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Essay

Why NBC and Sony Continue to Make Community the Rodney Dangerfield of Sitcoms

by Jamie Frevele | 12:38 pm, May 23rd, 2012


Back in its 1990s heyday, NBC latched on to its sitcom hits and ran with them. Friends and Seinfeld were like the golden children who could do no wrong. And yes, those were good shows. You know what’s also a good show? Community. So why does NBC continue to treat it like its red-headed stepchild? That red-headed stepchild is hilarious, sweet, and has tons and tons of friends! Well, as one of those friends (and a fake redhead), I want to discuss how Community became the Rodney Dangerfield of television.

I’ll be truthful about Community — it is not a perfect show, and not everyone likes it. That’s perfectly fair, because that is the nature of entertainment. There is something out there for everyone, and not everyone has to like everything. However, Community is most certainly for me. From its series premiere, I knew it was. I can’t explain why, but the way the characters talk, the way they handle situations, and the stories themselves were just executed in a way that was better than usual and very different than your typical sitcom.

Maybe I just found it easy to relate to a bunch of people who failed at things, but still plugged away, knowing that even slow progress is still progress, and let’s just make the best of it, plus all the awesome new friends. Anyway…

It was clear to me that the creator of this show, Dan Harmon, had made something very special that spoke not just to me, but to millions of people. Millions of people, who saw a show like The Big Bang Theory and said, “This is a show about geeks, but there is something not quite hitting my ears right.” And then they saw Community and said, “This show is hitting every part of me right.” And yet, the former is a ratings hit on CBS and the latter never seems to get ratings anywhere near those numbers. They’re both good shows (yes, I think Big Bang Theory is a decent show, and if you don’t, that’s totally cool), seemingly covering the same ground, but taking vastly different approaches. Because Community is for the geeks, while Big Bang Theory is for the non-geeks. And there are simply more non-geeks than geeks. That’s why mainstream pop culture is called “mainstream” and not every single person knows what Doctor Who is. That’s allowed. But this is an entirely different essay altogether.

Ratings are at the crux of NBC’s and Sony Television‘s bad treatment of Community, which is a beloved show by its fans who watch it in other ways than just on television. Community isn’t alone in its bad ratings, either — 30 Rock’s ratings are low, as are the rest of the Thursday night lineup. “Must-See TV” ain’t what it used to be. And yet while NBC has had a clear opportunity to cultivate a higher viewership by marketing, embracing, and advertising the show better than it has, it doesn’t. Instead, it takes it off the air mid-season, letting everyone believe that it might not come back next season. When it does come back, the ratings are awesome. So, that turbulent season ends, and there are serious questions about its renewal.

Why? Why were there questions about Community being renewed? One visit to the internet will tell you that people love Community! Does it have a lowest-common-denominator fan base like other non-thinking shows like American Idol or Two and a Half Men? No, but does a show that is good and earns repeated acclaim from critics and fans need gigantic ratings? As someone who, admittedly, doesn’t have an insider’s point of view, I wouldn’t think it does. It’s a good show that enough people evidently watch and talk about that it should have never been at risk of premature cancellation. (But like I said, I don’t have an insider’s point of view.)

Community was renewed, but for a shortened season, and on Friday nights. In a time slot following the most reviled show on the same network, Whitney. Whitney, a show that everyone assumed would be canceled because it’s simply not a good show. The format doesn’t work in a lineup of single-camera shows; it already looks like an outdated show (and sounds like one — hi, laugh track). And then the scripts and the jokes are bad, and Whitney Cummings (who really is a good comedian, and that’s why she got a show in the first place) has a bad habit of saying “Okay” after everything. But somehow, this show was renewed, and it feels like there wasn’t a question. At worst, it was “on the bubble.” And Community, a show that people clearly and publicly love, was “on the bubble,” but always leaning towards cancellation.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, NBC. And I haven’t even gotten to the most egregious thing you’ve done.

