Friday 3 February 2012

Unconsumed Media Project #3: Community (Season 1)

Another Christmas present that I was more than happy to receive. This is one of those things that I'd read about on the internet but had never actually seen - I think it was only shown on the Viva channel here in the UK, and I didn't even know that channel existed.

I don't really get why it isn't much more popular. The set-up is fairly 'classic American sit-com' - a bunch of oddballs with a 'will they won't they' handsome couple at the centre. I can easily imagine E4 repeating it infinitely, but for whatever reason it's never really found a broader audience.

From the description above I've made it sound a bit rubbish, but it is actually genuinely great. Beyond the basic set-up there's enough self-referencing and continued jokes to make it a cousin of Arrested Development. It also features Chevy Chase in his best role since The Three Amigos/the video for 'Call Me Al'.

Annoyingly, there doesn't seem to be any immediate plans to release season 2 on DVD. And 'they' wonder why people illegally download...