Thoughts on Community's "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux"

I'm not in the habit of commenting on news or paraphrasing the latest news in the television industry. The mid-season Community news broke on Monday or Tuesday. Twitter blew up. Entertainment sites and television blogs devoted many words to NBC's decision to leave Dan Harmon's terrific comedy off of the mid-season schedule. The fact that Whitney will remain on the schedule at all was pouring salt on the wound. I initially planned on including a note at the top of a review to comment on the Community news and then I didn't. I commented to my friend that worse things happen in life than a mid-season snub for Community.

And then "Documentary Filmmaking: Redux" aired last night. Upon completion of the episode, I told my mom that I'd really miss Community during the spring. I remember my dad saying, in January of this year when he was quite sick and always in need of a pick-me-up, that we (himself, my family, the human race) need things we enjoy. I remembered his words as I thought about writing this post because Community's probably the most enjoyable series on television. I won't ever say I need a television series on the air--such a statement's ridiculous. The end of a TV series isn't really bad in the grand scheme of humanity and life. I really like stories though. I enjoy a good story. Stories help me feel better. Game of Thrones premiered on HBO at the right moment in my life. The world of Westeros, its characters, drama and humanity connected with me. I read about different coping mechanism; one such mechanism involved reading. I came across a NYT Book Review article about one writer who just read stories after the death of a loved one. Like the writer, I buried myself in the Song of Ice and Fire books. I digress.

I devote so many words a day to an episode of television from some series. I write about different components of the episode in assessing it, so much so that I sometimes confuse myself about my opinion ("did I actually like this or not?" The truth is, an episode of television, a novel, a short story, a movie, a song just needs to make me feel something. I want to use the word inspire but I'm not sure if it's apt. I suppose inspire works because the best stories I read or watch usually motivates me to create. I want a story to provoke genuine emotion as well. Community's a series that always provokes an emotion or genuine reaction like laughter. Their episodes inspire me as well. When I re-watch the chicken fingers episode, I want create something as good. Ditto for any number of Community episodes. I respond to Community because Dan Harmon and his writers actively take chances in every episode. I always say television can be the greatest medium in the world, which it can be, but television’s a business and its executive (more often than not) choose the more boring path when developing comedies and dramas. Luckily, NBC's a complete mess, so Community's been given opportunity after opportunity. Harmon and his writers chose to tell so many different kinds of stories and chose to experiment with so many different kind of styles. It'll be a damn shame if NBC decides not to renew the series for the fall because Community's the most creative series on TV. Creativity is too rare in the present television landscape.

I'll refrain from listing what I liked about last night's episode (Jeff-as-Pelton, Troy/Britta, Insane Dean Pelton, the entire second act was brilliant, the denouement of the third act was insane, Luis Guzman's appearance, crazy Annie) and instead embed the episode for all to watch. Enjoy.