awesome possum Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Yeah, there was one episode of season 4 that I remember thinking was not good but I can't even remember it. The biggest problem with the season was that it was trying too hard to be like Community when a big part of Community is Dan Harmon's insane genius. On the other hand, I rather like Chang in season 4, and while it took a couple of re-watches, I finally grokked the body-double episode and it might be one of my favorites. That's the power of Oscar-winning screen-writer Jim Rash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Episode 1 of Season 4, with the Hunger Games plot, is pretty bland. So is Knots. I really dislike the Puppet episode, because I think Annie's secret redefines the character significantly but has no build up or consequence. The finale is pretty awful in retrospect. By Community standards a lot of it [w]as bad, worse than any episode in the prior seasons, but by general TV standards I think most of S4 was okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 What I've noticed about Season 4 is that everyone seems to have differing opinions about which episodes were good and which were bad. Overall, the Season was a decent season of television, just a bad season of community. Where I'd give S1-S3 between 9 and 10 stars out of 10, I'd give S4 more of a 6 or 7. The best episodes of the season were as good as the decent (not too good, not too bad) episodes from the first three seasons. Episodes I truly liked -Paranormal Parentage (the Haunted Mansion episode) -Herstory of Dance -Intro to Knots (what can I say, I like Malcolm McDowell) -Basic Human Anatomy (almost universally considered the best episode, at least on reddit. Thanks, Jim Rash!) The rest are meh for me, and I wouldn't usually watch them if I could watch any other episode of Community. Intro to Felt was ok, and I loved the song, but the emotions of the characters felt forced. Maybe it was the medium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 That's the power of Oscar-winning screen-writer Jim Rash. I would watch the Dean show, in a heartbeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 @Datepalm: What did you "grok" about the Freaky Friday episode that changed your mind about it. What I've noticed about Season 4 is that everyone seems to have differing opinions about which episodes were good and which were bad. Overall, the Season was a decent season of television, just a bad season of community. Where I'd give S1-S3 between 9 and 10 stars out of 10, I'd give S4 more of a 6 or 7. The best episodes of the season were as good as the decent (not too good, not too bad) episodes from the first three seasons. Episodes I truly liked -Paranormal Parentage (the Haunted Mansion episode) -Herstory of Dance -Intro to Knots (what can I say, I like Malcolm McDowell) -Basic Human Anatomy (almost universally considered the best episode, at least on reddit. Thanks, Jim Rash!) The rest are meh for me, and I wouldn't usually watch them if I could watch any other episode of Community. Intro to Felt was ok, and I loved the song, but the emotions of the characters felt forced. Maybe it was the medium. I liked the Halloween Episode, though I thought it didn't necessarily make sense that Gilbert also got Pierce's property. I figure he only got the remainder of Daddy Hawthorne's wealth. McDowell was good in Knots, but it did a bad job with the characters. Abed especially was reversed back to Season 1. No one brought up Annie getting her feet rubbed, which showed the writers + showrunners couldn't even refer back to their own work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 @Datepalm: What did you "grok" about the Freaky Friday episode that changed your mind about it. I simply didn't get what was actually going on, on first (and second) viewing. I didn't figure out that Troy initiated the body-swap thing nor why, just that it was a weird gag he and Abed were pulling which Britta was inexplicably going with, except when it was actually explained at the end. On rewatch, I could see it move through the group as they figure it out and decide to go with it, and I can see the character beats between Troy and Abed and Britta. I totally missed all that, originally. Kind of embarassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEvilKing Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Abed especially was reversed back to Season 1. Disagree with this. Abed was like he was in season 3 but even more annoying. In s1 Abed was a weird guy who was actually quite cool when you got to know him. In s2 they went overboard and made him too awesome and cool and meta, not understanding what made him such a good character previously. Then in s3 he became a dysfunctional sperglord who freaked out constantly about stuff or made pop culture references constantly, and s4 did that again but worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Disagree with this. Abed was like he was in season 3 but even more annoying. In s1 Abed was a weird guy who was actually quite cool when you got to know him. In s2 they went overboard and made him too awesome and cool and meta, not understanding what made him such a good character previously. Then in s3 he became a dysfunctional sperglord who freaked out constantly about stuff or made pop culture references constantly, and s4 did that again but worse. Hmmm...Let me think on this. =-=-=Dan Harmon Explains His Cultural Influences Dan Harmon, the