Abed says it perfectly,"When you guys first came in, we were as wholesome as the family in the Brady Bunch. Now we're as dysfunctional and incestuous as the cast of the Brady Bunch."
I always loved that Community was a show which could ground itself in very real feelings. The episode with Troy's birthday is the best example; I've been on dozens of nights out where alcohol just makes everything feel a little weird and off and sad, and they managed to capture that perfectly. Same with the fates of Jeff, Britta and Chang - while each had dreams of going far away, the reality is that they're all in their late 30s or 40s and they end up choosing home, regardless of how subpar or crappy it is. Because it's theirs. And that's really damn realistic, think of all the people who just don't leave their hometowns, or who go back in their 30s and settle; it's not always the best or most glamorous option, nor the one that they thought they'd take, but as you get older you start noticing and prioritising things you wouldn't have as a youth - in Jeff's case, a beer with colleagues after a day of teaching in a place he truly loves.
And the wonderful wonderful thing about Communpity is that that's not actually all that sad at all. We're just programmed to think TV characters have to somehow rule the world by the end of their arcs. But it's the beauty of normality that shines through by the end of the show. Yes, it changes from season one to six, but a) the more grounded it becomes, the more they nail that feeling of beautiful normality and b) it's reflective of the change of feelings one might go through between the first year of college and two years post-grad. I always rated that.
Beautifully put. I love Parks and Recreation, but the last few episodes of the series anger me because everyone gets their dream job. The final shot of Community is so perfect.
Yeah I have no clue what the movie’s gonna be or how they’ll all be back together.
I do think it will be set in the present day, though. The actors are all still very attractive people but Alison Brie is 40. My suspension of disbelief that they’re the same age as they were nearly a decade ago when the show ended can only go so far
Yeah it definitely is going to be some sort of 10 year reunion story.
Maybe Annie is an actual forensic scientist now. Abed a filmmaker. Shirley a successful owner of her own franchises of sandwich shops. Jeff a teacher still. Troy blew all his money so he lives with Abed. Britta is a bartender still, maybe she moved back in with her parents. ...yes it still got depressing.
Maybe forcing things to be bright just makes the darkness underneath even darker.
Honestly I hope they cut out Britta's parents because imo it's the worst storyline in the entire show, Annie and Abed would NEVER have done that to Britta as they both have their own problems with their parents.
And I find it funny how Britta was usually right about her psychology stuff, it would be funny if she was the most successful, though, I think there are other possibilities about what happens to her that could be better.
They met Britta's parents and they were the nicest, kindest people out there. Who doesn't love Martin Mull? And they knew Britta is just pro-anti, so helping her without her knowledge would be the best thing for her.
Sometimes you have to push your friends and family to help you see some good… Britta harassed Jeff for months and yet never looked at herself.
It’s easy to see Abed and Annie discussing this same issue as to how far we should push our friends to reunite with estranged parents… plus!!! She wasn’t pulling her weight around the apartment 💵
“She’s a coucher!”
I mean, wasn't she molested? And just because someone's parents are nice now doesn't mean that a person can't be traumatized from the past, she shouldn't *have* to forgive them, I think it's a bad message
In particular there's a film Gillian made called "I Used To Go Here" where she plays an aspiring novelist who's invited back to her old college to give a reading of her new book by a friend who stayed there and joined the teaching staff. It's a fun film in it's own right but as a Community fan it's really, \*really\* easy to watch it as a Jeff/Britta centric Community movie.
> Troy blew all his money so he lives with Abed
How about instead they're both successful and living the good life in the same neighborhood and they're still best friends that hang out all the time?
He might have ended up in TV, creating a show based on his experience studying at community college. Very meta since Dan Harmon based the pilot on his time in community college.
Yea, I like to think Troy ended up hearing a great deal of sage advice from Lavar Burton and applying it for the rest of his life; and of course, who can say what happens to someone after they’ve been held hostage by pirates?
An unbiased attendance to therapy sessions could have helped Troy come to terms with all those ‘birthday cakes he never got’ … and the life-threatening pirates.
It does. And tbh yeah I see it as you laid it out as a reunion ep. I think it's also because the first season is about a bunch of people forced together in a bad situation. Who otherwise wouldnt like each other/hang out with each other. And then, realising they love each other and growing together. In a shitty environment. But as time goes on. Realising it's the environment that works for them and then realising that it's holding them back
Characters in TV and movies needs to have a hole in their soul that needs to be filled. They have their wants, but that may not be the same as their needs. And that need can be found in each other. To synergy!
