2005X

The season finale wrapped things up so well that I'm out unless I hear really great things. Don't want my fond memories tarnished...

Trelach24

I'm not going to treat it like the last season of Scrubs, which did NOT happen, so I'll watch it. But at the same time, if it's just completely different and total crap, I'll probably just give up on it and just remember the 3 brilliant seasons.

Michael Corvin

Scrubs gets such a bad rap. Once Braff was gone the show really grew into its own.