Community: Ladders
March 17, 2015 12:11 PM - Season 6, Episode 1 - Subscribe

After a frisbee-related disaster decimates Greendale's finances, the school brings on a tightly-wound CFO (upgraded-to-regular Paget Brewster) to cut out wasteful spending. Meanwhile, the study group finds a new way to make money with Shirley's sandwich shop...

WATCHING: Don't look for it in your local listings! New episodes are being posted every Tuesday on Yahoo Screen. For non-browser viewing, the official Screen app is available on iOS, Android, Roku, and probably other platforms I can't think of right now.
posted by Strange Interlude (20 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
(FYI, there's also a Yahoo Screen app for Xbox 360.)
posted by jbickers at 12:14 PM on March 17, 2015


Do not serve this man.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:07 PM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


THIS IS A SHOW!!!!
posted by yellowbinder at 4:08 PM on March 17, 2015


Sorry! The content provider has not given us the rights to play this video in your location.

Right in your ear, Yahoo!.
posted by Shepherd at 5:33 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Wow, there's some very uncanny-valley frisbee CGI in the first couple scenes.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 6:08 PM on March 17, 2015


!! Leonard's Roy Batty ref. and episode's end.

Alison Brie seems like she lost a lot of weight. Joel McHale keeps getting bigger. Man, everyone has aged so much in the past 6 years, especially Danny Pudi. But I guess we got to know them so young so its more noticeable (except McHale. He's fourty-bleepin'-three in real life).

Did I forget that this was in production, or did it get stealth made?

Regardless, the season premiere is worthy.
posted by porpoise at 7:09 PM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Great quotes!

"That's the most interesting take on not being interesting that I have ever heard."
"Don't make it more dramatic than that. It's a blood oath to defy evil."
A montage is "a movie apologizing for reality."
"Ironic because if Shirley saw this, her soul would die."
"There are a lot of real things in the world that are just as cool as fake stuff. I learned that from Frankie."
"Everyone is a fart from the butt of a lesser god!"
"Fourth time's the charm. He's burst into four offices yelling don't hire this woman!"

The montages.
The binder decor.
The "I'm as high as hell and you're about to get shot" song.
The drunk on a ladder.
THE HIDDEN SPEAKEASY.
Oh shit, Shirley is freaking tiny now. That's weirding me OUT.

Okay, I hate that the show lost two good performers and that Ken Jeong hasn't gotten a better offer yet, and Fat Neil also has other employment, but honestly, so far it still manages to feel like Greendale. I'm enjoying Paget Brewster's straight woman act for now, but someday I bet she busts out her inner Sadie Doyle. Especially with a speakeasy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:27 PM on March 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


The empty no-names on the cootie catcher is making me sad though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:28 PM on March 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at how little of the show's overall tone has changed in spite of the smaller cast. The setting and cast makes less and less sense by the season, but even that reminds me of the absurd lengths that shows on Harmon and Schrab's Channel 101 would go to to either preserve or demolish their core premises after a few episodes. Community has never been a seamless show, but one where part of the magic comes from it noticing and directly commenting on the flaws (either intentional or otherwise) in its own presentation.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:49 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Sorry! The content provider has not given us the rights to play this video in your location.

Right in your ear, Yahoo!.

Ugh, lame. According to Wikipedia, S06 will be available to stream throughout the U.K., Asia and Australia, but for some reason NOT in Canada. WTF.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:56 PM on March 17, 2015


This was so fun.

Checked out the TV Tropes page which I hope will expand as more trope detectives watch the show. Supposedly the reason they had the frisbees damage the cafeteria is because they are now show on a different soundstage that has pillars and they had to account for them.

I loved Nathan Fillion's guest spot. According to IMDB he's in two episodes.
posted by radioamy at 8:36 PM on March 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


The empty no-names on the cootie catcher is making me sad though.

That was jarring. Every time the core gang got together, I just kept staring at how small that group of four looks. (And how white, as Chang noted.) There's space between them on the screen! It feels like that episode of 30 Rock where they got "some of the cast of Night Court" together.