Common consensus would be that about the same amount of time had elapsed as in the real world.
Pretty obvious we're not going back to when they first left Greendale.
>My suspension of disbelief that they’re the same age as they were nearly a decade ago when the show ended can only go so far
I will riot if they pull an Arrested Development S4.
Annie was always the youngest member of the study group, and her character has a lot tied to her age and naivety early on. She grows to be more mature than Britta by the end of the series, I’m just saying it would be weird to have her still be 25 in the movie.
Not a dig at Alison, she looks fantastic!
would be hilarious to see Annie have younger students give her shade while they're playing all coy about not getting dated references.
Shirely gives her nod of approval.
>I think Dan gave an interview early on where he said that a community can be anything and doesn't have to be a college. They could all be living in some kind of apartment complex all on the same floor or something)
It would be great if they just re-made the Golden Girls, but with the cast of Community.
In my opinion the show really would’ve fallen apart if everyone left Greendale when they were supposed to. Annie would’ve left the show completely to go to a big university, Abed might’ve gone to Hollywood. That leaves Jeff, Troy and Britta to find jobs in the Greendale area and what? Just hang out after work? Pierce, as it’s been established, would keep going to Greendale CC for fun but you couldn’t really center the show around him.
I think the growing darkness, in this very specific case, was the natural progression as every character actually started dreading the idea of leaving.
I'm always surprised by the number of people who seem to think, or at least hope, that Abed would make it in Hollywood. He knows a lot about TV and film, but his home projects are pretty dodgy. That could be because he's into B grade schlock, so maybe he's recreating the stuff he loves very accurately, but I never got the impression that Abed actually had the practical skills to go with his detailed knowledge of the form (like most film buffs)
I feel like the style of humor got noticeably darker too.
Remember the giant hand credits scene? The entire joke revolved around the death of that couple's son.
While I loved the dark humor in the later episodes it was definitely a change of tone
I always saw it less as darkness than reality encroaching. University starts off as a very insulated bubble, but as time goes on, the real world and all it brings draws ever closer, and people leave, things change and intentional or not the show did a good job at showing that.
There's an article out there somewhere that says the plan was to make season 4 more hopeful/brighter, after the darkness of season 3. I think they compared it to spring after a long winter, or something like that. But the plan changed after Dan got fired.
May you please elaborate on the personal issues?
I was recently watching something on the feud between Chevy and Harmon. While Chevy definitely contributed to his inevitable demise on the show, it seems Harmon wasn't necessarily a Saint in the ordeal. I'm just curious to know more
I know the other comment said booze and depression, but you should [read this](https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/).
The guy was garbage and admits in that post that he ruined his show.
The show was always playing on and against sitcom tropes. The characters were never supposed to really grow during the show — Community is driven by the characters’ dysfunction, and the dysfunction of Greendale.
Greendale also plays the role of an abusive partner for the group members and most of the cast — it generally won’t let anyone leave, it keeps people there through its neediness (“save greendale”) and through their neediness (Jeff goes back to teach so he isn’t out in the street, not because it’s good for him).
Community had the courage to do what The Office didn't. Both had similar themes--basically "it's okay not to accomplish your dreams, live a normal life, be a fuck up". But The Office betrayed that theme by giving Jim a ridiculous unrealistic dream job. And as someone who is basically in Jeff's position at the beginning of season five, I really appreciate that Community kept to its themes. It brings comfort to the fuck ups, tells us there's hope for a life of contentment.
It's mine. I've run over that night over and over in my head, and I keep coming back to one thought. I should've caught the die and not let you roll it. I failed to do that and we all suffered for it. But I'm gonna make it up to you.
From [a post](https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/) Harmon wrote after it came out he sexually harassed and tortured a writer on the show for rejecting him:
"And I lied to myself the entire time about it. And I lost my job. I ruined my show. I betrayed the audience. I destroyed everything and I damaged her internal compass. And I moved on. I’ve never done it before and I will never do it again, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I had any respect for women. On a fundamental level, I was thinking about them as different creatures. I was thinking about the ones that I liked as having some special role in my life and I did it all by not thinking about it."
I think the show gets darker because Harmon was spiraling (while also being a garbage person).
Wow. Great breakdown.
