So...
Community is being put on hiatus? Oh, no, this isn't upsetting AT ALL.
Okay, so I know this isn't an out-and-out cancellation...yet. And I know this is the network that let
Friday Night Lights survive (albiet with a lot of help from DirecTV) when the ratings sucked, and that they let
this show survive despite low ratings (though what programming on that network outside of football IS doing well?). But. If the show goes by the wayside while shows like...God, I can't even type it without grimacing...
Whitney get second life on a new night, I will stop watching NBC. Yes, I will give up
The Office, which I have not felt much affinity for lately (funny, given how much I used to love it) but stuck with out of loyalty. I will give up
Parks and Rec, which I think is one of the most charming shows on the air. I will give up
30 Rock, which I still enjoy. I won't watch
Smash, which I was excited about. I will give up...THE OLYMPICS. Oh, yes, I said it. (You really think anything's going to be aired live from London anyway? They're five hours ahead, which, yeah, doesn't exactly match up with our prime-time viewing schedule, which is where they always air the big events.
I, being the sports dork that I am, would've probably still watched, but most certainly not if you're pulling Abed and Co. off my screen for good.)
Now, I wouldn't do this for just any show. You know how picky I am. But
Community is one of the smartest things on television, and not in a pretentious, high-brow sort of way. More like in a "How many pop-culture references can we throw out there
and the payoff will be awesome" sort of way.
And I get it - it's not for everyone. If you weren't raised on TV and haven't vegged out in front of enough movies on cable to notice patterns and have things stay with you, you're not going to get this show. But to me, that's the beauty of it. Seeing a character dressed like, hell, limp-drag his leg exactly like John McClane in
Die Hard, or use chicken fingers for a
Goodfellas homage (seriously) is much funnier than, say, more
"Men and women
exist merely to exasperate each other.
..amiright?"
schtick. And it has a big heart and sense of childlike wonder (blanket fort city, anyone?) that's quite fulfilling. And, like the other NBC comedies I've enjoyed over the years, it doesn't need a laugh track to
tell you when something is funny. You're allowed to make up your own mind about it. Maybe I'm wrong but the network kind of pioneered that sort of thing and I always appreciated them for it. Well, until tonight, I guess.
Sure, maybe the network thinks I'm all talk. But they obviously don't know that I've given up my interleague play tickets every year because I boycotted THAT shizz back in 1997; that I haven't visited a certain website in almost a year because it insulted my place of employment (and I don't miss it); that I canceled a checking and savings account with a certain bank because they laid off my father. In other words, I can be unmoving as all get-out - for long periods of time, no less - when I feel strongly about something.
So, try me, NBC. Maybe I'm just one viewer...but then I don't think you can stand to lose that many more these days, can you?
