Dan Harmon returning to ‘Community’

When the “Save Community” call went out (again), there were many that thought the show should be canceled because this past season wasn’t close to the Community that we knew and loved. It was the same cast and same setting but the stories didn’t have the same feeling to them. There were others, myself included, that wanted the show to be picked up for at least a year so that the writers could come together and find a way to go out on a high note. Never in a million years did I think the real solution to bringing Community back to its old form would actually come to fruition.

That’s right folks, Dan Harmon is back. After being unceremoniously fired by Sony, it appears as if relationships have been mended enough for them to try and work together again – no doubt spurred on by flagging ratings and a very vocal backlash from the fanbase. However, the question still remains; will Dan Harmon find a way to meet everyone else halfway? He’s notorious for being a very difficult person to work for which apparently played a part in his initial firing. There’s no doubt that the show on screen is better when he’s involved, it’s just up for debate if the climate behind the camera is better.

At the end of the day, I don’t work for Dan Harmon and I enjoy seeing his ideas executed on-screen so Yay! Dan Harmon is back!

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Image: NBC

Wherefore art thou ‘Knights of Badassdom’?

Sit back, close your eyes, relax… and let me tell you a tale that will frustrate and infuriate even the most chill amongst us.

It starts back in 2010 when a group of actors signed on for a movie about a group of LARPers (that would be Live Action Role Playing for those who aren’t in the know or who haven’t seen Role Models) who accidentally summon a real demon and the hijinks that ensue. This just isn’t your run of the mill group of actors though. No, this is a group of actors that get the neck hairs of a wide variety of geek standing on end. Peter Dinklage, Danny Pudi, Jimmi Simpson, Steve Zahn (a personal favorite of mine), Ryan Kwanten, Joshua Malina, and of course the geek girl herself, Summer Glau. I don’t know that it’s possible to look at that list of names and not want to immediately see what they have put together.

Well, fast forward to 2011 San Diego Comic-Con and a trailer is released. Our own esteemed Dr. Kronner did the honors and provided a nice write up about it, including interviews with the cast. You will most certainly want to check that out, but just for ease of use right now, let’s go ahead and put the trailer here as well.

Right? Even though I’ve never had the chance to don chain mail and wield a foam sword myself, I am a huge fan of LARP and movies about LARP. I’ve watched Faintheart more times than I can count, and Unicorn City is one of my “because you liked…” categories on Netflix. Hell, I’ve even watched All’s Faire in Love more times than anyone should ever admit to, so it isn’t really surprising that I really want to see this movie. Enter the problem.

It appears as if Knights of Badassdom has hit a bit of a snag and by that I mean, it’s having a lot of issues, and by that I mean, we might not ever get to see it. With a trailer being released in 2011, one would expect to see the movie in 2012, especially when the movie’s site has a banner that says…

Incredible MS Paint job credit to: Me.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, 2012 has come and gone and this movie has not been released. Actually for quite a while there was nothing even mentioned of this movie. In July of 2012, an unknown investor in the movie took to the internet claiming that the film’s production company, IndieVest, was doing nothing but stringing them along. Then radio silence again.

I googled June 15th and got this as a result. Apparently Google doesn’t believe Mr. Bradley either.

That was until March of this year. It seems as if the original cut of the movie, done by director Joe Lynch and completed days before the trailer was released at Comic-Con (remember this was back in the summer of 2011), was tossed aside by the Indievest and namely, it’s CEO Wade Bradley. It was actually Wade Bradley himself who responded to the ‘Rip-Off Report’ complaint by saying that “The film is now readying for its final mix and is on schedule to be released (by IndieVest Pictures) in the first half of 2013.”

I’m thinking that perhaps Mr. Bradley needs Santa to bring him a calendar this Christmas because there’s only roughly three weeks left in the first half of 2013 and there’s been neither hide nor hair seen of the recut Knights of Badassdom. But what of director Joe Lynch? What has he been saying in all this? Well when IndieVest was planning on screening their own edit, he took to twitter to make sure that everyone knew that it was not his version of the film by often using the hashtag #notmyedit.

He hasn’t said much else about it since then, instead choosing to tweet about Joss Whedon and S.H.I.E.L.D., conversations with friends, and his podcast, The Movie Crypt, with Adam Green.

When asked directly about Knights of Badassdom, the answer is a little sad.

I’m a person that hates to see good people get hurt (unless they’ve wronged me then I take glee in it – I’m a complicated individual) so it’s disheartening to see a director of a movie get shut out of his own project publicly like this. Granted this was probably mishandled by everyone involved but it’s hard not to paint IndieVest as the demon in this situation.

The real victim here though? Well that of course is the movie and the potential fans of said movie. I think we can all agree that this is the type of film that it doesn’t really matter if it wasn’t the best writing, or the best story, or the best anything. As a rule, if you don’t mess up the major things like Star Wars, Star Trek, or any other established universe, we geeks can be rather forgiving. There aren’t many shows or movies that have LARP as a main aspect so I think it’s safe to say that most of us would embrace it regardless. Sadly, no word yet on if we’ll ever get that chance.

