Unpopular Opinions

[amensisterfriend]

This is the place to safely confess any opinions about Community that you've found in your experience to be unpopular or just otherwise odd :) A few of mine:

 

1. I actually prefer the generally despised S4 to a good portion of S3 and pretty much all of S5. 

 

2. As much as I have trouble connecting with Britta in any of her seemingly 8-9 different incarnations and don't like it when they make Annie too deliberately cutesy and coy at the expense of her more awesome qualities, I still kind of think they're both too good for Jeff.

 

3. ...but I don't mind Jeff's speeches, which (understandably) make many fans cringe . In certain episodes they're literally the only time I find myself liking him! Sometimes they're even genuinely insightful, albeit in a fortune cookie sort of way :)  

 

4. I completely get why so many fans and critics name Remedial Chaos Theory as Community's very best episode, but it isn't even in my personal top 10. Maybe if there had been fewer timelines so that each one was more distinct rather than hurriedly flashed on for just a couple of minutes...? I adore the premise, but somehow that episode just doesn't work for me quite as well as I expected. And Britta's pizza dance isn't nearly as funny to me as it is to most. 

 

5. I never enjoy the Dean or Chang much at all and can only tolerate them in REALLY small doses. 

 

6. Psychology of Letting Go may be my very favorite episode of the entire series, which makes it one of my favorite episodes of any show ever :) 

[amensisterfriend]

ETA: I really love Heroic Origins...I'll show myself out :) 

[CletusMusashi]

Here's a big one: I did not feel that Season 4 was bad. There were still enough people from Harmon's crew working on the show to keep it Community-y. Yes, I think it was unfair that he was fired from his own creation, but the series itself actually did fine without him for a year. 

[amensisterfriend]

As you can see from my above post, you're not alone! I found S4 was much better than I had recalled and may actually like it even more than S3 overall (and definitely like it A LOT more than S5). I absolutely love Conventions of Space and Time, Advanced Documentary Filmmaking (which is odd because I usually dislike the ones that focus heavily on Chang and/or the Dean) and Time and Heroic Origins and, maybe even most unpopularly of all, the finale. There are also some little character touches that I really like this season---like Annie switching from health care administration to forensics, which really does fit her and which makes my dream of a show in which Abed and Annie solve bizarre crimes together one step closer to a reality ;) 

Edited May 23, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[CletusMusashi]

Another UO: I miss Buzz Hickey as much as I miss Troy.

Which is to say: more than I miss Pierce and Duncan, and way more than I miss Shirley.

Shirley did have some great episodes, but most of the time the writers seemed like they had absolutely no idea what to do with her. At least with Frankie, they are getting better at utilizing her. With Shirley they just got worse and worse at it.

I know Yvette didn't opt out of this season over creative differences. But if she had, I wouldn't blame her.

Edited May 23, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[Kalliste]

I have to say I feel like Buzz was underutilised.. I forget he even happened most of the time. 

[wingster55]

I hate the conclusion to the Pillows and Blankets two parter in s3.

[godonlyknows]

I hated this entire season - I would say it was even worse than season 4 and the ending was dreadful.

[amensisterfriend]

hate the conclusion to the Pillows and Blankets two parter in s3.

 

I'll be even more unpopular and admit that I just don't like that episode much at all and am always a little surprised when it pops up on so many 'bests' lists :) Then again, I don't like the paintball episodes either, so clearly I have odd taste! 

 

I don't "ship" Jeff with either Annie or Britta at all. I'd even go as far as to say that at times the Jeff/Annie dynamic was my least favorite aspect of the show. 

 

I absolutely love Paget Brewster, but based on the few S6 episodes I've seen, I couldn't bring myself to care about Frankie in the slightest. Maybe I just didn't see the right episodes! 

[wingster55]

I think Britta/Troy should've been utilized better. Barely anything in s4...

[amensisterfriend]

Season 2 was my favorite season overall, but I just rewatched some of S1 for the first time in a really long time, and I forgot how much I love aspects of that season.  Annie is definitely more likable, entertaining and root-worthy to me then than she is later on,  this is the one season where the use of Chang and the Dean is still relatively moderate (as opposed to excessive, at least IMO!) and where those two characters therefore entertain more than they annoy me, Pierce and Shirley may be better used here than in any subsequent season, and I love Duncan. Plus, I'll admit that I'm just not edgy enough to love some of the more 'out there' bizarreness of later seasons*, and while this season has a few high concept episodes and is definitely more meta and all that than average sitcoms, it's still grounded enough in reality to connect better with me.

