Season 4 is more like other sitcoms on television than Community. So if you like all the other sitcoms on television you might like season 4. Just, episodes don't commit to their themes the way they do in seasons 2 and 3 and some characters are reduced to exaggerated stereotypes of themselves, especially Britta and the Dean.
I bought season 4 on DVD and rewatched it, it was fine. Weird though because they were out of school and at random places much more than the other seasons, and the characters were a little off, but it was still better than most TV shows.
It was certainly watchable except for the puppet episode, but it wasn't special or standoutish. I watched it but if I missed an episode I didn't worry about seeing it on the website the next day. The better episodes of season 4 were about equal to average episodes from season 1. But in general I stopped identifying with the show. For example, the D&D episode understands exactly what I loved about the game when I was a teenager. Season 4 was more into character quirks and gags than the theme deconstruction the other seasons do. Other seasons of Community had fun with TV tropes, season 4 used them earnestly.
That's not exactly what he said (I just read the transcript myself). He did say it's dependent on when they premiere. But since they're probably not going to premiere until after Christmas you're probably right that there won't be any holiday episodes. As for Season 4, the only issue I'll have with it going in is I will always know in the back of my head that it isn't "Harmon Community." Saying that though, I hope I can enjoy it on a character level at least. I love these characters and to see them is always fun.
This interview is awesome.... http://tvline.com/2014/07/25/community-season-6-donald-glover-returns-try-yahoo/
I love that he's shooting for more than just a one-off guest spot with Troy. At this point, I'm guessing the biggest hurdle is Donald's full schedule. Let's hope things work out. I find it amusing that the website touts that Harmon is planning an "orgy episode" when he is clearly being sarcastic.
Oh no. I know how they could do a horribly explicit orgy. Use those puppets again. I watched three episodes in a row of Madmen last month, before I said 'Holy shit! it's Annie!" I knew she was in there somewhere, it's just that she's almost unrecognisable.
You just know Harmon is going to treat this as a "What the hell, what are they going to do, cancel me?" season. I also really hope they get Troy back, he's a huge part of the chemistry. I could definitely see an episode where Britta is going to an orgy and then Jeff shows up and it gets weird.
Harmon has gone to great lengths to say that the show won't deviate too much from the way it's been done in the past. But you know he is going to want to take advantage of the new format, though I believe him when he says he's going to be shooting for 22-25 minutes per episode. Are there any content restrictions on yahoo screen? Or am I to assume it's just the same as Netflix where they can basically show what they want.
I don't think anyone really knows how Yahoo Screen works. Besides the stupid name pretty much all we know is that there will be one episode a week. He came out and said he could make 40 minute episodes if he wants because there are no time limits to worry about.
I've read several different instances where Harmon has mentioned he feels Community works in 22 minute bursts (who knows, it could be from the same source), so I'm inclined to believe that not much will change in the length of the episodes. However if they do decide to make 30 to 40 minute episodes I just hope they avoid the pitfalls of the fourth season of 'Arrested Development.'
I agree Community works with shorter episodes. But some of the two parters could have benefitted from being 1.5 episodes long instead of 2 episodes. Pillow fort vs blanket fort should have been one 30-35 minute episode instead of two regular length episodes. The Office and Parks & Rec worked with 1.5 episode length episodes in their more important episodes.
Here's the thing, to make a 22 minute (+ 8 minutes of ads) episode, they film probably a hundred hours of footage and then hack at it until they have a magnificent 22 minutes. It wouldn't be difficult to make a 3 hours long super episode.
Yeah I think he will keep the episodes short, but there are times where things are cut just for more commercials, now he can make the episodes 26 minutes and not 22. Or do a two in one episode instead of a two parter.
While I'm sure they'll enjoy a certain degree of greater flexibility with episode lengths, I'm sure they'll still need to make 22-minute versions of each episode since the show still seems to be getting decent ratings in syndication. I don't know about pillow fort vs. blanket fort working better as 1 long episode. I thought it handled things really well as 2 episodes, with the first part just using the pillow fort storyline as a subplot in the Subway-guy episode while the second part was a full-on Ken Burns parody. (To use a Star Trek analogy, it's like the "Birthright" 2-parter. Part I split the episode between Worf's storyline & Data's storyline while Part II focused exclusively on Worf.) Just because they don't know when the episodes are being aired shouldn't make a difference as to whether they do holiday episodes. Season 4 was aired entirely in the spring but that didn't stop them from doing Halloween & Christmas episodes. I mean, if they don't have a funny idea for a holiday episode, they don't have to do it. But Community has done some of my all-time favorite Christmas episodes, especially "Regional Holiday Music."
One of the seasons got moved from October 22nd to February 14th after the fact, so they didn't plan that. But i agree, I don't understand why they feel the need to air when the episodes air when 99% of people who will ever watch it will not be watching it on air date anyways. But that's TPTB and not me to say.
^^^I can definitely agree with that sentiment. Season 5 felt short enough already, they could have used some more breathing room to expand on some of the themes and character arcs they were doing. Granted it is a comedy show, granted in the end it's just a comedy show, but Harmon always did seem to have some kind of idea for where these characters were headed.
Yes. But according to the commentary track, they knew at the time that they were filming "Intro to Knots" that the season might well be pushed back to the spring some time. But that didn't make them try to remove the Christmas elements from the episode.