NBC...you later Community

Undetermined Hiatus.

TV executives have a number of terms like this that imply ambiguity yet might as well be an epitaph. The Must-See Thursday line-up is going to be dealt a staggering blow this spring.  Community, Parks and Recreations, The Office, and 30 Rock, a brilliantly assembled two-hour block of television, offered something for everyone.  Starting this week though, the schedule will look quite a bit different.  But I have to accept the harsh reality that I have no one else to blame but myself.....and maybe Joel McHale, just a little.

I have mixed feelings about the return of 30 Rock.  The show will air its season premiere this Thursday standing atop the smoking husk of Community.   Tina Fey et al. will take over the recently vacated 8pm time slot.  30 Rock offers an interesting glimpse of what is required if your show is struggling with ratings.  Just win a bucket-load of awards and be critically praised by the media en masse.  If you do that one small thing, you can stick around.  This is where I point my finger at you Mr. McHale.

What happens when you host a show whose sole purpose is to make fun of other television programs?  Comedy, that's what.  Unfortunately, I think Joel McHale's tenure as the purveyor of The Soup may have damaged his Hollywood street cred a bit.   Some of the very same people Joel blasts weekly on his E! network coup de grace, are the Very Same People who happened to vote for the awards his new show needs to win.  The world can be a cruel place sometimes and Joel's comedic talents on The Soup may be what sink his comedic talents on Community.

But I will let you slide Jeff Winger...this time.  Ultimately, I must shoulder the blame for the demise of Community.  There is a long standing tradition of promising new shows being sent to an early grave by yours truly.  Defying Gravity and Better of Ted are two of the more recent examples.  I should know better by now though.  Give these shows a few seasons to get rolling and then start watching.  I waited on Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, and The Office and look what happened.  I even waited a season for The Walking Dead.  You can thank me latter.  But the lure of seeing Mr. The Soup starring in his own sitcom was too compelling.  The siren song too melodious.  In the end, Joel McHale's talents condemned his show in two ways, by endearing me and enraging Hollywood.

So it is with a fond adieu that I wave goodbye to a show that made me laugh consistently every week.  The entire cast was streets ahead in my book.

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