These days, Friday nights are where shows go to die. And it looked like NBC had really decided that they’d appease all those kids on Twitter and renew the show, but put it out to pasture on the night of the week that no one is home to watch it, so everyone would just forget about it by the time they reached syndication requirements and then put it out of its misery. Some might argue that moving Community to Fridays would let it stand on its own a bit, plus it would get it away from the Thursday night lineup where the ratings expectations are too high. It would also get it out of the line of fire of Big Bang Theory, so the non-geeks who are sitting on a physical couch watching a physical television set don’t flip to one channel and see a show about geeks that speaks their language and another show about geeks that speaks geek, then choose the one they “get” instead of one that might make them laugh for all new reasons.

But this just goes to show you that NBC is not as interested in nurturing a fun show and cultivating its audience as it is in merely growing an audience for a less risky show.

The biggest sign that NBC was acting like an absent parent to its red-headed stepchild was the firing of Dan Harmon.

Boy howdy, was this heartbreaking.

Look, the replacement of showrunners is not uncommon. We saw it on The Walking Dead, and the show turned out great. But for every Glen Mazzara, there is a John Wells, who took over for Aaron Sorkin when he quit The West Wing, because NBC wanted him to include more action and scandal — in his show about whip-smart White House staffers and the important decisions they need to make with their own human emotions for the good of an entire country. You know — an action show. In other words, they wanted Aaron Sorkin — Aaron Sorkin — to Michael Bay his baby. So, he quit, and took director Tommy Schlamme with him. And then the show sucked. And when I tell you that using the phrase “The West Wing sucked” drives a knife through my heart, well, that’s hyperbole, but it still makes me emotional.

My point is, Sorkin’s departure from The West Wing was significant. That show came from a writer, an artist, with a distinct voice and vision. And they gave it to the guy who made things explode every week on ER.

I’m not saying that the new showrunners of Community are going to turn the show into something unrecognizable and awful. In fact, David Guarascio and Moses Port have both consulted on ABC‘s Happy Endings, another new, quirky sitcom which could be described as being in the same vein as Community. Harmon even said himself that they were “seasoned” and “[has] it on good authority they’re quite nice…so how bad can they be.” So, it’s entirely possible that Community will be in good hands. Look what happened with M.A.S.H., which saw another beloved showrunner quit (Larry Gelbart) and then survived when two other guys (Ken Levine and David Isaacs). One of those “other guys,” Levine, actually is an expert in TV showrunners since he was one, and he has an excellent perspective on the situation behind the scenes. I strongly suggest giving it a read (as does Harmon).

But it won’t be the same. Yes, Guarascio and Port could be just as comedically skilled as Levine and Isaacs. But their voices will not be Harmon’s, and that’s what made Community what it is.

Dan Harmon is a creative risk-taker, and that’s rare on television. I’m not talking about killing off a beloved character or hooking up two characters for sweeps. I’m talking about an entire episode that is a spoof of Dinner With Andre while everyone is dressed in Pulp Fiction costumes. And not for sweeps. For any damn time. And it’s never a stunt, it’s just what Harmon and his unbelievably talented writers want to do with their television show, because they want to. That’s an attitude brought to a show that I, personally, cannot see evidence of anywhere else, except maybe on Adult Swim. And those are cartoons, which, technically, don’t take place in the real world the way Community does. (In fact, Harmon has a show coming to Adult Swim, Rick & Morty. Maybe this will give him more freedom.)

However, it’s not a secret that Harmon is a hard person to work with. He has admitted as much repeatedly, so it’s not as if he’s trying to come off as this innocent sweetheart. That said, when the news of his firing happened, did you see anything from the cast and crew of the show saying “Good riddance” or anything negative at all, for that matter? Nope. You saw dismay at his dismissal, and gratitude and support. And that’s from people who do have direct contact with him. Anyone who thinks that Harmon deserved this because he “wasn’t a nice guy” should really forgo watching television and movies and consider making friends with boring, lobotomized people if they want “nice.” Or fictional characters. Because speaking as someone who is a creative type, has worked with and dated creative types, and is dear friends with creative types, we are crazy, yo. And we are competitive, and we are protective of what we make. And no, if someone makes something that we love, we do not have to like them personally. At least I don’t, unless they did something dickish to me, directly.