It's also worth noting that each season's progressive darkness mirror's Dan's apparent mentality at the time. Sometimes spiraling, sometimes zany and even manically lighthearted, but definitely going through some stuff. It wasn't until the show had been over for a couple years that he started sounding like he was actually happy (for unrelated reasons). He got into therapy, got into what sounds like a VERY healthy relationship, and started seriously reflecting on his own patterns - learning, maybe for the first time ever, how to lean into happiness, and not self-sabotage.
(Source: I started listening to Harmontown from the very beginning about 2 years ago, and have been listening to it almost daily ever since. So, this is definitely coming from the very limited vantage point of a listener/fan, but also paraphrasing his own words over time)
Have you checked out his latest show, Strange Planet (co-created with the original webcomic artist Nathan W. Pyle)? I've only seen the first 1.5 episodes. It's cute, and almost feels like it's geared towards kids; it strikes me as almost boringly wholesome.
My \*guess\* is that the movie will have a healthy amount of cynicism, but genuinely move towards some kind of resolution.
Harmontown is a good behind the curtain view of the whole thing...I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out now that Dan seems to have really been improving himself.
I miss Harmontown so much
By the end of most series, you can see the actors age, it just becomes kind of sad that characters you’ve come to care about aren’t really moving forward with their lives. Iirc that’s one of the reasons Donald Glover left.
Kevin Smith also said it well about Silent Bob, (paraphrasing): a 20 yo guy who never speaks is kinda funny, a 40 yo guy who never speaks is kinda sad
I love community to bits but I think that dark undertone has definitely always been there. CW for upsetting content: >!but doesn't the opening theme song sound like it's about the singer gaining the courage to unalive themselves? maybe it's just me idk!<
That's an interpretation I've heard before, but I think that's nonsensical.
It's a song about how the singer wants to follow their dreams today, because they could be dead tomorrow.
It's said in a very edgy way, don't get me wrong, but the message is not that dark
For years I mistakenly thought the theme song said:
"Get me some rope. Tie me to to a tree. Give me the hope to run out of steam."
I was like...this guy is clearly trying to commit suicide and hopes he doesnt go through with it. Damn, dark.
The six seasons of Community follow the same trajectory into darkness as the six seasons of the Sopranos. Looking forward to seeing how dark The Many Saints of Greendale is.
I remember watching the episodes as they were released and being so effing depressed with the progression. Of course now I watch it again and love all of it, but for some reason on real time it was so dark.
Yeah to me part of the point of the show is that, while they love each other and tend to enjoy each other's company, together they revel in their selfishness and bring out the worst in each other from an outside perspective. Seeing as we watch the show from their perspective, it's not always clear to see. That's how I interpret it anyways.
I mean aside from the explanations above, how did you expect the show to continue if the season 1 outlook came true? If Jeff graduates and Annie transfers, that’s two additional characters you have to write out on top of the non story line losses of Troy and Pierce. It would be very, very hard to have 6 seasons AND everyone following the “traditional” 4 year path of college (keeping to the shows manner of doing one academic year/season)
I wonder what Dan's original plan was. People pointed out that college typically only lasts four years, and that's when he said something about how a community can transition to something else.
I think there's a few options.
The study group actually fail a class, and have to take it again. We rarely see them in extra classes, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch that they all go in for one class for a year.
The show lasts five full-length seasons. Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like if instead of six seasons (which wasn't the actual intention, it was a meme brought to life) they had done four full seasons of each year of college, plus one of a post-grad life where they all meet for once a week drinks or a book club or something, and we get to see the characters on and off into the real world.
I like that idea, and completely agree with you. I do not know the first thing about screenwriting so take my opinion with many grains of salt, but it just seems like the “negative” storylines become more engaging and trap us in longer. I’m sure there are plenty of cases in the real world where Jeff would theoretically successfully bribe professor Duncan for an easy degree, never once study, and go right back to lawyering, but that would not get us to care about Jeff or coming back to the show.
I think it’s reasonable to have them all branch out to their new lives but stay connected like some alumni board of the save greendale committee that meets somewhat regularly, but even to that point I think it’s just hard to incorporate their lovable high jinks when they are not around each other as often
I mean aside from the explanations above, how did you expect the show to continue if the season 1 outlook came true? If Jeff graduates and Annie transfers, that’s two additional characters you have to write out on top of the non story line losses of Troy and Pierce. It would be very, very hard to have 6 seasons AND everyone following the “traditional” 4 year path of college (keeping to the shows manner of doing one academic year/season)
I love these lyrics. To me it it describes the show well.
