Harmonium

Read Splitsider’s take on the Dan Harmon situation here. (I know “The Dan Harmon situation” sounds like an unimaginative name for a reality show starring same, but if you’re going to force me to make that joke, then I am going to hang a lampshade on it–don’t start with me, my own brain!)

I leave it to brighter people than myself to try to guess what a Harmon-less Community is going to look like. I will mention what I don’t want to see, however: 1) An expanded role for Chevy Chase, doing things that he thinks are funny, at the expense of the ensemble, and 2) An episode in which Our Heroes, due to a lab accident, are suddenly turned into a pack of five male geeks and one hot chick, and stay that way until the end of the series.

 

Throners

“… Game of Thrones is about the heroism of fighting fate and the social order.” Well, I suppose that’s part of it. On the other hand, from what I’ve read of the books, it also might be about an author’s burning desire to put his characters through the world’s most complicated meat grinder.

The TV show is different achievement altogether. It represents, at long last, the  recognition of soft core pornography as a valued cultural product. I mean finally. I’ve been hearing all about how permissive and perverse our society is for thirty years now–a complaint that actual society hadn’t really lived up to, until now. So, so heroic.

Hey, maybe that out of context quote is right after all!

Retiring From Forums

I’ve been hanging around the A.V. Club’s Community review’s comment section since the beginning, but I think I’m done at this point. I’m on the west coast, so by the time I see the latest episode, there’s already a full page of comments, when I show up. A page that contains something around 6,700 words that I do not have time to read and respond to. I mean, I’m glad that there’s so many people who like talking about the show (watch Community), but dang man, just–dang.

And the more I think about it, the more I begin to realize that there’s a lot of comment boards and forums that have become more like work that has to get done than fun places to hang out. So maybe I should just quietly stop visiting.

Well, it would give me more time to blog, wouldn’t it?

Coherence Is Tough

Short AV Club review of 30 Rock: “I laughed the whole time this show is not very good.” Why are you afraid to laugh, AV Club? Why do you want your cartoons to have pathos?

Not Everybody Loves Nerds

“…so let me get this straight. A trailer for your show gets released. Everybody likes the trailer. Everybody says they hope it becomes a real show. So you immediately — the same day — decide to dump it off as a web series? I’m genuinely impressed, SyFy. Most TV stations would be thrilled to air a show their target audience seems excited about — but the minute you hear people genuinely like B&C, and have definite proff of them enjoying it, you cancel it.” {From: Seriously, SyFy, What the @#$% Are You Doing – Topless Robot.}

While I’m sure that SyFy made their decision based solely on some set of esoteric financial criteria that we mortals aren’t likely to comprehend, I don’t suppose it’s unreasonable to suspect conspiracy here. Specifically, I think that SyFy hates nerds.

Nerds have gotten used to the fact that there are a lot of businesses out there trying to cater to their whims, which is unfortunate. Because this allows them to forget two important things: First, nerds are an extremely LOUD, but not particularly LARGE group, meaning that the financial payoff for courting them is not as big as you’d think it would be.

Second, nerds are thoughtful, committed, and the biggest freaking crybabies you will ever see on the Internet. Is it any wonder why media companies often hate dealing with us? I mean, fans in general are crazy, but nerdish fans are terrifying.

So, Syfy–a network that has been doing everything it can to distance itself from SciFi, to the point that they changed their name to a ridiculous nonsense word–puts out a trailer and notes the positive responses of a community of limited financial interest that’s also a pain in the ass to deal with. It makes sense that they decided to run that trailer’s series on the web, leaving network bandwidth open for more wrestling.

New Companion Announced

You’ve probably seen this everywhere already: The new Doctor Who companion has been announced. I don’t know anything about the actress yet, but I’m not surprised by her look. Do you suppose that Stephan Moffatt would ever hire a woman who looked like, say, Catherine Tate? Nah, didn’t think so.

 

Off The Charts

If you have been watching 30 Rock (and the research indicates that you have not), I would highly recommend you check out Splitsider’s Infographic Recaps of the show. I’m no mathematician, but this is surely the best use of number-related knowledge ever.

R.I.P. Davy Jones

R.I.P. Davy Jones of the Monkees | The A.V. Club. This is sad. I got into the Monkees back when Nickelodeon was running their show nearly round-the-clock. I was a fan. Still am.

Open Letters

Dear TV Networks,

I know you think you’re clever, what with how you’ve made the commercials on your on-demand products un-fastforwardable, but little did you know that I have a mute button and a magazine!

NBC Just Giving Up On TV Now

Considering just how much trouble the network is having with that whole “television” thing, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that they are moving on to the vibrant, highly lucrative world of publishing.