Sony Pleads for ‘Community’ Viewers: Watch it Live People…

Here we go again! After ABC sent out the call for people to “save” Happy Endings, Sony Pictures is following suit by releasing a video of their own asking the same thing.

Except it’s not the same. ABC was saying “save Happy Endings from us” whereas this time it’s the production studio begging the audience to save the show from NBC. Even though it seems quite a bit more genuine coming from Sony, the problem remains the same – unless people with Nielson boxes see this plea and tune in on Thursday nights, it will sadly make no difference.

When will this ratings insanity end?!? I know there are more pressing issues in the world, but is it too much to ask that network executives rethink how they calculate ratings? The audience of shows like Happy Endings and Community aren’t watching the show when it airs, rather they are watching it off a DVR or online outlets like Hulu so even if the average joe watching live effected ratings, they just aren’t doing it.

Credit to: geek-ramblings

Of course the internet has jumped on this, much to the delight of people like myself. Not only is there an online petition started, which you should go and sign right here… go, I’ll wait… but also plenty of people out there creating great art like this.

Blogger JenKeiko has been sounding the alarm since 2011

You’d think this was streets ahead, but sadly this is leftover from the last time Community sat on the chopping block, or perhaps even the time before that, or maybe the time before that, or it could be from – you get the point. Community has had a rocky road, that is for sure, but the fans of the show are determined to make their voice heard, join us will you?

As with everything in today’s world, there are naysayers. People who kick their feet and scream about how great the show used to be and honestly, I don’t disagree. The writing was better in seasons past and this season has been a little weak, but I’d rather NBC give it another year to let it find it’s footing and go out on a good note. That’s not too much to ask is it? After all, the only thing we’ve always wanted is six seasons and a movie.

Community: Donald Glover, Gus Fring, and the Future of Annie’s Boobs

Last place network NBC has 3 of the 5 best comedies on Television right now with Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, and Community.  Pair those with ABC’s Modern Family and the FX masterpiece It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and you’ve got the best 5 show rotation in a long time. Community however, has been consistently scheduled opposite CBS’ The Big Crap The Big Bang Theory, and it consistently gets its brains bashed in. Why television viewers seem to favor formulaic drivel put out by CBS to the far superior cast/writing/overall product produced by the peacock is unknown to me, except to say perhaps the ‘Nielson Ratings’ are outdated and stupid. Of the approximately 115 million households in America, Neilson boxes are present in only 25,000 of them. That’s about 1 in 4600 households making viewing decisions for the rest of us. Stupid.

Anyhow, based on the poor ratings from the select few Nielson households,  NBC placed Community on hiatus, while renewing terrible shows like Whitney. So once this happened the internet went nuts wondering if we would ever get to see our favorite study group again, then Donald Glover released this.

Not the most inspiring thing I’ve seen, but more recently announcements have been made that seem to indicate there will be more episodes, just not sure when or in what time slot. We do know the following though… First Joel McHale has informed TV Guide that someone will die…

“A character from the show will die,” reveals star Joel McHale. He says the victim, although probably not one of the comedy’s main stars, is “someone you’ve seen a lot. And he dies in the mid-afternoon.”

In response to this, Warming Glow released odds on who they think it will be…

Annie’s Boobs (2-1) — It is a monkey that lives in the heating ducts, plus the death of Annie’s Boobs has the greatest comedic potential.

Leonard Briggs (4-1) — He’s the oldest character on the show, he’s had his hip replaced, and he rides around in a wheelchair. This seems logical. Maybe too logical?

Alex “Star-Burns” Osbourne (12-1) — He is a drug dealer, which can be a dangerous profession. But then again, he only deals marijuana, and his clients are Greendale students.

Fat Neil (6-1) — Fat Neil is both fat, which makes him a health risk, and he’s manic depressive, having considered suicide once before.

Magnitude (5-1) — Although not a high risk for death, his catchphrase, “Pop Pop,” would make him a likely candidate as a gunshot victim.

Professor Ian Duncan (20-1) — He does have a huge drinking problem and his with rivalry with Señor Chang could lead to violence.

Vice Dean Robert Laybourn (7-1) — In addition to being overweight, Vice Dean Laybourne is the true power of Greendale, which could develop into a “Game of Thrones” type plotline, in which he’s picked off by Dean Pelton.

Dr. Marshall Kane (12-1) — He has served prison time, and is uncomfortable with the way that the world has changed in the two decades he spent inside. This could provoke violence, or even suicide, particularly if faced with the prospect of handling those new, tiny LEGOs.

The Greendale Human Being (15-1) — Fumes from magic markers used on his mascot costume have been known to make him aggressive; they could also potentially be lethal.

 My vote is for the ‘Greendale Human Being’, guys is just asking for it…

So the fact that they’re gonna kill someone off certainly indicates to me that the show would have to first come back to do so. In addition to that, there is also news that Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito (Gus Fring) will be appearing a in an upcoming episode as a business associate of Pierce’s late father, Cornelius Hawthorne.

In addition to the little bit of actual news here, and since we still don’t have a real return date, I’ve included a bunch of pictures I thought you might enjoy, most of them from Warming Glow…