Dan Harmon has never done anything dickish to me. Nor has he done anything nice. I have never met him, but his Tumblr makes me laugh, and the show he created has added a brightness to my life and the lives of others for the past three years. The gifs alone make the internet a better place, especially in an election year. I enjoy laughing and being entertained by things, and Community does me one better — it surprises me. And that takes a lot these days. So, unless he’s an axe murderer who molests puppies, I really don’t care what Harmon does in his spare time. If he does do those things, I wonder if there’s an easter egg hidden in an episode of Community that makes a reference to it. And he should also stop doing that, and keep writing awesome things that I like instead. (I am pretty sure that Harmon does not do those things, though.)

Do I think NBC and Sony made a massive, terrible mistake in firing Harmon? You bet I did. And I think the network’s continued disrespect of a great show is shameful. But you know what it really is? It’s cowardly. And it’s a sign that they’d rather stick to the status quo — the boring, boring, boring status quo — than take a risk and promote the hell out Community every chance they get.

But then again, what do I know? I’m just a fan.

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  • Anonymous

    I’ve not heard a peep from Chevy Chase, and that does not surprise me.  There are absolutely people at NBC (likely the ones who insisted on adding him in the first place) that it’s Chevy that’s making the show a hit, over anything else.

    The days of a 30 share are over.  Network TV has to compete not only with other broadcast channels and cable, but with every other form of entertainment out there, down to and including masturbating.  So the idea of putting on a “niche” show that may only appeal to an even smaller facet of the audience goes against everything they think they know about television.  There’s ever the attempt to make a show (or a channel – I’m looking at you, “SyFy”) more inclusive, to appeal to more people, often and usually at the expense of the current audience.

    Everybody should go watch Louie instead.

  • Anonymous

    Could not agree more! Especially with your assessment of Big Bang Theory vs Community.  The latter is FOR geeks, the former is so the masses can laugh at geeks. I watch almost nothing on network television anymore and this is why. A show like Community would be better off on a network like FX or even AMC. There seems to be little room on network TV anymore for great or original. Just pablum.

  • http://www.facebook.com/cindy.hoskey Cindy Parker Hoskey

    Apparently I have the same taste as you, too.  I hadn’t thought about Community being FOR geeks and BBT being about geeks.  I could never succinctly describe why BBT wasn’t for me but this totally sums it up.  I do love Community, as does my 11 yo son and my 24 yo son.  It will be a really sad day for TV when this is cancelled. I had looked at Community as a sign that TV sitcoms were finally watchable again.  If it goes I guess I’ll have Parks & Rec and the remains of The Office, but they will be little consolation for the loss of this wonderful comedy.

  • Arakiba

    The Big Bang theory is to Community what Charmed was to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  The geeks in BBT are seen from the outside; you laugh at them, rather than with them, as you do in Community.

  • Anonymous

    The ONLY reason Community fans sh*t on BBT is because it’s the direct competition. I like BOTH shows, but I’m sort of getting tired of Community fans dumping on the Big Bang Theory.

    Can’t we all just get along? It’s OK if you don’t like BBT, but please don’t constantly bring it up when talking about Community. The shows are nothing a like and apeal to different audiences. And BBT is definitely singled out. Modern Family, 30 Rock, and the other cable comedy shows are never mentioned. This is actually starting to ruin my enjoyment of Community — the exact oposite of what the Internet campaign is trying to do. I’m sure I’m not the only BBT-Community cross over fan.

  • Anonymous

    Modern Family and 30 Rock don’t suck. I’m amazed that anyone, not over 60, watches a show with a laugh track anymore.

  • Anonymous

    That’s fine if that’s your opinion. But Two and Half Men sucks too and no one is mentioning that show every other sentence. Again, for a show like Community that needs as much fan enthusiasm as it can muster, I don’t see the logic behind mean girling and alienating Community fans that may also enjoy BBT.

