Okay, I think enough time has passed that you’ve all given last night’s NBC comedy Thursdays a look. For those who are curious, yes, we watched all (well, most of them) of the new shows on NBC. We didn’t watch the CBS stuff; I never gave Big Bang Theory a look (I know, I’m horrible) and I hope Shi–sorry, Bleep My Dad Says dies a horrible, fiery cancellation death. But NBC’s Thursday night line up of comedies has been a treasure trove of comedy for years, and last night’s return might have been a grand return to form. Let’s take a look.
Community
Easily my favorite of the current Thursday night line-up (Sorry The Office, but we’ll talk about that in a minute). Picking up as the new semester starts, the new season starts off with a bang, a series of laughs, and shots at both Shit My Dad Says and the Donald Glover as Spider-Man rumors. The show continues to be nonstop laughs with great performances. Plus, it’s a lot of fun to see Chevy Chase being funny again.
30ROCK
Still a great premiere from a show I only recently got in to, but it doesn’t feel like much of a change. Much like The Office when it hit Season 5, 30ROCK is starting to hit a lull and desperately needs a shot in the arm. Bits like Jenna as a producer could have been great, but only lasted one episode.
The Office
Ah, now here’s the one that I’m having trouble with. I love The Office. And the opening sequence and following story was amazing. But it still feels like business as usual. I want to keep loving this show, but it’s very clearly running low on ideas. I know this season is Carrell’s last and, while I’m sad to see him go, I think that a new boss (hopefully the opposite of Carrell’s) could potentially be the saving grace for this show.
Outsourced
I don’t even really want to discuss this one, and I didn’t watch more than half of it. I get that the show is trying not to be racist, but it’s failing at this miserably. The majority of the humor lies in the differences between Indian and American culture, and it comes across terribly. What’s sad is that call centers (which I’ve worked in my fair share of) have their own level of wackiness. You don’t need to set it in India to make this show funny. Call center employees are already eccentric enough. I’ll be avoiding this one all season, I believe.
