The network doesn't "really want to get away from the brainy, quirky image that Community represents." The network wants ratings. That is all the network wants. The network wants shows that it can get cheaply, which will draw enough viewers to allow the network to sell advertising space at a profit. This is not a…

http://www.cinemablend.com/…

He just sold a pilot to HBO, didn't he?

This wouldn't be the first time the first couple episodes of a season felt weirdly off.

In LA, the weekend shows are $8. (Or some of them are $10 now, I think?) Weekday shows are $5, though a bunch of them are free for currently enrolled students.

I was being perfectly polite for the first few posts. I remember thinking at one point, "well, some of these people are being jerks, but this guy genuinely seems to be just asking questions." But it wears on you…

You're talking about local theater — which is vastly different, both logistically and artistically, from stand-up. The arguments you are making do not, for the most part, translate.

That's, at best, an enormous stretch.

You work in exchange for working. "Exposure" doesn't enter into it.

Well, that seems like it would edge dangerously close to a bringer show.

And for that matter, do you think most TV writers are comedians? There are plenty of TV comedy writers for whom that's their entire career. (And plenty who start out on stage, but make TV writing their entire career once they get into it.) It's a specific career path in its own right — no different, for example, from…

Nobody has paid to see the person who's doing 10 minutes. Or if they have, that was not money well spent.

Yeah, it was a snide remark. I apologize for it. Some of my friends, and some of the funniest comedians I know, do it. I can't say I understand it, and it certainly annoys me to follow someone who's doing it, but enough people do it that I suppose it's valid for some people.

You have the right to make stuff up, but you simply don't have the right not to get called on it.

Well, that's an extreme example. Most comics who work for a decade with no success, take another decade off, and return to comedy under another name have… less success.

Exactly. You can't just plug in a random person and tell them, "all right, here's the mixing board, let's see what you've got." Tech guys are like drummers… everyone wants to be the lead singer, a lot of people can play guitar, you can learn bass, but everyone always needs a good drummer.

Nobody's forcing you to comment. If you know nothing, you can sit back and see if anyone who knows something is going to say anything, or you can ask questions. But if you start pontificating at length, you should probably expect people who know things to say, "hey, you're talking out of your ass here."

It's not "exposure," even. And it doesn't matter if the comedians love doing it. The underlying issue is practice — you cannot be an effective comedian if you are not performing comedy frequently. So we need the set about a trillion times more than we need the money. And the sets at good venues with large, paying…

No, no, no, and no. Nobody wants to see comedy when it's light out. (8:00 shows suffer during the summer, even.) There's a huge difference between a legit discounting system and papering the room. Showcases don't have more than 10 comedians — they almost invariably have between 6 and 8. (If you see a show with more…

Exactly. I started in 2002, was regularly killing from Day 1, and am only now getting to the point where I would consider myself able to perform a full-length headlining set. Not for "profession" reasons (though there are those too — I'm no kind of networker, my inability to drive has prevented me from touring, etc.)…