After ~10 years, I think my heart has decided ... I much prefer Community over 30 Rock
After ~10 years, I think my heart has decided ... I much prefer Community over 30 Rock
It just struck me recently and I'm sharing.
As a millennial who enjoyed these shows as a young(er) adult ... I cherished them both, and at the time probably like 30 Rock more, and probably would have said that it's "the better comedy".
Over time though I've noticed I basically don't really think about 30 Rock ... frankly I almost certainly think about Seinfeld more ... but Community has "seeped in" to my TV subconscious fabric.
If I were to re-watch either right now, it'd be Community hands down. It'd be heart warming and comfortable and, I suspect, more relevant or still meaningful. By comparison, I wouldn't be surprised if 30 Rock would feel more dated, "noisy", and kinda culturally narrow and specific in a not-coincidentally SNL-like way.
30 Rock may still be "the better" TV Comedy (whatever that means). But it was written by a TV writer about making TV in New York, while Community was written about TV and its fans, IE "us", living in any random city.
It's not a competition. They're both excellent. But one's writing is intended for you to fall in love with the characters and the other is intended for you to laugh at the characters' misadventures without ever really becoming invested in most of them.
Not trying to say it's a competition ... I'm more reflecting on what they've meant to me over time and how I didn't really see it coming. Of course everyone is encouraged to enjoy both and more as much as they want.
Otherwise ... yea, what you describe is also a big part of it.
Yeah it's natural that you will feel more sentimental for the one that has character-driven writing rather than the one that is more pure comedy. But FWIW I think the jokes on 30 Rock are funnier on average. That's not a slight against Community, it's hilarious too. But 30 Rock is IMHO the GOAT when it comes to jokes.
The writing of 30 Rock is so clever and its jokes per minute rate is off the charts - it's also more conventional in its structure than Community
Ok but the real question is, is Community better than Parks and Recreation?
Ha ... interesting ... they don't feel comparable in the same way to me.
Community is better. But Michael Schur gets his revenge because The Good Place is better than both.
For me Parks & Rec is slightly better than Community.
I love and adore Community, but it's basically a live action cartoon or at least more in line with old school sitcoms than P&R is.
Despite the craziness in P&R, it feels more grounded to me lol.
You're streets ahead!
I love them both, but 30 Rocks got me with a million little ear worms. I was stuck thinking about Tracy Jordan's "inscrutable" license plate this morning (ICU81MI?), and I also sing the "brush your teeth! Brush your teeth! When it's time for bed you gotta brush your teeth!" Song all too often. That's twice just today and I haven't rewatched it in maybe two years?
I watched all comunity but I never really fell in love with it.It's funny but I don't feel like rewatching. Some characters are kind of boring. 30 rock had less boring episodes but it's not my favorite either. I'm a Parks and Rec /The Office / B99 kind of gal. I like to laugh with the same intensity as Pimento looking at cocaine
I just started 30 Rock last month and am roughly halfway through Season 4—no spoilers!
Snape kills Dumbledore.
In the series finale, it turns out that Frank was made entirely of chocolate the whole time.
They both suck