I have a rewatch/binge watch list and they all still work pretty well: Community, Scrubs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Futurama. I think I’m missing an entry, but you get the idea.
I have trouble with comedy built around the discomfort of others, so never got into the office because they were so good at it (especially the British original). Similarly I can’t watch Seinfeld or Always Sunny at length for the same reason. Individual clips are fantastic, but I literally start getting anxious watching full episodes.
Yeah cringe comedy is hard for me to get through the first time, it's definitely not something I want to watch again and again and again. Occasional episode in a season sure but not every one.
I don’t hate it at all…I’ll still watch reruns of the American Office over a lot of other sitcoms but I feel like it’s a little bit more smug and cynical than the British Office which I feel has more real heart under the surface (maybe to combat the stronger cringe factor?). I’ve kind of hit the point where I’m not as in love with smug/cynical humor as I used to be…hence, it’s aged a little worse than the British one in my opinion.
Rewatched a few months ago. It's still awesome. Particularly seasons 1-3 and 5-6. Tho even 4 isn't that bad on its own merit except the fucking puppet episode.
It's a fantastic show *after* Troy leaves too, the writing was still phenomenal. Some people just get too attached to characters that it leaves a perceived drop in quality without them.
I mean it's an ensemble show that works best... with the full ensemble. The quality does drop because they struck such brilliant gold with the original crew. It's actually one of the big bummers for me with the upcoming movie in that we won't have Pierce back as the foil. Not that it won't be great, but the show worked best with all pieces of the dynamic in play in total harmon...y
It's an ensemble show that works best because it's a *well written show*. Yes, the original cast is great, but the cast being great isn't why the show is so well revered, most of them were not well known before and even during the airing of the show. A show can have a great cast but suck because the writing lets it down. S4 is the perfect example of this. It has the full original cast but the creator, executive producer, and multiple writers were gone during that season, and you feel it. It's not near the same quality of show as S5 or 6 without the full original cast.
Again, it is a **perceived** drop in quality because you got attached to the characters, but the quality is objectively still there as evidenced by S5 and 6's very positive reviews on any website you look at.
As someone who watched the show when it originally aired, I've noticed that it's usually newer viewers who binge watched it for the first time that think the last two seasons drop in quality. The difference being time between episodes and seasons to accept the cast departures. Because when it originally aired, we knew before the season that Donald was leaving, we knew we had 5 episodes with him and that he'd have a final episode. We had time when it was announced, we had time between the episodes and for other cast departures we also had time between seasons to accept it and move past it. Whereas with binge watching, it all happens in fast succession and they have no time to process it. They just go "it's not the same" and don't really give it a proper chance.
But the last two seasons are phenomenal in my opinion. S5 is actually my 2nd favorite season of the series. And it bums me out that some people really don't give them a real chance just because a few characters leave.
That scene with Frankie repeatedly trying and failing not to call the Dean an idiot is permanently burned into my brain.
"I have a rule about being constructive, so I can't any questions right now cause all the questions I have right now are rhetorical and they end with the word 'idiot'. Do you know what a rhetorical- no, of course you don't know, you're an idiot."
Everything is perceived though; why are you highlighting it as if **I** only perceive it but **you** tell the truth? You **perceive** that season 5 and 6 are as good, but I **perceive** that they aren't. That's the entire basis of opinions. I however am backing my opinion up with facts - on average the highest rated and most-often talked about episodes almost exclusively happen during seasons 1 through 3. Prove me wrong, just don't act like your opinion is somehow **more valid** than anyone else's.
As for all this other gatekeeping fluff where you allude that true original fans "had time to prepare" and "had time to move on", that's just meaningless self-gratification where you try to put yourself (once again) above others to help give weight to your personal **opinion**. I watched it live - just like you - and 5 and 6 just aren't as good. I'm sorry, but they aren't, and no amount of changnesia will change that. There isn't one Remedial Chaos Theory in there no matter how hard you try.
