I think it would have been funnier had I not already seen many funny parts in the previews but I don’t know why you’d quit watching because people seemed a bit stiff in the pilot. Of course they might, it’s the pilot. It takes a bit of time for them to really learn their characters.
There were enough flashes of brilliance and the addition of Ken Jeong as the Spanish teacher give me hope that in the next couple episodes it may really hit its stride.
I thought it was OK. It surprised me because I thought it was going to be about teachers at a community college not students. I think I’d appreciate a mix (students and teachers) more then this band of terrible students, but oh well. I’ll give it a couple more episodes.
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| Originally Posted by dontEATnachos View Post I think it would have been funnier had I not already seen many funny parts in the previews but I don’t know why you’d quit watching because people seemed a bit stiff in the pilot. |
Well, I was pretty tired last night. After The Office I wanted one more good belly laugh before bed and I just didn’t see it coming. And it wasn’t just the people who seemed stiff, but the whole setup. Maybe just Pilot-itis, but the scenes between Main Guy and British Psychologist were mostly exposition about how interesting their characters used to be. And aside from the principal’s opening address, which preemptively reduced everyone to stereotypes, I didn’t get a sense of why any of the characters were there.
I’ll finish it for Chevy.
I thought it was okay, a few laughs, but Joel McHale is basically carrying this for me.
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| Originally Posted by Hammerhead View Post Well, I was pretty tired last night. After The Office I wanted one more good belly laugh before bed and I just didn’t see it coming. And it wasn’t just the people who seemed stiff, but the whole setup. Maybe just Pilot-itis, but the scenes between Main Guy and British Psychologist were mostly exposition about how interesting their characters used to be. And aside from the principal’s opening address, which preemptively reduced everyone to stereotypes, I didn’t get a sense of why any of the characters were there. |
The show really needed to spend half an episode or so showing who the people were before they got to community college. Joel in the courtroom or being suspended by the bar, hot gritty chick being hot and gritty as a roadie, etc.
It just … wasn’t funny. The breakfast club quips should have been one throwaway gag (see Psych), not milked, and everything just felt forced.
They could probably interlace flashbacks in future episodes. Show don’t tell. Seems doable, and I think there’s the potential there. It just remains to be seen if the show gets any better.
I don’t see why we need to see Mchale in his career as a lawyer first. He was a laywer, he got disbarred and that’s all you really need to know. People have weird expectations when it comes to pilots. Look at ‘The Office’, we don’t need flashbacks to see why those people are working there, but over time we come to understand why they’re there.
I thought it was funny and had some great lines and a good deal of potential. As for seeing them before, it’s not a necessity. I’m sure it’d be shit we’d seen before elsewhere. It’s not like I’m anxious awaiting the Secret Origin of Jeff!. I like how it just jumped in and told the audience just as much as they needed to know the characters. It’s like when you meet people in real life, often the larger back story can come later.
Yeah, potential. We’ll see.
If comedy writers can’t get comedy out of the community college setting, they should quit their jobs and go sell insurance or something.
I quite liked it. Room to grow.
i enjoyed it a lot. great setup and i agree with the sentiments above that it will be better to learn more about the characters as we go as opposed to an exposition heavy pilot (which for the most part it avoided being).
it was mostly chuckles, but had a great rhythm. i loved the sexual harassment bit. this will be a winner.
I thought this was a really great pilot. Probably my favorite new show so far. They needed the breakfast club scene to introduce all the main characters. We pretty much got a 30 second breakdown of the entire cast via McHale’s speech to get the girl (what’s her name, Brittle, Bristol, Britta?). Aside from McHale, Abed had the best bits. Pretty much everything he did killed me, but especially the “deaf” scene. If anything, the downfall of the show will be when McHale inevitably changes his evil ways and comes to realize he’s really a good person deep down inside. I hope he stays sarcastic and snarky. That’s the charm of this show.
There were some funny parts in the pilot. But the premise of the show in regards to McHale’s character is completely ridiculous. I think the pitch for the pilot of “Jerry” on Seinfeld probably had a better premise (where a guy gets into an accident with Jerry has to become his butler because he doesn’t have insurance).
I know comedies aren’t supposed to be realistic, but first - I’m pretty sure the Bar Association would verify that McHale’s character would have gone to a legitimate college college/law school in the first place.
Second, the fact that he would be forced to go to a “community” college after he got disbarred is idiotic. Being sanctioned and facing criminal charges would be a more likely scenario. But even if legal ramifications were not pursued, why would he go to a community college? Could he earn a Bachelor’s Degree at a community college? Did he not have earn enough money as a lawyer to afford going a state university or an accelerated university program?
And third, Chevy Chase. His character does not make sense. I get the feeling they wrote him into the show after the rest of the script was completed.
This has to be one of the worst premises ever for a primetime television show. Still, I did chuckle a couple of times. I guess if you can ignore how lazy the writing is, it’s still watchable. It’s the new My Name is Earl of the fall season.
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| Originally Posted by Bloody Wanker View Post Second, the fact that he would be forced to go to a “community” college after he got disbarred is idiotic. Being sanctioned and facing criminal charges would be a more likely scenario. But even if legal ramifications were not pursued, why would he go to a community college? Could he earn a Bachelor’s Degree at a community college? Did he not have earn enough money as a lawyer to afford going a state university or an accelerated university program? |
Someone wasn’t paying attention. McHale wasn’t forced to go to community college. He chose it because he had previously got the principal off a DUI and figured he could leverage that to get all the answers to his tests.
But yes, IRL he would likely have been disbarred rather than be allowed to go back to school to earn his degree.
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| Originally Posted by Diva View Post Someone wasn’t paying attention. McHale wasn’t forced to go to community college. He chose it because he had previously got the principal off a DUI and figured he could leverage that to get all the answers to his tests. But yes, IRL he would likely have been disbarred rather than be allowed to go back to school to earn his degree. |
I paid attention. (And the english guy wasn’t a principal, he was a psychology professor).
But you’re right, McHale wasn’t forced to go to the community college. However, it is still a ridiculous set up. There is absolutely no reason to have him attend a community college outside of creating a setup for more lovable losers on to be on the show. Has anyone ever gone from a community college to law school? Or is it generally a normal thing to take some general ed classes in a community school, take the LSAT, and get into law school?
Saved by the Bell had better writing than the pilot of this show.
I think you are taking the premise of this show WAY too serious. I mean if you have that much trouble with it…just don’t watch.
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| Originally Posted by Bloody Wanker View Post Saved by the Bell had better writing than the pilot of this show. |
Wow really? Well i enjoyed it…
thought it was a pretty good first episode. I also like the Chevy Chase-Mchale relationship that will probably grow out of this.
I’ll continue to watch.
I had fun with it. Wasn’t LOLzing all the way through, but there were several big laughs for me. Abed is definitely a highlight, and she really DOES kinda look like Elizabeth Shue, so she’s got that going for her…
Comic Book Trivia: Writer/Creator Dan Harmon used to work on SCUD: THE DISPOSABLE ASSASSIN, and the spinoff, LA COSA NOSTROID. He and Rob Schrab also made the totally awesome HEAT VISION & JACK pilot. You should follow them both on the Twitters.
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| Originally Posted by Paul755 View Post I think you are taking the premise of this show WAY too serious. I mean if you have that much trouble with it…just don’t watch. |
No, I’m just disappointed that NBC, who has had some pretty smart comedies introduced over the last few years (exluding My Name is Earl), greenlighted a show based on a stupid premise.
I will still probably watch the next couple of episodes, as there were some funny moments in the pilot and McHale is pretty charismatic.