Lessons Learned

No, I’m not referring to the lessons learned by one Jeff Winger, as he evolves into a healthier, more well-adjusted character (I’m sorry, human being) who cares for his friends and neighbours.  Hell, no.  I’m referring to our old friend Mr. Werff.  Indeed, I come not to criticize Mr. Werff (well, only a little bit), but to praise him! 

What does he think about the March 1st episode of Community? (sorry, I’m a bit behind—sheep giving birth like crazy these days!)

But I will tell you that the first three seasons of this show, in every single episode, even the weakest ones, I would laugh my ass off a handful of times per episode, and pretty much consistently on the stronger episodes. And I didn’t laugh once during “German Invasion.”

Whoa, there.  You mean you’re evaluating a sitcom based on whether it makes you laugh?  How vulgar, how arriere-garde!    Werff, the sources of such phrases as, “It’s funny, but for what?” is now using humor as his methodology for judging sitcoms?  Do I dare to believe that this blog has had some effect on its nonexistent readers?

I just thought this episode was a complete miss in terms of laughs.

What has possessed you, Werff?  Sure, there’s still some bullshit about how “fourth seasons are notoriously difficult for comedies” and about “character arcs and the thematic underpinnings of the show.”  But mostly it’s about laughs.

Look, I didn’t think the episode was as bad as Todd did.  I though the first ten minutes were quite good before it went off the rails.  But, I don’t really care about Todd’s tastes.  I care about the thought process and methodology that goes into his recaps.  And in those terms, this was a big improvement.  I can’t believe I’m praising someone for actually judging a comedy based on its funniness, but, hey, as you’ve seen here, it’s somehow pretty rare nowadays. 

But, ultimately, it’s too little too late.  Cause Werff goes back to that old well of hugging and learning.

And while the concluding Winger speech about everybody trying to band together to make Greendale a better place is nice, I guess, it just doesn’t ring true with the old version of the show, where the characters mostly learned that lesson midway through season one. Repeating it endlessly suggests that the study group—and by extension the show’s audience—has failed to be inclusive enough over the years, and maybe that’s how NBC feels, but Jesus, I sure don’t.

Great—you agree—NBC is pushing the show towards inclusivity, heart: how can I put that?  Maybe “a larger warmer whole”?  Who said that again? 

This is the show you wanted.  More “emotional beats.”  More learning about the characters.  And now—and in the March 7^th episode as well—that’s what the show is focused on.  More and more time at the end of the episode gets filled up with hugging and learning.  Laughs are second.  The problem is not that the characters “mostly learned this lesson midway through season one.”  It’s that time spent hugging is time not spent on comedy.  It’s not complicated.  So don’t complain that you’re not laughing anymore, Werff—you asked for this.