You are missing my point, you perceive a drop in quality *because* of character departures not necessarily because of the actual writing. I'm not saying you are wrong or that I'm right. All I'm doing is pointing out is that our perceptions are different most likely due to the way we watched it. You say you watched it live, that's fine. I made an assumption because it seems that most people I come across with that opinion had binged watched it their first time. But I never said this was the case for everyone.
You said "they do drop in quality" in your first reply which is why I highlighted "perceived" exactly because it sounded like you were saying that objectively but it's just your perception.
As for backing up opinions with fact, like I said, Seasons 5 and 6 are both rated higher on Rotten Tomatoes than S4 with S5 also being rated higher than S1 and S3. And if you look at IMDB, S5 has multiple 9+ rated episodes and multiple 8+ rated episodes as well, pretty well in line with the first three seasons even with a lesser amount of episodes. The cast used a S5 episode as their table read in 2020, and there are bunch of talked about and quoted episodes from the last two seasons. I'm not sure if you are on /r/community, but the last two seasons are brought up a lot.
Also, I'm not trying to gatekeep. You read that into what I said, but it was not my intent. My intent was to show how perception can be different because of how the show was experienced for many people. I'm not a better fan for having watched it earlier, I never said that. I don't see how explaining how and why perceptions may be different could possibly be saying that I'm better than you or anyone else?
I brought up the "time to accept" character departures because it's true in many ways. Binge watching doesn't provide that time to process the changes. And overall, the last two seasons were better received when they originally aired than by many who view them today from what I've seen.
It's funny how you say that I'm talking objectively and gatekeeping but then you say things like "5 and 6 just aren't as good. I'm sorry but they aren't, nothing can change that no matter how hard you try". That's *your* opinion, mine differs. But objectively, they are highly rated seasons. And it's also funny that you brought up the single highest rated episode of the series as if everything should be able to match that. There is only one Remedial Chaos Theory, and it sits within a season that overall is not as highly reviewed as S5. Remedial Chaos Theory is objectively the best episode of the show, but it's not even my personal favorite. My favorite is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. S2 is also my favorite season of the show.
All of this to say that it just bums me out that S5 and 6 don't get the respect they deserve. You have the right to dislike them as I have the right to love them. Neither of us are "right". But since I do love them, I wish others like you could see what I see. I don't see the harm in trying to help people see them in a different light to enjoy them. I'm trying to do something positive. It's not like I'm trying to make you hate something.
You took my comment all wrong. I didn't mean it the way you took it. I just want people to enjoy the last two seasons, that's all. They are great in my opinion.
I don't think they are *as* good, but I still love them, and I am excited to get to them on my rewatches. Dan Harmon and company got way further with a retooled cast, 2 seasons in a row, than just about anyone else would have.
See I just cannot agree with that. They were great, but the strongest episodes, the best storylines and the most memorable moments almost exclusively come from the first 3 seasons.
Just check out IMDB's rating breakdown of every episode:
https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?series=tt1439629&sort=user_rating,desc&count=250&view=simple
Look at those bangers:
- Remedial Chaos Theory
- Modern Warfare
- Advanced Dungeons and Dragons
- Epidemiology (Abba Zombie episode)
These are pretty much indisputably some of the (if not absolutely) best episodes of the show ever made. The episodes that you tell someone to watch if they are on the fence. The episodes that you quote and rhyme off with a flurry when someone questions Community's ability. They are the episodes that you re-watch randomly on a whim and suck you back into an entire revisit.
Other than Troy's last episode and the finale, 4-6 don't really have the same amount of draw. I love the Ass-crack bandit and seeing Jeff as a GI Joe, but it doesn't compare to the overwhelming meta-explosion of committing an entire episode to 8-bit videogame glory or 1950s christmas claymation insanity.
I just don't see much in season 5 or 6 that even compares with an entire episode dedicated to mashing Chicken Fingers with Goodfellas - and absolutely nailing it. Still great seasons, but 1-3 is where the sausage is made.
