Big Community Shake-Up

As a big fan, and after seeing dismal ratings reports in some instances, a lenghty midseason hiatus, and a big kerfluffle behind the scenes involving the show's creator and one of its cast members which all left a certain cloud of uncertainty in regards to its future... as a fan of the show, I could not have been more pleased to hear that NBC had renewed its Thursday night sitcom Community for a fourth season.



I've really tried to be optimistic and positive about all of the stuff that's surfaced. I thought if Chevy Chase did leave after all the nasty and profanity-laced backstage drama, that the other characters gel well enough together and there'd certainly be enough talent from the rest of the cast to suffice a continuance. Some scoffed at the idea of a 13-episode order for next season. Personally, after seeing seasons 2 and 3 progress and seeing some episodes being hits and some misses in terms of quality, I was thinking that 13 episodes could help strengthen the quality of an additional season and there could be more creative focus with the episodes we are to get. Some are worried about the move to Fridays. While this is a pretty valid concern considering how so many shows are shoved off to Friday nights to eventually die, I was thinking the plus about it is that it wouldn't be up to such fierce competition.

But when I heard that Sony fired the creator Dan Harmon, I honestly don't know how to feel. This being said, I really don't understand how you can not only fire someone on the spot like this, but do it without even involving him. It just seems really messed up that they could do this. There have been some disappointing moments on the series in the past two years, but that being said, under Dan Harmon's guise, we've seen some of the best, most memorable sitcom episodes in the past few years. Just look at season 2's "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" or season 3's "Remedial Chaos Theory," and as a whole at the top of its game can be very inventive and creative. His replacements will be producers David Guarascio and Moses Port, best known for their work on Just Shoot Me! and Happy Endings. Shows have survived changes like this, of course. Many of them. But this one seems so random and out of the blue. One can't help but be worried about this change. The last thing this show needs is another new major shakeup that could bode disaster.

I know I praised Supernatural's showrunner change of Sera Gamble to Jeremy Carver an entry back, but there are some key differences here. On Supernatural there wasn't some huge behind the scenes bruhaha. There was no bitterness, animosity, or plain jackholery from The CW or Warner Brothers. None of that type of business. And there's the fact that Jeremy Carver's worked on Supernatural for years. He knows the show. These new people coming to Community? No offense to them intended, and I loved Just Shoot Me! personally, but this has me worried and nervous for the show's future. And even if this does work out, there's still the horrible way that it came to fruition in the first place.