Arts: Community Returns! Triumphantly?

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Brow Beat Community Returns! Triumphantly? By Bill Wyman Posted Friday, Mar 16, 2012, at 05:43 PM ET Last fall, on the first episode of the third season of the TV show Community, our hemi-demi-semi hero, Abed—a pop-culture fan of no little intensity—hears that his favorite TV show, Cougar Town, has been replaced midseason. A strange and painful sound comes out of Abed's mouth. He knows what a midseason replacement means. It is entertainment purgatory. A show replaced mid-season is a ghost ship, a zombie, a character in a movie who doesn't even know he's dead. Abed's strangled scream was ultimately placated only when he found a new favorite show: Inspector Spacetime. It's a Dr. Who spoof, existing only in the world of Community. It has given Abed and his best friend, Troy, many hours of comfort, and it is a fitting metaphor for the travails of Community itself. Why? Because just a few months after Abed feared for Cougar Town, Community itself was replaced midseason—displaced, that is, in both space and time. Would it ever, in fact, come back? We didn't know. We couldn't say we were surprised at this fate, us Community fans. The smartest and weirdest show on TV had a loyal but too-small audience, and we've always suspected that it's only lasted as long as it has because of dysfunctionalities inside NBC stemming from its takeover by Kabletown Comcast. Us fans love Community because it is a TV show very much about TV shows, and, in a way, the midseason-replacement foreshadowing is ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Were Leprechauns Originally Supposed To Be Cute or Creepy? What, Exactly, Is a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl"? The Strip Club That Takes Credit Cards: It's a Bad Deal for You—and the Strippers	Advertisement
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