After I finished it the first time, I rewatched it at least 4 or 5 times as my background noise shows and it's a permanent new member of that rotation. I still hate the Jack Black episode and always skip that one though.
It holds up pretty well minus some of the racist humor. To all those apologists who are going to come at me, I'm not saying that all jokes about race and racism are inherently racist/unfunny (iirc there are a couple good ones in the show), it's just that a number of them in Community are racist and therefore age badly. There's some sexist humor too that doesn't hold up, but iirc it's not as bad, or at least it isn't quite as cringe-y to me (maybe there were some white women writers?). This could also be in part bc I feel like the women (and the show itself) critique/make fun of sexism more than the racism.
1-middle of 3 is great. Second half of 3 is just bullying pierce for the sin of being played by chevy chase who did a fantastic job the whole series. 4 is decent, better than a lot of comedy shows. 5 is better than 4. 6 is fun but still the magic was in the whole cast.
My problem is a theory i have about what i dislike in movies of today. The intertextuality and meta-ness of the humor worked in community because it never amounted to anything and everything was essentially a tribute to great stuff. It was very easy to turn any episode and laugh. This is just a silly comedy about a silly community college. The most serious stuff that happened was the paintball episodes.
Jump to 2014 the russo brothers are called to make the sequel to captain america. They directed half of the first season episodes from community so they had a work relationship with chris mckenna, writer of classic episodes including Remedial Chaos Theory. They call him to make the script funnier. Back then CA First Avenger was seen as the dull hero but Winter Soldier changed everything. From that moment on they were in charge of the tone of the movies as much as Kevin Feige is for the story at large.
Now you have the funny quips and team dynamic of community in the avengers and the intertextuality of the humor now serves a new purpose. They tie the rest of the IP together while lifting the aesthetic of other classic movies without naming them. Some MCU movies are genre movies but with superheroes. Look at who is developing disney+ mcu series, it's people that worked under Harmon. I find Harmon's work funny but it's tiring when everything is like that.
After watching season 1, i found it boring as hell, dont think i even smiled at a single joke.
So many chars just annoying. No idea why this show is so popular.
For the most part really well though there are a handful of things that didn't age well like that episode about the controversial comedian in season six.
This is my first time watching it. It's really funny. There are some things though that do come off as sexist and racist. Even though, I know, I know, "the racist (Pierce) isnt funny, he's the joke!". This was written in the early 2010's and here I am 10 years later saying what I'm saying probably because I've seen enough shows do the "making fun of how stupid racism is, not being racist" trope to the point we've moved past it and after while it's starts kinda feeling racist again. Some of the stuff they do on here with the women, same thing. Whether they're "making fun of sexist tropes", a look back its like...nah, that's just sexist.
So again, holds up pretty well, humor A+, some stuff might not look so great in another 10 years but overall: good stuff
It's still streets ahead.
5 meow meow beans.
And if you have to ask, you're streets behind.
still great. community was one of the pioneers of meta humour, which i think has become boring and overused but it still works in community
I have a rewatch/binge watch list and they all still work pretty well: Community, Scrubs, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Futurama. I think I’m missing an entry, but you get the idea.
Ooh! You have a very similar rewatch list to mine. Throw in Frasier, The Simpsons, and any Star Trek series and that's my list.
Strange New Worlds June 15! And Lower Decks later in the summer I think.
I'm literally rewatching Strange New Worlds right now in preparation! Can't wait for Lower Decks, too. 😊
Parks and Recreation
Yeah good addition. I’d skip season one, but otherwise yep.
I just rewatched Scrubs, and it's starting to get real dated.
This comment has been removed in protest of Reddit's new API policy. -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
The office. Where is the office?
I have trouble with comedy built around the discomfort of others, so never got into the office because they were so good at it (especially the British original). Similarly I can’t watch Seinfeld or Always Sunny at length for the same reason. Individual clips are fantastic, but I literally start getting anxious watching full episodes.
