If you’re not watching ‘Community’ you should be

 Posted by on 9 March 2010  Modern Life
Mar 092010
 

Amy has been watching a new NBC show called “Community” for the past little while, online, and she finally agreed to start from the start with me, and let me catch up.

It is ridiculously funny. Most of it is silly humour, but there are a staggering amount of pop-culture references. And, fair warning, it’s a modern sitcom, so it’s borderline offensive, but it’s so sweetly done that it’s completely inoffensive in the end. Actually, each character is offensive in a specific way, which all the other characters call him or her out for, while each being offensive in their own ways. It’s like an offensive, hilarious merry-go-round.

Check out this clip, which ecapsulates my argument:

Of course, you can’t get the full flavour of the show in just one clip, so definitely try to catch it, um, on network television? Geez, I can’t believe I just typed that — why don’t you just send a Pony Express telegraph requesting the daguerreotype?

I watch most of my TV on this new station called “Bit Torrent.” Or I buy the DVDs.

Grant Hamilton

  • Colin

    Pony Express, dageurrotype..?

    C’mon, it’s a great blog but…jeez, that’s trying just a bit too much. I mean, Conan was on network TV so it’s not a total wasteland.

    (besides, people still do dageurrotypes!)

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    I’ll agree with you that network television is still pretty great — in terms of what they produce. But I will stick to my guns that their method of distribution is as quaint as a daguerreotype.

  • Colin

    How so? They’re moving online (altho NBC is pretty laggardly and un-generous) and a lot of networks have seen the benefit of the iTunes model.

    Interesting news out today about a new industrial-strength router made by Cisco Systems, which look to go a long way to making TV and movies work much better online. Over 12 times faster than the best current routers.

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Amy Breen

    The problem with networks like NBC, and sites like Hulu is that they only work in the states. Until that changes, I’m with Grant.

  • Colin

    That’s not a network issue, that’s a Canadian governance issue.

    Same reason we’re too lame to pass a law banning telemarketers, even though precisely 3000% of citizens would back it. Or the same reason we have the most outrageous cellphone rates in the world.

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    Network streaming of their shows is hit and miss even if you’re in the states. They arbitrarily yank shows from services like hulu and itunes at the drop of a hat.

    It’s not a Cdn governance issue, either, btw, but a copyright restriction issue. Well, unless you want to consider Canada having its own laws, separate from the US, as a “Canadian governance” issue.

    It’s obvious to anyone who’s paying attention that the future of TV is streaming video, of whatever entertainment you want, to whatever device you want to play it on, whenever you want it. No, the financing’s not worked out, but the technology mostly has been. And old-style networks, as good as they are at producing slick shows, hasn’t been able to get on board with this future.

    The sooner they do, they sooner they’ll be able to figure out cash flow.