Wow, there's some very uncanny-valley frisbee CGI in the first couple scenes.

Do not look out the windows of the cafeteria.
posted by psoas at 8:42 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


Despite the changes in cast, I really loved the premiere. I agree that the show's tone has remained remarkably consistent, and there was something about the looser pacing and slightly longer run time that just made the premiere feel cozy to me. Over at Vulture, Harmon said he had originally planned to keep the episodes at the 20-minute mark, but that he changed his mind in the editing bay when he realized he didn't have to cut any jokes he didn't want to. And y'know, I think that worked out really well! There's a nice sense of breathing room in this episode and the second one. I've paid a little more attention to the editing since the fourth season made me realize that it was a surprisingly critical part of the show's tone and feel, and I was really pleased with it in these first two episodes.

I'm loving Paget Brewster as Frankie and how she punctures the show's insanity in a way that's somehow kind, and how she's obviously got a bit of her own insanity because you have to in order to stay at Greendale for any length of time.

And Shirley's spin off! I love SO MUCH that they showed it to us, and that it was a hilarious and affectionate send off for her. I like that when characters leave Community, we get such opportunities to imagine them in their own exciting stories off screen like Troy on his trip around the world with Levar Burton and now Shirley solving crimes with a southern detective. They're generous send offs, if that makes sense, rather than some of the perfunctory writing out I've seen on other shows.
posted by yasaman at 9:09 PM on March 17, 2015 [7 favorites]


I just got home and had to watch the spinoff scene again. Shirley is tiny. I hope it's physically and psychologically healthy weight loss because that woman is divine in every way. I've listened to a number of podcast interviews with her (Nerdist, This Feels Terrible) and while she's vocal about her religious beliefs it is a very personal, open, accepting and loving faith she lives.

The fake credits are fun freeze frames, they eventually repeat but they contain things like "Best Complainer" and "Assistant to Ms. Bennet's Purse," and all the fake names are variations of "Fake Credit." F.A. KeCredit is probably my favourite.
posted by yellowbinder at 10:35 PM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


I hope it's physically and psychologically healthy weight loss because that woman is divine in every way.

According to this interview, Brown was diagnosed with diabetes last year and made some big lifestyle changes to get her blood sugar to a healthy level.
posted by Strange Interlude at 7:32 AM on March 18, 2015 [5 favorites]


Whoa! I didn't realize the new cast member was Paget Brewster. I only know her as Sadie Doyle from Thrilling Adventure Hour with her Mid-Atlantic accent.
posted by cazoo at 7:34 AM on March 18, 2015 [3 favorites]


And Shirley's spin off! I love SO MUCH that they showed it to us, and that it was a hilarious and affectionate send off for her. I like that when characters leave Community, we get such opportunities to imagine them in their own exciting stories off screen like Troy on his trip around the world with Levar Burton and now Shirley solving crimes with a southern detective. They're generous send offs, if that makes sense, rather than some of the perfunctory writing out I've seen on other shows.

The Shirley spinoff was absolutely delightful and Yvette Nicole Brown was perfect -- I didn't catch the Butcher and Baker joke until they flashed the words right in front of me.

I also loved how they wouldn't let Frankie sit in Shirley's chair, but they were totally fine when she took Pierce's.
posted by mochapickle at 7:29 PM on March 18, 2015 [2 favorites]


Noticed on reddit:

The "Created by Dan Harmon" title card that used to have a cup of coffee on it, now has vodka on the rocks, which podcast listeners will recognize as his drink of choice.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 4:55 AM on March 19, 2015 [2 favorites]


I would go to Fatboy Slim DJ school.

Annie speaking in a speech bubble is the best representation of texts onscreen. 😃
posted by Monochrome at 3:21 PM on March 25, 2015


The season just made it to Netflix!
posted by Pronoiac at 4:57 PM on April 8, 2020


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