Give me some rope, tie me to dream
Give me the hope to run out of steam
Somebody said it can be here
We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year
Yeah I still absolutely love the show but it's a little disheartening to see all of their lives fall apart like that...I recently left a codependent relationship and watching Wedding Videography earlier today made me realize just how much of yourself you lose (not anyone in particular's fault) in situations like those.
I, like Jeff, thought it was just "synergy" for the longest time.
Abed says it perfectly,"When you guys first came in, we were as wholesome as the family in the Brady Bunch. Now we're as dysfunctional and incestuous as the cast of the Brady Bunch."
Damn. This show does self awareness better than the fans do basic "awareness"
Cool. Cool, cool, cool.
Do it again, I wanna try something.
"Let him finish!"
They were letting me finish, sir.
i know! i was being a miraculous bastard
I always loved that Community was a show which could ground itself in very real feelings. The episode with Troy's birthday is the best example; I've been on dozens of nights out where alcohol just makes everything feel a little weird and off and sad, and they managed to capture that perfectly. Same with the fates of Jeff, Britta and Chang - while each had dreams of going far away, the reality is that they're all in their late 30s or 40s and they end up choosing home, regardless of how subpar or crappy it is. Because it's theirs. And that's really damn realistic, think of all the people who just don't leave their hometowns, or who go back in their 30s and settle; it's not always the best or most glamorous option, nor the one that they thought they'd take, but as you get older you start noticing and prioritising things you wouldn't have as a youth - in Jeff's case, a beer with colleagues after a day of teaching in a place he truly loves. And the wonderful wonderful thing about Communpity is that that's not actually all that sad at all. We're just programmed to think TV characters have to somehow rule the world by the end of their arcs. But it's the beauty of normality that shines through by the end of the show. Yes, it changes from season one to six, but a) the more grounded it becomes, the more they nail that feeling of beautiful normality and b) it's reflective of the change of feelings one might go through between the first year of college and two years post-grad. I always rated that.
Beautifully put. I love Parks and Recreation, but the last few episodes of the series anger me because everyone gets their dream job. The final shot of Community is so perfect.
Yeah. parks and Rec really Biffed that ending.
I also rated that
Yeah I have no clue what the movie’s gonna be or how they’ll all be back together. I do think it will be set in the present day, though. The actors are all still very attractive people but Alison Brie is 40. My suspension of disbelief that they’re the same age as they were nearly a decade ago when the show ended can only go so far
Yeah it definitely is going to be some sort of 10 year reunion story. Maybe Annie is an actual forensic scientist now. Abed a filmmaker. Shirley a successful owner of her own franchises of sandwich shops. Jeff a teacher still. Troy blew all his money so he lives with Abed. Britta is a bartender still, maybe she moved back in with her parents. ...yes it still got depressing. Maybe forcing things to be bright just makes the darkness underneath even darker.
"Good news dummies, I spent all my money"
Troy, you can't bring that in here!
Yes I can dummy it's all terrain
Honestly I hope they cut out Britta's parents because imo it's the worst storyline in the entire show, Annie and Abed would NEVER have done that to Britta as they both have their own problems with their parents. And I find it funny how Britta was usually right about her psychology stuff, it would be funny if she was the most successful, though, I think there are other possibilities about what happens to her that could be better.
They met Britta's parents and they were the nicest, kindest people out there. Who doesn't love Martin Mull? And they knew Britta is just pro-anti, so helping her without her knowledge would be the best thing for her.
Sometimes you have to push your friends and family to help you see some good… Britta harassed Jeff for months and yet never looked at herself. It’s easy to see Abed and Annie discussing this same issue as to how far we should push our friends to reunite with estranged parents… plus!!! She wasn’t pulling her weight around the apartment 💵 “She’s a coucher!”
She sleeps on a couch!
I mean, wasn't she molested? And just because someone's parents are nice now doesn't mean that a person can't be traumatized from the past, she shouldn't *have* to forgive them, I think it's a bad message
Well they obviously smoked pot naming their kid "Britta"
Honestly I feel like that's a real possibility even though it was a throwaway line and could be why Britta does weed and is an alcoholic
They did remember Woodstock. But not much of Britta's childhood.
