01/19/2010: "Community"

Hello All,

Well, the job goes well. Editing is an interesting job. I'm picking up all sorts of newspaperman-ese. Like, just today there was a story that we may not have been able to run because an ad was going to bump it and I was very bummed about this, because our reporter had filed a good story and it should by all rights run, but the ad department was doing a good job selling ads and that's what 'brings in the chedda,' as they say in the newspaper biz (hint: no, they don't) and my boss was, like:

"We can't run that piece."

And I was all like:

"You're going to spike it?"

And he was all:

"Yeah. We're spiking it. It's spiked."

And I was:

"You can't spike it. It's a damn good piece! We got to run. No spike. No spike."

The point being: I'd never used the phrase "Are you going to spike it?", ever, in my life. Absolutely no need. Maybe if me and my buddy had been hovering over the punch bowl at the grade 8 dance with a flask of 'grandpa's cough medicine,' but as that scene never actually happened in my life, no, I've never had to say it. Now I plan to be saying it ALL THE TIME.

Anyway, the point of this isn't that. The point is that, I would like to hope over the course of the time I've made my infrequent blog updates, I've been somewhat prescient in my pop culture picks, at least if you share my sensibilities, and especially with TV. I was always stumping for ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, which ultimately did no good because it got spiked (but maybe that's a blessing, because it fell off a cliff instead of going downhill), and IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. I'm sure if I went back into the archives I might find a few picks that I made that didn't pan out, but that's okay, I'd spike those entries and forget they'd ever been written.

Now I was going to stump for GLEE when it first came out: I really liked the first episode, and thought it was a show I could get behind. But then I remembered it was created by Ryan Murphy, of NIP/TUCK fame, and said: that guy isn't in it for the long haul. N/T was mind-blowing for about a season, then it sort of sailed off the cliff of believability and never reeled itself, or me as a viewer, back in. And while GLEE is still a solid show, it's not something I'd tub-thump for.

But COMMUNITY ... ah, yes.

I love this show. Have you seen this show? It's got Joel McHale, who I love from TALK SOUP. TALK SOUP is a show on E!, it's been on forever with several different hosts, and it's basically a snarky dissection of reality TV. The show really is only as good as its host, and McHale is somehow winning and funny and wildly ingratiating so that you feel that you're sort of watching the show with a buddy, the two of you ripping on shows that, well, are lame-duck targets, sure, but still it's a good time. He's not really smarmy about it, he doesn't seem to look down too aggregiously on the shows or their supposed audiences; he treads a fine line and does so adroitly.

Now on this show, COMMUNITY, which is basically about characters at a community college---your usual assortment of oddballs---McHale plays, y'know, the hip rebel type, the sardonic clown ... basically, he plays the sort of guy Chevy Chase used to play 25 years ago, which is a nice touch because COMMUNITY stars Chevy Chose in his current incarnation as a rich egomaniac. I've never been a big Chase fan, never could see the appeal, but he's great in this. And all the supporting characters, several of whom you'll recognize---especially amongst the faculty---are likewise great.

You ought to check it out. It's got a sweetness to it that I really enjoy. The same sort of sweetness that I've noted in BORED TO DEATH, Jonathan Ames new show on HBO, which is also stellar but I've only seen 2 eps of it so far.

Anyway, let me leave you with a few links to the show. You watch! You watch! Or I spike you.

... acutally, I see now I cannot give you links. But if you go HERE:

http://ch131.com/

... then go to the 'TV SHOWS' icon on the top left, it will lead you to COMMUNITY, BORED TO DEATH, and many other fine shows, which you can watch illegally and feel like a rank turd while doing so, as you should, you damnable thieves!

All best, Craig.