The Look Up

                 

NBC has just recently released its mid-season winter schedule, and one of the shows not featured on it is Community. With the promotion of the star-studded Up All Night to the 9:30pm slot (the best slot for NBC comedies), and the moving of veteran heavyweight 30 Rock to the 8pm slot, Community was forced to step down from its weekly airing schedule and take an extended holiday break in the ever-depressing town of Hiatus. Although NBC claims that the series is indeed NOT cancelled, and that it is merely being “benched” for a while, the fact that the show was cut just 8 episodes in is not a good sign for its future, especially for the case of a fourth season renewal. 

Community revolves around a community-college study group as they cope with the ever-polarizing personalities of its members, as well as the excessive lengths their outlandish Dean goes through to make the college seem more proper and academically significant. The show features one of television’s most diverse set of characters, not bound by age, race, sex, or even general commonality, but by the actual bonds of friendship and mutual liking for each other. Its daring narratives and numerous cultural references is what made it one of my favourite shows to date. And with that, comes the realization that one of my religiously followed shows, a show that has been a part of my Thursday nights for the past 2 years, might actually on the brink of cancellation.

Now I’m not going to sit here and rant about how NBC are a bunch of money grabbing suits that can’t judge quality in a show unless it has a Nielsen rating marked beside an asterisk (…). NBC is a business after all, and by sheer business standards, a show like 30 rock is just much more of an asset than Community. 30 rock is sustainable. It has consistently high ratings, and not to mention a shelf full of Emmy awards under its name. Community, on the other hand, has yet to garner a single Emmy nomination, despite gaining a respectable and loyal fan base. Its third and most recent season has seen consistently low viewership and mediocre reviews. It seems that ever since its season premier musical number, in which the cast sang about how its going to be “less weird” and more “general crowd-pleasing”, that the once mocked scenario has actually become reality. And no matter how much I want to rip my hair out and shamelessly start an Occupy NBC movement, I just can’t blame the network for whats happening. The only blame I can put towards, is to the show itself.

Community can only work one way. It is daring, clever, critical, and features a plethora of pop cultural references in its narrative. Not only does it rely on these cultural references, it relies heavily on the assumption that the audience understands them. The truth is, when Community isn’t referencing a narrative, its plain, sane, other self is just that. If Community tries to replicate its more popular, crowd pleasing counter-parts, it just wont work - the characters are not written or casted that way. Jeff, Britta, and Annie are no Ross, Rachel, and Joey. These characters weren’t made to be relatable, they were made to represent. While successful shows like Seinfeld revolve around how common people cope with the stresses of every day life, Community revolves around ideas. Whether it be a certain film genre, a video game, or a social-media phenomena, Community takes an idea, and uses its characters to exemplify it in the most brilliant and unique way. Community pushes the boundaries that wrap the uncommon, and tirelessly challenges the outer shell of absurdity. 

     

Community does Pulp Fiction

In this way, Community was doomed to exist, especially on a large network like NBC. NBC wont settle for a few million viewers, it needs multi-millions. And Community, with its ambitious absurdity, just wont fulfill that. Community’s last episode this season (so far…) is the perfect example of this. Themed after the George Hickenlooper’s 1991 documentary Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, the episode follows Abed’s documenting of Dean Pelton’s attempt to shoot a commercial for Greendale Community College. Like Heart of Darkness, the episode shows the Dean going through insanity to get his commercial made, much like the insanity that Coppola went through to make Apocalypse Now, which is the theme of Heart of Darkness. Now if you actually understood the above without the help of a Google or a Wikipedia, then you are truly the eye of the Community target market. If you didn’t understand it but still took the effort to look it up, then you are Community’s hope. The general audience are just not likely to take the effort and go through lengths to understand the references and metaphors that Community displays. They want to be entertained BY the show, not entertain themselves with the show. They are targeted as hard working citizens who need those few Thursday night hours to shut off their brain and be entertained. Sadly, much of Community relies on the brain being on. In no way am I saying that fans of 30 rock or Up All Night are stupid (unless you’re a Whitney fan…then there’s no hope). For a network like NBC to grab the MOST ratings, it must target the LARGEST percentage of TV viewers. And unfortunately, Community doesn’t do that. Community is an idea-based show. It was made to satisfy a certain type of audience. Community needs its audience to be attentive, idealistic, open to extremes. And because of this, it will never work on a corporate network as big as NBC. 

    

Community does Claymation

What I do know is, that fans of Community, are FANS of Community. A show like this can only attract the loyal, devoted, cult-following hardcore fans. In my opinion, Community is one of the smartest and best shows out there today. It features a hugely underrated cast, including the multi-talented Donald Glover and the gorgeous and hilarious Alison Brie (how have romantic comedies not discovered her yet?). As fans of Community, it is our job to make sure that it stays on the air. One of the many internet campaigns going on right now is the “Goatee Yourself” movement. Let’s make sure NBC realizes that it is messing with the wrong fans. Here’s hoping that they changes their minds and give the series at least 6 seasons and a movie. And here’s hoping enough people understand that joke for it to become reality.