    There’s also a very tangible sense of snobbery that’s associated with Community fans’ commentary on the Big Bang Theory. It’s only ever mentioned to talk about how bad it is or how people who enjoy it are ‘other,’ so why even bother?  The Community fandom is seriously starting to remind me of a bunch of hipsters and it’s off putting. I like the show, but the fandom not so much.

  • http://tentacled-testing.tumblr.com/ Kate Falanga

    Fandoms need to understand how the business of television works in order to support a show they love in a way that will matter. 

    If you love Community don’t torrent it or watch it online. You need to watch when it airs and you need to watch the commercials. You need to support the advertisers that bought time on that slot and you need to promote that support so it’s visible. 

    We are not yet at a time where Big Media understands how to monetize digital content.

    In the end it doesn’t matter how great the show is. It matters if the show makes money. Help it make money, help keep it on the air. 

  • http://twitter.com/Neiul fghjkl;

    Doctor Who is a bad example as it is not /for/ geeks, it is just only watched by geeks in America. But not the whole world is America, and in fact in the UK it is practically mainstream; it gets very good ratings, and almost everyone has heard of it.

  • Anonymous

    I watch it online. I watch it on Hulu because, as a college student with limited income, I had to choose between cable and the internet. Cable doesn’t allow me to access my online homework so I went with internet. 

    This is the case with a lot of fans in my age group. I know friends who did/do torrent the show so they can watch it on Thursday and I have told them to just wait to watch it on Friday when it goes to Hulu. But I also have lots of friends who will do that (they do both of these things for 30 Rock too and that show hasn’t had the issues with executives that Community has.) And the thing is, nearly all of my friends who torrented the first two seasons of Community then went on to buy the DVD sets. This is actually really common among people who pirate shows due to an inability to purchase cable. 
    Still, the fact that networks have not figured out that the up and coming generations are going to the internet for their television more and more is ridiculous. They need to look at online viewing more. It’s like how HBO should find a way to make HBOGo accessible to people who can’t pay for a full cable subscription so that they can watch Game of Thrones there instead of pirating it. 

  • http://www.facebook.com/privatewojtek Bear Philippe

     Truer words. I’m gonna steal this.

  • Anonymous

    And, because I failed to mention this the first time, I want to point out what a splendid example your comment is of the typical Community fandom’s approach to the Big Bang Theory and its fans.

    First you point out how bad you think the Big Bang Theory is. Then you go on to make a generally negative statement about the people who watch it.

    Not helping your cause. Especially since there really is a lot of crossover. Many people who like BBT will also like Community if the show is brought to their attention via the Internet campaign (which I assume is the POINT of the Internet campaign… I am actually a relatively RECENT fan of the show), but if the Internet campaign is mostly negative and judgmental towards BBT fans, why should they bother paying attention in the first place?

  • Anonymous

    For the record, since you’re so bent out of shape, I mentioned Big Bang Theory in my comment because the article to which I was responding mentioned Big Bang Theory. It’s not a terrible show, it just seems dated.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Travis.K.Fischer Travis Kyle Fischer

    Except unless you have a Nelson box it doesn’t matter how you watch it. NBC throws the show out on the airwaves and depends on a tiny tiny portion of the public to guess whose watching.

    I find it hilarious that entertainment industry treats the internet like it’s the boogyman, and yet ignores the fact that it’s about a billion times more accurate at giving appropriate rating numbers.

  • TKS

    Saying that Community will be just as good without Harmon is like saying that US Agent made just as good of a Captain America as Steve Rogers.

  • http://tentacled-testing.tumblr.com/ Kate Falanga

    I couldn’t agree with you more. However they do figure in DVR numbers as well as Nielsen boxes so there has been a little forward progress. If you have a TiVo, FIOS or Cable Company DVR what you watch counts.