creator and executive producer of NBC’s Community, was controversially fired after season three in 2012, but he’ll be back at the show’s helm when it returns for its fifth season on January 2. In no particular order, these are the movies, books, and evolutionary anthropologists that inspired him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 I've always found Abed kind of inconsistent, episode to episode. Wildly entertaining, but not ever adding up. Not just on the in-text character level (though there too - one episode he's a slightly quirky guy who watches a lot of tv, the next he's barely capable of functioning as an adult) but even more on the meta, audience-reaction level. Are we supposed to respect him or pity him or admire him for being himself or what? But not in the good, multiple readings and complex characterization sort of way, just in a 'well make this character fill in any function we want in the story' sort of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Just rewatched the 4th Seasons episode "Alternative History of the German Invasion," and it is terrible. Totally unfunny, somehow draggy and I swear I might actually be slightly offended, as a Jew. (and I should point out my jewish-based offense threshold is incredibly high.) I might even be offended for Germans, all at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Just rewatched the 4th Seasons episode "Alternative History of the German Invasion," and it is terrible. Totally unfunny, somehow draggy and I swear I might actually be slightly offended, as a Jew. (and I should point out my jewish-based offense threshold is incredibly high.) I might even be offended for Germans, all at the same time. Yeah, that one sucked. Definitely one of the weakest. I did like the line about Hogan's Villains though. Going back to Abed, I do have to agree his personality post Season 1 varied a lot though I feel like there was some consistency between Seasons 1 and 2? Seems like Season 3 was when the show really decided to lean on him as a crutch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 Yeah, that one sucked. Definitely one of the weakest. I did like the line about Hogan's Villains though. ...yeah, I didn't get that. The last two episodes - the origin story with the comic book stylings and the final interdimensional battle - are pretty good though. I remember being really disappointed with them at the time, but they're ok now. I'm just going with 'the scifi stuff really happened, it wasn't a dream sequence at all,' because otherwise would be too lame, and they were both wrapped up way, way too cute, but they were better than a lot of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebla Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 So The AV Club has reviewed the upcoming season and...they LOVE IT! A few minor spoilers: http://www.avclub.com/review/community-returns-200723?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview%3A1%3ADefault I'm excited. I boycotted season 4 but did watch a few with my daughter this week (her mom got her season 4 for xmas) and yeah, pretty meh. So glad Dan Harmon is back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerMixalot Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Omg those outtakes were hilarious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Thursday Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Omg those outtakes were hilarious! Which outtakes, sorry? I'd like to share in the hilarity ;). ST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerMixalot Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 oh sorry it was a link from a link arrrgh cant seem to post links, google community season 4 outtakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reposado Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 ...yeah, I didn't get that. one of those funny-if you-get-the-reference hogans heroes was a comedy about american pows in ww2.(im guessing this one didnt get much play overseas) so he was saying that they also watch that show in germany, they just retitle it hogans villains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reposado Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 What I've noticed about Season 4 is that everyone seems to have differing opinions about which episodes were good and which were bad. i think there have always been episodes of community like this, that worked for some people and not others. but in previous seasons there were also episodes that were more universally liked. but the more i watch herstory of dance, the more i love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I recently tried the quilt episode again and it was pretty bad. Just came off as forced. Weird because I liked it more when it first came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 i think there have always been episodes of community like this, that worked for some people and not others. but in previous seasons there were also episodes that were more universally liked. but the more i watch herstory of dance, the more i love it. Thats true. Fan favorites, such as Advanced Dungeons and Dragons or Digital Estate Planning I like, but don't necessarily love over some of the others. On the flip, one of my faves is Origins of Vampire Mythology, but that doesn't get that much attention from fans in comparison to the episodes above I mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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