 

*Another UO is that I rarely like the high concept episodes much in general, even the super popular ones like Contemporary American Poultry, the Halloween eps, Pillows and Blankets, and pretty much all the paintball ones.

 

S1 had flaws, of course---few if any episodes reach the greatness of the best of S2 for me, you can tell the show is still kind of figuring out what it wants to be at the beginning of the season, Britta was an even more poorly defined than usual for the first handful of episodes (and that's really saying something!) and the Jeff/Britta will they/won't they stuff (and, by the end of the season, Jeff/Annie) always fell flat as a pancake for me.  Overall, though, i think it was a wonderful season of TV. 

 

It's weird, because I see a lot of people saying that they just didn't find Community funny, so I guess another UO is that the first two seasons of Community were actually among the (sadly few!) sitcoms I found incredibly funny---not so much some of the weirder envelope-pushing stuff, but a lot of the witty dialogue, clever pop culture references, that's-so-TRUE observational insight, etc.  And the Getting Rid of Britta song is a classic, of course :) Sense of humor is so wildly subjective, though---I often find very popular sitcoms sadly unfunny, so I can't blame anyone for not finding those first couple seasons of Community nearly as amusing as I do :) 

 

And now I miss this show no matter how weary of it I was by the end! 

Edited September 22, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[amensisterfriend]

It's official, you guys---I really, genuinely like the generally maligned Season 4. In fact, it may be my second or third favorite season of the entire series. 

 

If they had to give us an intra-group romantic ship, I'd have far preferred Annie/Abed to Annie/Jeff or Britta/Jeff. Actually, almost any combination is better than Anyone/Jeff for me. The more I watch, the more I develop the UO that Jeff is my least favorite member of the whole group. 

 

Britta was such a horribly, inconsistently drawn character....and this is coming from someone who loved the actress. My brain twisted itself into pretzels trying to fanwank who she was supposed to be in any given episode. 

 

Annie/Shirley was IMO one of the best study group pairings (platonic, obviously!) and I wish the show had given us even more of it. Troy/Pierce was a favorite of mine as well. 

[amensisterfriend]

And since I just rewatched S3, a few unpopular opinions from that season:

 

1) I think the rarely mentioned Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism is amazing and one of my favorite, most rewatchable episodes of the series. I absolutely love the Shirley/Jeff combination and just think each brings out the most interesting sides of the other's character, and Annie-Troy-Abed and any combination thereof is always pure gold to me. It's funny, smart, insightful, interestingly weird without being TOO unrelatably loony like a few other S3 episodes are for me, and even genuinely poignant without going overboard with the sap or preachy stuff. And as someone who has trouble liking and rooting for Jeff, this one offers some background on him (a victim of bullying who subsequently devoted all of his energy towards seeming 'cool') that actually helps explain his character for me better than nearly any other episode. 

 

2) I probably should have started with this one since it's even more unpopular, but I don't love Remedial Chaos Theory. I absolutely adore the premise of it and find the ideas behind it fascinating, but I'm always surprised all over again by how relatively disappointing I find the actual execution. I'm also pretty much the only Community fan who doesn't find Britta's pizza dance funny (and think the stuff with her being a total stoner tends to be kind of annoying in general.) 

 

3) I really don't like Documentary Filmmaking: Redux. I totally see why people do, but it's just got too much of the Dean for me, who (along with Chang) I can only enjoy in very small doses. 

 

4) I can objectively see why Pillows and Blankets is a beloved episode, but it just doesn't work for me at all. 

 

5) On the other hand, I actually like Contemporary Impressionists, generally singled out as the season's worst episode :) 

 

6) I used to be meh on Regional Holiday Music, but somehow it's become a favorite of mine. I actually like it a lot more than S2's Christmas episode. 

 

7) S3 in general is so odd for me---there are really only five or six episodes that I love, but those five or six are among my favorite episodes of any TV show ever! 

Edited November 9, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[CletusMusashi]

I think Britta/Troy should've been utilized better. Barely anything in s4...

I would be amazed to find out that that's an unpopular opinion. They were such a perfect fit that I was surprised by being surprised. The only thing about their 'ship that didn't work, in character, was the writers' panicky "oh shit, he's leaving the show!" breakup rationale.