  • TKS

    Dan Harmon seems to agree with you:  http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfrb6zECqF1qbgj9vo1_500.png

  • http://tentacled-testing.tumblr.com/ Kate Falanga

    I understand and sympathize I was just pointing out the hard truth. If you torrent or watch shows online without ads then you are hurting the shows you love.

    The problem with Community is that it’s core demographic is one who does not watch television “traditionally”.

    http://www.reddit.com/r/community/comments/tw0uy/joel_mchale_took_an_informal_survey_of_college/

    I love the show. I actually work for the company that designed HBOGo. I totally understand that Big Media needs to catch up with technology.

    However, you need to understand the reality of the situation in order to work toward “saving a show”.

    Being awesome and liked isn’t enough.  It needs to make money. 

    Big Bang Theory makes more money than Community does. For some reason so does Whitney. So it makes sense for them to be renewed and supported.

    If you were a business person why would you support a show that didn’t make money that the majority of fans “stole”?

    Again this is not my point of view but it is theirs and an informed fan is a powerful fan. 

  • http://tentacled-testing.tumblr.com/ Kate Falanga

    I have a DVR with dual tuners. I watch both. However, I watch Community live as much as possible since it needs my support more.

  • Alyssa Wakefield

    I <3 Community so much, but I also really like The Big Bang Theory.  I also think that writing it off as not being for geeks may not be the entire story.  There are hardcore physics jokes, and any scientist with a career in academia can appreciate the disdain that Sheldon has for the meat parade that is poster presentations.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Travis.K.Fischer Travis Kyle Fischer

    http://io9.com/5636210/how-the-nielsen-tv-ratings-work–and-what-could-replace-them
    They count DVR, but they don’t factor it into the ratings. At the end of the day, you don’t matter one way or the other unless you have their box.

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/JS2YA4QA63FJ37KDKNMCXTNOLA J K

    Community is for Hipsters or the “cool-nerd.” Big Bang while mainstream is for nerds as well, but for those who somewhat know the science being discussed. Unfortunately for us fans it’s neither group that determines the success of either. Big Bang pulls from modern day scientific theory and  mirrors it with traditional social occurrences. “Hipsters,” “nerds,” people who don’t like Big Bang, just don’t get the science behind the conversation. Sure you can still find it not funny, just as the masses find it funny who don’t get the science. But I’ve yet to meet someone else who actually is somewhat familiar with the sciences they mention and doesn’t find it hilarious. The Big Bang writers do a clever job of weaving social and traditional sciences. I like both shows, but quite honestly Community can sometimes miss big when it tries too hard, it’s like you have to have 30 years of pop culture references to keep up. While Big Bang is a typical sitcom, sometimes lazy but hey we are sitting down watching people for 22 minutes who’s really lazy, that pulls from a untapped source the sitcom genre rarely accessed, science. In the end I think Big Bang is consistently the more enjoyable (not more clever) show but if I had to save a show I’d go with Community. But for a fan who feels I do a good job of keeping up, I wouldn’t mind a little dumbing down.

    It’s tv, not a highschool social gathering where I need to feel as if I need know everything cool that happened last week or else I won’t be cool. 

  • http://www.justplainsomething.com JustPlainSomething

    You and I think so much alike. Not only do I agree on all points, but I’m writing an article this weekend for my cartoon column about how Adult Swim does things right for fans. Great article, Jamie.

  • http://ryzeonline.com/ JasonFonceca

    This is a FANTASTIC post, and an incredible look at an incredible show.

    More than that, it gets to the heart of things which is this:

    Viewership is evolving.

    That’s LIFE.
    Y’know… things change.

    A business and industry can change with it, and use that opportunity (see Apple, iTunes, and the music industry).

    Or it can bury itself by holding on to outdated ways (see Newspapers).

    NBC has what happened with audio media, ebooks, and more to go on. Change is happening all around.

    You can blame it on your golden geese, like Community, NBC or you can smarten up, and realize Community represents MASSIVE dollars WAITING for you to cash in, if only you’d ADOPT a new business model that didn’t rely on ratings.

