“Community” Still Struggling Along

Well I was willing to give Community another chance and I will say I’m seeing a few glimmers of hope, but sadly I have to say there’s a huge gaping hole where a really good show should be.   First off, they’re still not doing anything with their secondary characters and the little they are doing just didn’t work at all in this episode.   The Indian guy and the still wearing a letterman’s jacket African American guy were used for one Spanish dialogue bit that was decently funny, but then they were barely seen in the episode otherwise.   And as for the highly peppy girl and the in her thirties lady their use was kind of more annoying than anything as they, for some reason,  get super excited about protesting something or other and putting tape over their mouths.   At least that will keep them from spitting out the less than impressive dialogue that was written for them.

If you didn’t notice I didn’t write any of these characters names because they have made it so their names are almost instantly forgettable with the little they’ve been given to do.   And the reason for all of this being this episode was clearly all about Joel McHale and Chevy Chase’s characters bonding together over a Spanish class assignment.   They are both very entertaining to watch though and I will give it to the presentation they give at their class which is pretty funny and oddly set to Aimee Mann’s “It’s Not Going to Stop”.    Also the teacher played by Ken Jeong, the guy from The Hangover and about a million other movies, really seems like he’s struggling to make his bit funny.   I’m not exactly sure why it’s funny to have an Asian man rattling on about how funny and weird it is for an Asian to be teaching Spanish.   Really all they need to do to save the show is figure out exactly where this show is going.   I know it’s only two episodes in but I kind of want to know were this show is going with the whole season overall.

In brighter news I have to give it to Parks and Recreation for being one of those shows that completely turned itself around and is one I look forward to seeing every week.   This week they introduced Louis C.K. as a Pawnee police officer who may have a thing for Leslie Knope after an awkward incident involving a community garden and marijuana. I hope he will be a recurring character as Louis C.K. can be pretty funny and his little monologue at the end was pretty tongue-tied and funny.  Also the boss Ron had a great bit involving sneezing and his bad hernia which he uses to great effect throughout the episode.   Also on The Office side of life, it was a bit of a grueling episode as Michael was left out of a meeting with Jim and the head boss and he tries to sneak in every chance he can. Toby and Dwight have a great Hardy Boys moment as they try to figure out if Darryl is lying about his on the job work accident and end up insulting his sister pretty badly.   So Office and Parks, keep doing what you’re doing cause its working for you and I’m still holding out hope for Community.