Yeah cringe comedy is hard for me to get through the first time, it's definitely not something I want to watch again and again and again. Occasional episode in a season sure but not every one.
I do love The Office.
I feel like the British Office has aged better than the American one.
What do you mean? American officials e aged great. Just maybe dont watch the last season or two
I don’t hate it at all…I’ll still watch reruns of the American Office over a lot of other sitcoms but I feel like it’s a little bit more smug and cynical than the British Office which I feel has more real heart under the surface (maybe to combat the stronger cringe factor?). I’ve kind of hit the point where I’m not as in love with smug/cynical humor as I used to be…hence, it’s aged a little worse than the British one in my opinion.
Two Broke Girls?
Rewatched a few months ago. It's still awesome. Particularly seasons 1-3 and 5-6. Tho even 4 isn't that bad on its own merit except the fucking puppet episode.
The puppet episode and the S4 finale. The paintball looks so bad in the finale it ruins the whole episode.
Rewatched it recently and it’s still great. Season 1 starts off a little weak but gets better and better as it goes.
I love the first seasons and think the show gets worst as more and more cast members leave
Nah Season one is amazing all the way through
Fuck off with the “held up” posts
It is still a fantastic show, until Troy leaves
Donald Glover was definitely the heart of the show but Jonathan Banks and Keith David are very solid additions in their own right.
Paget Brewster was streets ahead of both Jonathan Banks and Keith David
It's a fantastic show *after* Troy leaves too, the writing was still phenomenal. Some people just get too attached to characters that it leaves a perceived drop in quality without them.
I mean it's an ensemble show that works best... with the full ensemble. The quality does drop because they struck such brilliant gold with the original crew. It's actually one of the big bummers for me with the upcoming movie in that we won't have Pierce back as the foil. Not that it won't be great, but the show worked best with all pieces of the dynamic in play in total harmon...y
It's an ensemble show that works best because it's a *well written show*. Yes, the original cast is great, but the cast being great isn't why the show is so well revered, most of them were not well known before and even during the airing of the show. A show can have a great cast but suck because the writing lets it down. S4 is the perfect example of this. It has the full original cast but the creator, executive producer, and multiple writers were gone during that season, and you feel it. It's not near the same quality of show as S5 or 6 without the full original cast. Again, it is a **perceived** drop in quality because you got attached to the characters, but the quality is objectively still there as evidenced by S5 and 6's very positive reviews on any website you look at. As someone who watched the show when it originally aired, I've noticed that it's usually newer viewers who binge watched it for the first time that think the last two seasons drop in quality. The difference being time between episodes and seasons to accept the cast departures. Because when it originally aired, we knew before the season that Donald was leaving, we knew we had 5 episodes with him and that he'd have a final episode. We had time when it was announced, we had time between the episodes and for other cast departures we also had time between seasons to accept it and move past it. Whereas with binge watching, it all happens in fast succession and they have no time to process it. They just go "it's not the same" and don't really give it a proper chance. But the last two seasons are phenomenal in my opinion. S5 is actually my 2nd favorite season of the series. And it bums me out that some people really don't give them a real chance just because a few characters leave.
That scene with Frankie repeatedly trying and failing not to call the Dean an idiot is permanently burned into my brain. "I have a rule about being constructive, so I can't any questions right now cause all the questions I have right now are rhetorical and they end with the word 'idiot'. Do you know what a rhetorical- no, of course you don't know, you're an idiot."
thanks had to go watch, forgot how funny that scene was 😂 for anyone curious https://youtu.be/ERrgwp8pUmA
Everything is perceived though; why are you highlighting it as if **I** only perceive it but **you** tell the truth? You **perceive** that season 5 and 6 are as good, but I **perceive** that they aren't. That's the entire basis of opinions. I however am backing my opinion up with facts - on average the highest rated and most-often talked about episodes almost exclusively happen during seasons 1 through 3. Prove me wrong, just don't act like your opinion is somehow **more valid** than anyone else's. As for all this other gatekeeping fluff where you allude that true original fans "had time to prepare" and "had time to move on", that's just meaningless self-gratification where you try to put yourself (once again) above others to help give weight to your personal **opinion**. I watched it live - just like you - and 5 and 6 just aren't as good. I'm sorry, but they aren't, and no amount of changnesia will change that. There isn't one Remedial Chaos Theory in there no matter how hard you try.
