tvview.tv - Daily Television Magazine - Primetime TV Listings Guide, News, Reviews, Chat, Blog.

Editor's TV Show Reviews

Click Here To Return To tvview.tv Editor's Reviews Menu

 Community

(October 2nd, 2009. - Editor)           Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover, Alison Brie and Chevy Chase star in the half hour comedy Community, airing Thursdays on NBC.

The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (McHale), and a band of misfits form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work.

            This collection of characters isn't interesting enough, or funny enough. Even they don't think they are going to amount to anything. If the audience is not interested in making an investment in these people. it will be the end for this so-called comedy. The only way to save this effort is to bring on the funny, and fast.

            The closest thing to a hopeful sign in this one, is that the use of Chase's bigoted, close minded, self-absorbed character allows the writers a platform to deal with those issues and ideals, and to overcome the stereotypes of each character to allow them to become real people. But none of that will happen if they are cancelled because they didn't deliver the laughs or the audience.

            As for "Comedy Legend Chevy Chase", as he is billed in the press materials, I didn't think he was funny twenty years ago and he has not aged well. He once quit the business because, in his own words, he was not funny. Somehow, someone convinced him to stop listening to that little voice in his head and come back to television comedy. They were wrong. Chase has never acted, he plays himself. At least the older version of Chase is not quite as bitter and mean as the young one was.

            This effort is a clear dud. With better writing, and better acting, there was some hope here. Another show using the same situation and featuring any other half dozen college characters might have had a chance, but somehow this one failed to find the right chemistry.

 

- Editor

All Content Copyright © 2009 TVVIEW.TV - All Rights Reserved.