    Simple.

    Viewership evolves, now ‘ratings’ needs to evolve.

    Get your s*** together.

    P.S. I think you and the readers might enjoy ANOTHER benefit Community brings: http://ryzeonline.com/watch-more-tv

  • http://ryzeonline.com/ JasonFonceca

    Likely only way the “Big Media” will understand how to monetize digital content is from the huge wake-up call they get from the Torrenters + Hulu-ers.

    I say keep streaming, view things however it makes you happy, and support Community any way you can, with eyeballs or dollars :)

  • http://ryzeonline.com/ JasonFonceca

     A very good point about “How To Save A Show”.

    It’s not the only way though :)

  • http://twitter.com/aviddaydreamer2 Amy

    I watch both shows, though I do prefer Community and am far more involved in the show’s fandom, and I’ve never felt insulted or judged by other Community fans for watching BBT. I think you’re being absurdly over-senstive.

  • http://twitter.com/aviddaydreamer2 Amy

    I haven’t had much scientific education beyond the basics covered in high school, so some of the science discussed does go over my head, but that doesn’t keep me from appreciating the jokes–the real talent, I think, of that writing staff is that they can be intelligent and accessible at the same time.

    I think the big difference between BBT and Community is more that BBT is like an observation of geek culture, presenting it as something alien to the general population and comical in comparison (see Penny’s reactions to just about everything that happens), while Community writes as though geek culture IS the norm, making the assumption that everyone watching already gets it. Which, considering its fanbase, is true.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Strang/601161711 Jeremy Strang

    Characters randomly namedropping physicists and their theories is not the same thing as making jokes.  That’s pandering to you with cheap recognition. Same principle the shitty Scary Movie spinoffs operated on.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1234063826 Cyndy Kira Cooper

    It’s actually pretty common for network executives to exercise vendettas against shows with good ratings — shows they don’t themselves like, shows that were pushed by their rivals, shows that appeal to demographics they automatically write off as worthless. Advertisers sometimes do the same thing, going with what “everybody knows” about television instead of what the statistics say.

  • http://www.wulfmojo.com Wulfy

     True. Doctor Who is how us Brits *define* being British. There may be Brits who break convention by not drinking tea or watching football (soccer *rolleyes*), but I defy you to find a single person on our rainy isle who has not seen a Doctor Who episode.

  • John Dran

    When it does come back, the ratings are awesome. So, that turbulent season ends, and there are serious questions about its renewal.

  • http://draw2much.deviantart.com/ Nicole Kiser

    I know a guy who works on producing TV shows. He says that part of the reason that “good” shows never “make it” is because the upper brass doesn’t like to allow shows to be made that they don’t understand. The upper brass doesn’t understand geek culture because they aren’t geeks. (They are, at best, jocks and at worse arrogant a-holes who think they know everything.) Not only do they not like geek culture, they are actually repulsed by it and actively try to stamp it out when they see it. (This pretty much explains what happened to the SyFy channel.) This isn’t to say they won’t try to make money off it, they just don’t like it.

    This leads me to the general belief that the reason certain shows are popular and others are not has very very little to do with what the public actually wants. It’s got more to do with what certain people in charge want to see popular (things like American Idol) and what they don’t (things like Community). In the end, most of the TV viewing audience is are just Sheeple, being led around by their unknown Executive overlords to like what they’re told to like.

    The only reason things like Community get made are because upper management can’t be every where at once. They’ll always let something of quality slip through now and then. But rest assured, once they notice it, they’ll do what they can to make sure it gets cancelled.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/S-James-Schaffer/1140308387 S. James Schaffer

    Actually, it’s the Community fans who are sincere and BBT fans who are the hipsters.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Chili-Boots/1550915374 Chili Boots

    There is no reason left to watch ‘Community’. Even Annie is boring. ALL the

    dialogue is ham-handed, and unfunny. The return of Chang should be enough

    to put it away, for good. It once was great, however. It once shone brightly.

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