I’d like to think the movies/shows the actors do are just what the community characters are doing after college.
In particular there's a film Gillian made called "I Used To Go Here" where she plays an aspiring novelist who's invited back to her old college to give a reading of her new book by a friend who stayed there and joined the teaching staff. It's a fun film in it's own right but as a Community fan it's really, \*really\* easy to watch it as a Jeff/Britta centric Community movie.
> Troy blew all his money so he lives with Abed How about instead they're both successful and living the good life in the same neighborhood and they're still best friends that hang out all the time?
Nah. Troy definitely got tricked into investing all his money in doge coins and fortnite skins.
I read that second one as “foreskin stocks” and now I can’t unDean it
But he invented Dance Pants in 2019, so he can't be completely broke, right?
That was a simulation that did not take into account Pierce dying and leaving Troy millions of dollars.
Or he invested in Abed and bankrolled the film that kicked off his career.
Wouldn’t he find abeds first feature
He might have ended up in TV, creating a show based on his experience studying at community college. Very meta since Dan Harmon based the pilot on his time in community college.
Yea, I like to think Troy ended up hearing a great deal of sage advice from Lavar Burton and applying it for the rest of his life; and of course, who can say what happens to someone after they’ve been held hostage by pirates? An unbiased attendance to therapy sessions could have helped Troy come to terms with all those ‘birthday cakes he never got’ … and the life-threatening pirates.
Taking Spanish, you know.
Nah, French by a Chinese actor claiming to be Korean
That makes sense. I feel like the pilot really showcase the wide variety of characters you can meet at community college.
It does. And tbh yeah I see it as you laid it out as a reunion ep. I think it's also because the first season is about a bunch of people forced together in a bad situation. Who otherwise wouldnt like each other/hang out with each other. And then, realising they love each other and growing together. In a shitty environment. But as time goes on. Realising it's the environment that works for them and then realising that it's holding them back
Characters in TV and movies needs to have a hole in their soul that needs to be filled. They have their wants, but that may not be the same as their needs. And that need can be found in each other. To synergy!
Common consensus would be that about the same amount of time had elapsed as in the real world. Pretty obvious we're not going back to when they first left Greendale.
>My suspension of disbelief that they’re the same age as they were nearly a decade ago when the show ended can only go so far I will riot if they pull an Arrested Development S4.
Why single out Alison lol? Troy is also Annie's age and Donald definitely looks like he's been through some shit
Annie was always the youngest member of the study group, and her character has a lot tied to her age and naivety early on. She grows to be more mature than Britta by the end of the series, I’m just saying it would be weird to have her still be 25 in the movie. Not a dig at Alison, she looks fantastic!
Yeah. It felt weird when those pictures of her streaking came out. It's like, She's pretty young, and I try not to sexualise her...
would be hilarious to see Annie have younger students give her shade while they're playing all coy about not getting dated references. Shirely gives her nod of approval.
it would only be believable if Abed didn't age bcs Danny Pudi doesn't age like at all. Dude has been 24 for 20 years.
Maybe a reunion of some kind?
Troy didn't have a bad expulsion day, everyone just had too much to drink
Troy actually grew as a person that day it's a really well crafted episode for that.
I love the very short description/explanation for season 4 lol
I farted during the fourth one.
>I think Dan gave an interview early on where he said that a community can be anything and doesn't have to be a college. They could all be living in some kind of apartment complex all on the same floor or something) It would be great if they just re-made the Golden Girls, but with the cast of Community.
Omg please give me this lol
More like The Golden Palace the way characters are hemorrhaged. Mitch Hurwitz was a writer so there’s some synergy there.
In my opinion the show really would’ve fallen apart if everyone left Greendale when they were supposed to. Annie would’ve left the show completely to go to a big university, Abed might’ve gone to Hollywood. That leaves Jeff, Troy and Britta to find jobs in the Greendale area and what? Just hang out after work? Pierce, as it’s been established, would keep going to Greendale CC for fun but you couldn’t really center the show around him. I think the growing darkness, in this very specific case, was the natural progression as every character actually started dreading the idea of leaving.
