Too Little Of A Good Thing

It was quite a Thursday, as NBC played the last 30 Rock of the year and also burned off the final three (!) episodes of Community. I'd prefer them one week at a time, but I should just be happy they're showing them at all. It seems like NBC believes both these shows are at the end of their run, and are allowing them another 13 episodes to say goodbye properly.

Community's third season has probably been its weakest, since it was more hit and miss than usual, and--even for a meta show like this--swallowed its tail a bit too much. But when it was on, it was amazing.  In fact, "Remedial Chaos Theory" wasn't just the best Community episode ever, it was one of those amazing moments, like "Walkabout" "Three Stories" or "Steve Guttenberg's Birthday" when TV seems to transcend itself.  And if the final three episode didn't hit this level, they were all above average.

You have to realize they were written and shot when no one knew if the show would be picked up, and I think Dan Harmon and the crew decided these would be the ones they'd go out on if they had to.

First you had "Digital Estate Planning." The show has tried a lot of formats and parodies, but having the gang appear as a 30-year-old video game made it irresistible.  This also helped close off Pierce's story (not that anyone needed closure).

Then there was "The First Chang Dynasty." Chang isn't a favorite of mine, but it gave the show a chance to do a great parody of Ocean's 11.  It also let them solve the missing Dean plot and settle old scores.

Finally there was "Introduction To Finality"--the title tells you they thought it might be their swan song.  It was all over the place because there were so many plots to tie up: Troy finally dealt with the air conditioning school, good Abed defeated evil Abed, Britta showed some value as a therapist, Shirley got her sandwich shop and Jeff finally understood what was important (and it's not getting a degree to be a lawyer).  Even Pierce showed some personal growth. I suppose the biggest thing hanging was Annie and Jeff (and to a much lesser extent Troy and Britta).

I hope we'll get to that next season.  And the next.  And the next.  And the movie.

PS  I don't know what to think of this late-breaking news.  After losing some major producers, Community has now lost showrunner Dan Harmon.  Is Community Community without Harmon?  I guess the final episode was his goodbye.  Goodbye.