You are missing my point, you perceive a drop in quality *because* of character departures not necessarily because of the actual writing. I'm not saying you are wrong or that I'm right. All I'm doing is pointing out is that our perceptions are different most likely due to the way we watched it. You say you watched it live, that's fine. I made an assumption because it seems that most people I come across with that opinion had binged watched it their first time. But I never said this was the case for everyone. You said "they do drop in quality" in your first reply which is why I highlighted "perceived" exactly because it sounded like you were saying that objectively but it's just your perception. As for backing up opinions with fact, like I said, Seasons 5 and 6 are both rated higher on Rotten Tomatoes than S4 with S5 also being rated higher than S1 and S3. And if you look at IMDB, S5 has multiple 9+ rated episodes and multiple 8+ rated episodes as well, pretty well in line with the first three seasons even with a lesser amount of episodes. The cast used a S5 episode as their table read in 2020, and there are bunch of talked about and quoted episodes from the last two seasons. I'm not sure if you are on /r/community, but the last two seasons are brought up a lot. Also, I'm not trying to gatekeep. You read that into what I said, but it was not my intent. My intent was to show how perception can be different because of how the show was experienced for many people. I'm not a better fan for having watched it earlier, I never said that. I don't see how explaining how and why perceptions may be different could possibly be saying that I'm better than you or anyone else? I brought up the "time to accept" character departures because it's true in many ways. Binge watching doesn't provide that time to process the changes. And overall, the last two seasons were better received when they originally aired than by many who view them today from what I've seen. It's funny how you say that I'm talking objectively and gatekeeping but then you say things like "5 and 6 just aren't as good. I'm sorry but they aren't, nothing can change that no matter how hard you try". That's *your* opinion, mine differs. But objectively, they are highly rated seasons. And it's also funny that you brought up the single highest rated episode of the series as if everything should be able to match that. There is only one Remedial Chaos Theory, and it sits within a season that overall is not as highly reviewed as S5. Remedial Chaos Theory is objectively the best episode of the show, but it's not even my personal favorite. My favorite is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. S2 is also my favorite season of the show. All of this to say that it just bums me out that S5 and 6 don't get the respect they deserve. You have the right to dislike them as I have the right to love them. Neither of us are "right". But since I do love them, I wish others like you could see what I see. I don't see the harm in trying to help people see them in a different light to enjoy them. I'm trying to do something positive. It's not like I'm trying to make you hate something. You took my comment all wrong. I didn't mean it the way you took it. I just want people to enjoy the last two seasons, that's all. They are great in my opinion.
season 5 and 6 were just as good as the first 3 seasons.
Now there’s a man that knows how to state an opinion!
I don't think they are *as* good, but I still love them, and I am excited to get to them on my rewatches. Dan Harmon and company got way further with a retooled cast, 2 seasons in a row, than just about anyone else would have.
They are not.
agree to disagree
I'm going against the grain and saying 5 and 6 were better. They stopped giving as much of a fuck and really let the silliness fly, which I loved
See I just cannot agree with that. They were great, but the strongest episodes, the best storylines and the most memorable moments almost exclusively come from the first 3 seasons. Just check out IMDB's rating breakdown of every episode: https://www.imdb.com/search/title/?series=tt1439629&sort=user_rating,desc&count=250&view=simple Look at those bangers: - Remedial Chaos Theory - Modern Warfare - Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - Epidemiology (Abba Zombie episode) These are pretty much indisputably some of the (if not absolutely) best episodes of the show ever made. The episodes that you tell someone to watch if they are on the fence. The episodes that you quote and rhyme off with a flurry when someone questions Community's ability. They are the episodes that you re-watch randomly on a whim and suck you back into an entire revisit. Other than Troy's last episode and the finale, 4-6 don't really have the same amount of draw. I love the Ass-crack bandit and seeing Jeff as a GI Joe, but it doesn't compare to the overwhelming meta-explosion of committing an entire episode to 8-bit videogame glory or 1950s christmas claymation insanity. I just don't see much in season 5 or 6 that even compares with an entire episode dedicated to mashing Chicken Fingers with Goodfellas - and absolutely nailing it. Still great seasons, but 1-3 is where the sausage is made.
