New reasons to watch TV Adrian Dy Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 16, 2009
Sense of “Community” “Community" The formula: Shades of “My Name is Earl,” but set in a college populated by a loony ensemble cast Hey it’s: Ryan Seacrest-lookalike Joel McHale (E!’s “The Soup”) as the lead, along with Chevy Chase (“National Lampoon’s Vacation”) and John Oliver, who was a correspondent on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”
Creative mind: Dan Harmon, co-creator of “The Sarah Silverman Program”
The study groups I used to be part of were rarely productive study-wise, but always fun. The new sitcom “Community” gets the fun part right, but it’s also productive in the sense that it’s one of the wittiest and smartest comedies on air in a long time.
Joel McHale plays Jeff Crocker, a recently disbarred lawyer with a degree that came from “Colombia,” rather than “Columbia.” As a result, the first episode opens with him scheming up a plot to cheat his way through a local community college, only to be sidetracked as he falls for fellow student Britta (Gillian Jacobs). In the hope of winning her over, Jeff sets up an imaginary study group that becomes a real one when a classmate, Abed (Danny Pudi), invites more classmates.
Desperate to keep up the illusion that he created the study group for legitimate reasons, Jeff gives a big impromptu speech where he calls the group a “community.”
The speech works, too well in fact, and the study group becomes a fixture in the daily academic life of the gang.
McHale is a standout, snarky but nice. He is paired with a different member of the study group each week, to hilarious results.
The other students—the 40-year-old single mom, the high-school dropout, the aging, know-it-all living off the royalties from his one big invention (moist towelettes), and the injured high school star athlete—are all so well-crafted that the interaction between them and McHale is genuinely funny.
Some of the funniest scenes are when all are just sitting around the study table, bouncing lines off each other.
A good part of the jokes are self-referential metahumor, with characters comparing themselves and their circumstances to movies, other TV shows, and actors and actresses. It’s trippy, when you consider how McHale got his big break skewering those celebrities.
It’s good that the cast has genuine chemistry, because as early as now, the show’s formula of “Jeff deals with wacky new professor, interacts with his study group, learns a new life lesson,” is fast becoming predictable. The lessons are never rammed down viewers’ throats, but they are so obvious they’re becoming annoying.
Notwithstanding that, as a freshman comedy, this is already heads and shoulders above some of its older, overrated counterparts. Make sure you become part of this “Community” now.
“FlashForward” motion
“FlashForward” The formula: Take the flash-forwards of Season 4 of “Lost,” but subtract the island and apply it to everyone in the world Hey it’s: Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare in Love”) alongside John Cho (“Harold and Kumar” and “Star Trek”). Talk about unlikely duos.
Creative minds: Veteran “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Enterprise” writer/producer Brannon Braga and the comic book writing pair of Marc Guggenheim and David S. Goyer
When everyone on Earth blacks out to visions of themselves six months into the future, people react with mixed emotions. Some are happy, seeing themselves land dream jobs. Others are shocked, seeing themselves in positions they never imagined, such as cheating a loved one. There are those who don’t see anything but blackness, leading them to believe they’d be dead by then.
FBI Agents Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and partner Demetri (John Cho) are part of the task force assigned to figure out what exactly caused the flash-forwards. Benford is in a unique position because his flash-forward gives him a glimpse of himself working on the case, giving him a special insight and a few clues into the nature of the phenomenon.
The show draws a lot of valid comparisons to “Lost,” but it does improve on its spiritual cousin in a few areas. For one, the show has a great sense of forward momentum, no pun intended. Whereas the first season of “Lost” wasmeandering and too introspective, there feels like actual progression in each episode of “FlashForward”.
This is helped out by some well-crafted cliffhangers that really make you want to catch the next episode, something that has not been seen on TV since the first season of “Heroes.”
“FlashForward” is also boosted by the fact that there’s a definite clock to the show, specifically, April 29 or 30, 2010, which is, depending on time zones, the date people flash-forwarded to. One gets the feeling that the show’s creators have a definite ending in store and know how to reach that ending, which usually cannot be said of serialized dramas.
The show is accessible even to people tuning in and out, thanks to copious in-show recaps, but there are times when regular viewers may feel the show is treating them like idiots. There’s only so much repeated exposition one can take and the way it’s shoehorned in makes the characters sometimes seem like idiots too. Also, while the world-setting is quite realistic, tackling what exactly would happen if everyone on Earth blacked out at the same time (let’s just say that those driving or riding vehicles have a tough time), the viewer still has to suspend disbelief.
The show feels a lot like “Lost”-lite, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. For those who’ve wanted to watch the island epic, but could never spare the time, “FlashForward” could be a good alternative. If you’re a hardcore TV “intellectual” though, the strength of the flashbacks and the general premise might keep you glued, but really, there’s smarter fare out there.