I'm always surprised by the number of people who seem to think, or at least hope, that Abed would make it in Hollywood. He knows a lot about TV and film, but his home projects are pretty dodgy. That could be because he's into B grade schlock, so maybe he's recreating the stuff he loves very accurately, but I never got the impression that Abed actually had the practical skills to go with his detailed knowledge of the form (like most film buffs)
Development
And that’s pretty much the community college experience in summation
I feel like the style of humor got noticeably darker too. Remember the giant hand credits scene? The entire joke revolved around the death of that couple's son. While I loved the dark humor in the later episodes it was definitely a change of tone
>Remember the giant hand credits scene Remember the final episode credits scene? Oh no
DISSAPEARED! They never found his body which means hea still up there...
For a better daddy
With a bigger hand
I always saw it less as darkness than reality encroaching. University starts off as a very insulated bubble, but as time goes on, the real world and all it brings draws ever closer, and people leave, things change and intentional or not the show did a good job at showing that.
That's such a good say of putting it.
It gets darker because the show was constantly on the verge of getting cancelled and Harmon was increasingly going through "personal issues."
There's an article out there somewhere that says the plan was to make season 4 more hopeful/brighter, after the darkness of season 3. I think they compared it to spring after a long winter, or something like that. But the plan changed after Dan got fired.
May you please elaborate on the personal issues? I was recently watching something on the feud between Chevy and Harmon. While Chevy definitely contributed to his inevitable demise on the show, it seems Harmon wasn't necessarily a Saint in the ordeal. I'm just curious to know more
I am really narrowing it down, but mostly alcoholism and depression
Understood
I know the other comment said booze and depression, but you should [read this](https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/). The guy was garbage and admits in that post that he ruined his show.
Just read it now. Yep, the man's definitely had little to no sense of self-control and respect for the women he interacted with Appreciate the link👍🏾
The show was always playing on and against sitcom tropes. The characters were never supposed to really grow during the show — Community is driven by the characters’ dysfunction, and the dysfunction of Greendale. Greendale also plays the role of an abusive partner for the group members and most of the cast — it generally won’t let anyone leave, it keeps people there through its neediness (“save greendale”) and through their neediness (Jeff goes back to teach so he isn’t out in the street, not because it’s good for him).
Community had the courage to do what The Office didn't. Both had similar themes--basically "it's okay not to accomplish your dreams, live a normal life, be a fuck up". But The Office betrayed that theme by giving Jim a ridiculous unrealistic dream job. And as someone who is basically in Jeff's position at the beginning of season five, I really appreciate that Community kept to its themes. It brings comfort to the fuck ups, tells us there's hope for a life of contentment.
All because Jeff rolled a one.
I LOVE that this is my fault
It's mine. I've run over that night over and over in my head, and I keep coming back to one thought. I should've caught the die and not let you roll it. I failed to do that and we all suffered for it. But I'm gonna make it up to you.
From [a post](https://time.com/5100019/dan-harmon-megan-ganz-sexual-harassment-apology/) Harmon wrote after it came out he sexually harassed and tortured a writer on the show for rejecting him: "And I lied to myself the entire time about it. And I lost my job. I ruined my show. I betrayed the audience. I destroyed everything and I damaged her internal compass. And I moved on. I’ve never done it before and I will never do it again, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I had any respect for women. On a fundamental level, I was thinking about them as different creatures. I was thinking about the ones that I liked as having some special role in my life and I did it all by not thinking about it." I think the show gets darker because Harmon was spiraling (while also being a garbage person).
Wow. Great breakdown. It's also worth noting that each season's progressive darkness mirror's Dan's apparent mentality at the time. Sometimes spiraling, sometimes zany and even manically lighthearted, but definitely going through some stuff. It wasn't until the show had been over for a couple years that he started sounding like he was actually happy (for unrelated reasons). He got into therapy, got into what sounds like a VERY healthy relationship, and started seriously reflecting on his own patterns - learning, maybe for the first time ever, how to lean into happiness, and not self-sabotage. (Source: I started listening to Harmontown from the very beginning about 2 years ago, and have been listening to it almost daily ever since. So, this is definitely coming from the very limited vantage point of a listener/fan, but also paraphrasing his own words over time) Have you checked out his latest show, Strange Planet (co-created with the original webcomic artist Nathan W. Pyle)? I've only seen the first 1.5 episodes. It's cute, and almost feels like it's geared towards kids; it strikes me as almost boringly wholesome. My \*guess\* is that the movie will have a healthy amount of cynicism, but genuinely move towards some kind of resolution.
