Because I watch it at home, curled up on the couch in my ugliest t-shirts and mismatching socks, television and I have a bond that film will never understand. Sure film may have flashy moments up on a big screen and we’ll occasionally meet up at my place, but television is there for me every week, including those moments when I want to eat a whole bag of cheetios by myself and not be judged for it.
Last summer I moved into a house in downtown Toronto and didn’t know too many people. As I was learning the lay of the land, I spent many nights enthralled by one of my new favorite things in the world, NetFlix. I officially want to make friends with an American just so I can watch the mythical American NetFlix. One thing Canadian NetFlix does have is the NBC show Community. After inhaling the first season in one sleep deprived weekend, Community has become one of my favorite shows.
So, of course, NBC is on the verge of cancelling it.
Let me tell you television and I may have had a passionate love affair over the years, but that’s not to say like all relationships we haven’t had our rough patches. WHY lord, does a show that’s smartly written and has an adorable cast with great chemistry have to struggle, while countless shows that are crude and require zero brain power remain on the schedule?
The agony of incomprehensible thoughts like how my favorite American comedy of all time, Arrested Development, got cancelled after three seasons but Two and a Half Men is STILL on the air stings just as sharply as a lover’s scorn. Well maybe not, but you get the idea.
Unlike many others who work at Forget the Box I’ve never been a political person. So while I may never camp out in a public park to protest against the man, the prospect of yet another great show that I love facing a premature cancellation has got me mad. So mad that I felt compelled this week to veer off the regular Friday Film Review track so I can talk about why it’s so important to save shows like Community.
Currently in its third season, Community is about the fictional community college of Greendale. Run by a Dean who likes to wear a women’s witch costume at Halloween and policed by Chan, a former Spanish teacher who now works for room and board, Greendale is not only the weirdest school you’ll ever attend. It’s also a place for second chances.
Amongst those looking for a new start is the Greendale study group, a gang of misfits who bonded through homework and have quickly become a family. Led by disgraced lawyer Jeff (Joel McHale) who never actually went to law school, the gang has established themselves as one of the cliques on campus that everyone wants to be a part of… why else would the Dean stalk Jeff at the Gap then blackmail him into an afternoon of Mexican and karaoke?
While there may not be any happy and relateable characters on Community, indeed every character is immensely flawed in many ways, that’s not to say there isn’t an incredible sweetness behind it all. You can tell in every scene when the gang’s all together that these people love working together, and in doing so produce a show that I love to watch.
Listen NBC I get it, show or not, this is a business you’re trying to run. The numbers aren’t great and how could I possibly ever argue against the show you plan on replacing it with- the new season of 30 rock. But you’re already in a pickle these days having gone from the best rated network to one of the worst in the past ten years, and any basic internet search will tell you that Community fans are not going to forgive you for this. Do you really want to make the number of regular watchers you have shrink even more? If you really need to cancel something may I suggest Leno or The Sing Off or The Biggest Loser 47?
Watch Community while you still can, 8pm Thursdays on NBC, and don’t forget to sign the Save Community Petition on Facebook.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfdTnpV03p8&feature=related