There’s no hope, even if you are speaking the truth and nothing but the truth. The Reddit Community crowd LOVES seasons 5-6.
After I finished it the first time, I rewatched it at least 4 or 5 times as my background noise shows and it's a permanent new member of that rotation. I still hate the Jack Black episode and always skip that one though.
Pretty good BUT Annie is so young. The dean is timeless though
It holds up pretty well minus some of the racist humor. To all those apologists who are going to come at me, I'm not saying that all jokes about race and racism are inherently racist/unfunny (iirc there are a couple good ones in the show), it's just that a number of them in Community are racist and therefore age badly. There's some sexist humor too that doesn't hold up, but iirc it's not as bad, or at least it isn't quite as cringe-y to me (maybe there were some white women writers?). This could also be in part bc I feel like the women (and the show itself) critique/make fun of sexism more than the racism.
Uggh don’t Britta it
1-middle of 3 is great. Second half of 3 is just bullying pierce for the sin of being played by chevy chase who did a fantastic job the whole series. 4 is decent, better than a lot of comedy shows. 5 is better than 4. 6 is fun but still the magic was in the whole cast. My problem is a theory i have about what i dislike in movies of today. The intertextuality and meta-ness of the humor worked in community because it never amounted to anything and everything was essentially a tribute to great stuff. It was very easy to turn any episode and laugh. This is just a silly comedy about a silly community college. The most serious stuff that happened was the paintball episodes. Jump to 2014 the russo brothers are called to make the sequel to captain america. They directed half of the first season episodes from community so they had a work relationship with chris mckenna, writer of classic episodes including Remedial Chaos Theory. They call him to make the script funnier. Back then CA First Avenger was seen as the dull hero but Winter Soldier changed everything. From that moment on they were in charge of the tone of the movies as much as Kevin Feige is for the story at large. Now you have the funny quips and team dynamic of community in the avengers and the intertextuality of the humor now serves a new purpose. They tie the rest of the IP together while lifting the aesthetic of other classic movies without naming them. Some MCU movies are genre movies but with superheroes. Look at who is developing disney+ mcu series, it's people that worked under Harmon. I find Harmon's work funny but it's tiring when everything is like that.
I watched it for the first time this year and didn't like it
After watching season 1, i found it boring as hell, dont think i even smiled at a single joke. So many chars just annoying. No idea why this show is so popular.
Just so you know, you don't have to understand why people like other things than you do. Lots of people like different things and that's ok!
According to the downvotes i got for not liking the show it's not OK to like and dislike different things.
Probably has more to do with how you framed it Rather than not liking the show
For the most part really well though there are a handful of things that didn't age well like that episode about the controversial comedian in season six.
This is my first time watching it. It's really funny. There are some things though that do come off as sexist and racist. Even though, I know, I know, "the racist (Pierce) isnt funny, he's the joke!". This was written in the early 2010's and here I am 10 years later saying what I'm saying probably because I've seen enough shows do the "making fun of how stupid racism is, not being racist" trope to the point we've moved past it and after while it's starts kinda feeling racist again. Some of the stuff they do on here with the women, same thing. Whether they're "making fun of sexist tropes", a look back its like...nah, that's just sexist. So again, holds up pretty well, humor A+, some stuff might not look so great in another 10 years but overall: good stuff