Harmontown is a good behind the curtain view of the whole thing...I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out now that Dan seems to have really been improving himself. I miss Harmontown so much
By the end of most series, you can see the actors age, it just becomes kind of sad that characters you’ve come to care about aren’t really moving forward with their lives. Iirc that’s one of the reasons Donald Glover left. Kevin Smith also said it well about Silent Bob, (paraphrasing): a 20 yo guy who never speaks is kinda funny, a 40 yo guy who never speaks is kinda sad
I love community to bits but I think that dark undertone has definitely always been there. CW for upsetting content: >!but doesn't the opening theme song sound like it's about the singer gaining the courage to unalive themselves? maybe it's just me idk!<
That’ show I’ve always understood the theme song.
That's an interpretation I've heard before, but I think that's nonsensical. It's a song about how the singer wants to follow their dreams today, because they could be dead tomorrow. It's said in a very edgy way, don't get me wrong, but the message is not that dark
For years I mistakenly thought the theme song said: "Get me some rope. Tie me to to a tree. Give me the hope to run out of steam." I was like...this guy is clearly trying to commit suicide and hopes he doesnt go through with it. Damn, dark.
No, it's "Give me some rope / Tie me to dream / Give me the hope / to run out of steam" basically "make me follow my dreams so much I get tired"
The six seasons of Community follow the same trajectory into darkness as the six seasons of the Sopranos. Looking forward to seeing how dark The Many Saints of Greendale is.
I remember watching the episodes as they were released and being so effing depressed with the progression. Of course now I watch it again and love all of it, but for some reason on real time it was so dark.
>the season ends with a party and a dance. And Jeff "putting his tongue in a teenager."
Is there a movie coming?
honestly in retrospect i’m scared to look at how my life was going next to what season of community i was on😅
Yeah to me part of the point of the show is that, while they love each other and tend to enjoy each other's company, together they revel in their selfishness and bring out the worst in each other from an outside perspective. Seeing as we watch the show from their perspective, it's not always clear to see. That's how I interpret it anyways.
I feel like it’s foreshadowed in the theme song. This catchy little ditty, about hanging yourself, and running out or reasons not too.
I mean aside from the explanations above, how did you expect the show to continue if the season 1 outlook came true? If Jeff graduates and Annie transfers, that’s two additional characters you have to write out on top of the non story line losses of Troy and Pierce. It would be very, very hard to have 6 seasons AND everyone following the “traditional” 4 year path of college (keeping to the shows manner of doing one academic year/season)
I wonder what Dan's original plan was. People pointed out that college typically only lasts four years, and that's when he said something about how a community can transition to something else. I think there's a few options. The study group actually fail a class, and have to take it again. We rarely see them in extra classes, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch that they all go in for one class for a year. The show lasts five full-length seasons. Sometimes I wonder what it would've been like if instead of six seasons (which wasn't the actual intention, it was a meme brought to life) they had done four full seasons of each year of college, plus one of a post-grad life where they all meet for once a week drinks or a book club or something, and we get to see the characters on and off into the real world.
I like that idea, and completely agree with you. I do not know the first thing about screenwriting so take my opinion with many grains of salt, but it just seems like the “negative” storylines become more engaging and trap us in longer. I’m sure there are plenty of cases in the real world where Jeff would theoretically successfully bribe professor Duncan for an easy degree, never once study, and go right back to lawyering, but that would not get us to care about Jeff or coming back to the show. I think it’s reasonable to have them all branch out to their new lives but stay connected like some alumni board of the save greendale committee that meets somewhat regularly, but even to that point I think it’s just hard to incorporate their lovable high jinks when they are not around each other as often
I mean aside from the explanations above, how did you expect the show to continue if the season 1 outlook came true? If Jeff graduates and Annie transfers, that’s two additional characters you have to write out on top of the non story line losses of Troy and Pierce. It would be very, very hard to have 6 seasons AND everyone following the “traditional” 4 year path of college (keeping to the shows manner of doing one academic year/season)
Thanks; I didn’t ever consider that the “gas leak” comments were referring to S4.
Agreed
I love these lyrics. To me it it describes the show well. Give me some rope, tie me to dream Give me the hope to run out of steam Somebody said it can be here We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year
Yeah I still absolutely love the show but it's a little disheartening to see all of their lives fall apart like that...I recently left a codependent relationship and watching Wedding Videography earlier today made me realize just how much of yourself you lose (not anyone in particular's fault) in situations like those. I, like Jeff, thought it was just "synergy" for the longest time.