The Return

NBC's Thursday night comedy schedule is back, and I'm still watching.  There's been plenty of competition lately--in fact, last Thursday CBS, ABC and Fox all had more viewers--but I've remained faithful. (I'm still unhappy that CBS schedules The Big Bang Theory on Thursday, not to mention Ben Linus Meets Jesus--excuse me, Person Of Interest.  On the other hand, I can miss The X-Factor and Charlie's Angels with equanimity.)

So we start with Community.  I admire the clever writing of Modern Family, and can understand why it won another Emmy for best comedy, but I prefer Community, which gets low ratings and almost no recognition.  The season premiere was no classic, but it sure had a lot going on.  Last season, in a cliffhanger that meant nothing, Pierce walked out on the group.  Solving that problem, he was ready to return right away.  But he wasn't in the biology class with the rest of the study group.  Jeff noted, questioning the shaky premise of the show, that they were friends and didn't need a study group, they could see each other whenever they wanted.  But then Jeff was kicked out of Biology 101 (by the new, ex-con teacher played by Michael Kenneth "Omar" Williams) and suddenly realized how cold the world could be when he wasn't part of the Table.

Meanwhile, Senor Chang was living in the vents, Abed was jonesing for the lack of new Cougar Town and Dean Pelton (now a regular) swore he'd be tougher this year, growing a goatee and taking action against the alleged monkey in the vents.  Chang was discovered and became a security guard working for free (because Pelton couldn't pay him), Abed discovered a new show to love and Pelton ran into the vice dean of the Greendale Annex, in charge of air conditioner repair, played by John Goodman.  Pelton tried to lean on him for some expenses, but it turns out air conditioner repair is more powerful than the entire regular Greendale schedule.  In addition to all this, the show had time to include a musical number, a parody of Dr. Who, a generic Britcom, and 2001.

Anyway, it was nice to see the gang back, even if the premise is growing thinner each year.  Still, the show is only in its third season, so there's plenty left to explore.

Next comes Parks And Recreation.  Looks like Leslie will run for office, which is a different milieu for the show, but not necessarily a promising one. At least it means she has to leave her chemistry-free relationship with Adam Scott.  Meanwhile, some of the other characters were shuffled around a bit, and Ron Swanson has to deal with his first wife as well as an IRS audit.  It's a decent show with some life left in it, but I've never really loved it.

Then there's The Office, which has gone through a major change, losing lead Steve Carrell.  The big cliffhanger, which interested me very little, was who would be his replacement.  As many suspected, they've hired from within, and Ed Helms is the new guy--his Andy is just as clueless as Michael, though a bit nicer.  And Ed Helms through The Hangover movies has become the biggest star on the show, I suppose, so in some ways it makes sense he's the lead (or at least replacing the lead).

Meanwhile, in a more interesting and even bizarre development, James Spader is now CEO of the entire company. I think he's funny, and like him better than Kathy Bates as CEO, but is he really going to be operating inside the conference room?  It seeems like too much direct control.  It certainly changes the Michael-centric dynamic the show had for years.

This episode had a list that Spader's Robert California made of winners and losers.  This split the office family, but Andy made a stirring defense for his people. I like that the Robert's list wasn't just some case of a misunderstanding, but actually meant something--I'm tired of the sitcom trope where someone has deep suspicions only to learn nothing was happening in the first place.

By the way, has any sitcom ever had so many regulars?  In addition to Andy and Robert, there's Dwight, Jim, Pam, Ryan, Stanley, Kevin, Meredith, Angela, Oscar, Phyllis, Kelly, Toby, Creed ("Old Man" on Robert's list), Darryl, Erin and Gabe. (Yep, they kept Gabe.  I thought he was sent packing last year, and was glad of it.) Does anyone ever leave Scranton?

After The Office came Whitney. (30 Rock will return mid-season.)  It's one of two new sitcoms produced by Whitney Cummings.  How did this happen?  Wasn't one enough?

Anyway, the show is live (I think) and built around the charms of the title character, played, as you must have guessed, by Whitney Cummings, who also wrote the pilot.  She's been in a relationship with her boyfriend for three years and they're trying to figure out how to keep it fresh and alive.  Whitney also has a couple single female friends, and there's also some other men in there and her thrice-divorced mother, played by Jan Kaczmarek.

The jokes weren't that funny, the observations not that penetrating and the situation stale.  I think Whitney herself is cute but her personality is not enough to carry the show without better writing.