Edited November 18, 2015 by CletusMusashi

[Lady Calypso]

I'm rewatching Community once more (although this time around, I'm watching the episodes I've loved/want to watch a second time to get a better opinion) and I'm halfway through season 3. I've noticed that I skipped far less episodes in season 2 than season 1 and season 3 so far. I think season 2 is just a gem when it comes to really, truly funny episodes. Besides the pregnant Shirley episodes (although, UO, I don't hate Andre..), I find myself enjoying at least the subplots of episodes. 

 

My all-time favourite episode is, by far, Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design. I think that was the best of the best, mostly because of the intelligence of the joke with the conspiracy theories. It worked super well for me and I love both Jeff/Annie's plot and Troy/Abed's plot. Plus, Britta was used minimally (and I actually like Britta!).

 

I also love the episodes when they mix up the pairings, so when Jeff/Shirley interacted in Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism (I'm on that episode right now, actually), or Pierce/Annie or even Jeff/Abed in other episodes, it makes me like them a lot more and it feels more like an ensemble show. The only episode where I hated the mixed up pairings was the season 2 religion episode with Shirley/Abed. I've only watched that episode once but I don't think I could ever watch it again. 

 

Another episode I hate? Geography of Global Conflict. That was just a mess of characters acting out of character. Jeff, Annie and Britta, in particular. Ok, Britta was alright, although I guess it was the start of her descent into comic relief territory, but it was just odd. But Jeff/Annie's thing was all sorts of wrong for me. And I genuinely love the pairing; I just thought they were way too over the top and the overall message didn't resonate with me at all. I watched it once more yesterday and yep, still hate it. 

 

Britta/Troy surprisingly worked well. I was surprised with how attached I got with them. I also loved that they let Britta/Jeff be the sexual tension couple, but once the 'passion' wore off, whether it was their hookup being discovered, or the games being stopped with them, their relationship fizzled out. 

 

Also, I liked both the Dean and Chang more in season 1, when they were mature, competent adults who were still funny (something I think this show needed in the middle seasons). Dean blackmailing Jeff and not being as obsessed with him in the early seasons is when I could tolerate him. It's why Documentary Filmmaking: Redux didn't work quite as well for me. I loved seeing Jeff playing the Dean (Joel McHale did a surprisingly scary good job with having Jeff as Dean Pelton...man, I totally bought it, appearance and all) but I think it went too over the top. And Chang? I liked when he was a teacher and not some creepy adult man trying to get into the study group. I know they needed a villain, especially in season 3, but I'm not a fan of Ken Jeong, so I guess that's why I disliked that plot at the end of season 3. 

 

And the first Advanced Dungeons and Dragons episode? I liked it because of the fact that it got me so passionately hating Pierce. In one single episode, I hated his guts and really wanted someone to punch him in his smug racist face. And I'm genuinely neutral on Pierce, but he was rootably unlikable that episode, and strangely enough, that is what makes me like it a lot. Plus, I also like Fat Neil and love that he wanted to play with Pierce again. 

[amensisterfriend]

Allison Brie is a fun performer, but there is something about Annie that I never really enjoyed. I think she worked best when paired with Troy and Abed

 

I agree completely! I think she worked best as a young woman who was competitive, driven, neurotic Type A (A+++, for that matter!) but with a heart rather than the super 'cute', adorable and precious 'sexxxy but innocent school girl' thing they played up too often. A related UO is that I grew to really dislike her dynamic with Jeff. 

 

All that said, Annie was still a better defined character than Britta, IMO, who was so all over the place that I gave up even trying to figure out who she was supposed to be in any given episode! 

 

 

 

I don't really need a Community movie. I'd be more excited about a movie starring only Troy and Abed.

 

Same here! I don't need a movie. I didn't even need the last two seasons :) And Troy/Abed really is the soul of the show for me and the relationship I love best. Given how much I love a lot of S1-S3, it's actually odd how relatively ambivalent/indifferent I am towards Jeff, Annie, Britta, Shirley, the Dean, Chang, etc. (Worse than indifferent towards Chang, the Dean and often Jeff, in fact!) So I guess my UO is that this is a show I like more despite most of its characters than because of them :) 

Edited February 26, 2016 by amensisterfriend

[Password]

Britta and Troy? I just started season 2 and you've given me something to look forward to. Really?

The Jeff/Annie thing...creeps me out? He's like a big brother to her. It's weird.

[AndySmith]

Quote

Jeff's speeches, which (understandably) make many fans cringe

I always thought Jeff's speeches were popular.