Interesting read.  The comparison of Community to Cheers is striking to me, because while you accurately point out how well-formed Cheers was from the very beginning — in that the two years during which the Charles brothers were showrunners hold together as a recognizable whole that is distinct from the seasons that…

Oh?  I guess I misread the piece, I could have sworn he was described as the only remaining S1 writer besides Harmon.

Oh?  I guess I misread the piece, I could have sworn he was described as the only remaining S1 writer besides Harmon.

Based on what I've read, this seems pretty accurate to me.  Even in his Tumblr account of the situation, he (admittedly jokingly) said that his position involved threatening to quit 8 times a day.  That's not a good management style.  Assuming he was indulging in comic hyperbole, everything that came out around the…

Based on what I've read, this seems pretty accurate to me.  Even in his Tumblr account of the situation, he (admittedly jokingly) said that his position involved threatening to quit 8 times a day.  That's not a good management style.  Assuming he was indulging in comic hyperbole, everything that came out around the…

Yes, I think "Senior Executive Producer" would more clearly establish who runs the show than "Show runner."

Yes, I think "Senior Executive Producer" would more clearly establish who runs the show than "Show runner."

I have never understood the dislike/hatred for TGIQ.  It is one of my all-time favorite episodes of any Whedon show.

I have never understood the dislike/hatred for TGIQ.  It is one of my all-time favorite episodes of any Whedon show.

This is a neat idea, but I think the execution is a little lacking in focus, partly because you don't go into more examples (and some of the ones you do pick are actually COUNTERexamples to your primary thesis).

Fair enough, but a few things.

I'm in the "this season wasn't quite as good" camp.  No, no, no, Community doesn't suck.  And I'm not saying this season was BAD.  It's purely subjective — I just laughed more, and more consistently, last season.  In all three episodes last night, as much as I enjoyed them, I probably only laughed two or three times.

I'm in the "this season wasn't quite as good" camp.  No, no, no, Community doesn't suck.  And I'm not saying this season was BAD.  It's purely subjective — I just laughed more, and more consistently, last season.  In all three episodes last night, as much as I enjoyed them, I probably only laughed two or three times.

Man, this whole season write-up is just going to be an endless invitation to re-analyze that finale, huh?  OK.

Maybe because 30 Rock is, for me, more about the funny than about the serious character development, I thought this ep was pretty great.  Not the show at its best, maybe, but it gets more point for me just for being funny, which it was.

No, no, no, no, no.  I actually defended this show's last episode, specifically because I thought they introduced Andy's coup quite well and they set up California as a villain very effectively.  Despite the fact that both of these guys have completely inconsistent histories, the writers at least gave them a strong…

Seriously — I scanned the article for this point and this point only, and it never came up.  At this point, does any card-carrying fanboy expect either of these two to have any interesting stories about their work together OTHER than the time they had a rumored falling out? 

I would assume that Bobby's storyline is important, if only because the episode title is taken from it, and that's usually an indication of some significance.  I like the ideas you toss around, but here's a slightly different possibility:

"We stole scenes, we didn’t have permits. When people would start looking down in our lens, busting the shots, I would start doing this spazzy kind of hippie dance, and people would just start looking at me and not at the camera, which is funny. They were like, 'Isn’t that Bobcat Goldthwait? That’s really sad, isn’t…

WTF? My browser posted this as an independent remark, it was meant to be a reply to The Archmage of the Aether's suggestion that Rabin was wrong to push Guttenberg on the molestation issue, and he should have let the matter drop….