"We're gonna have more fun and be less weird than the first two years combined!"
So sings — yes, sings — the Greendale Community College study group as NBC's Community kicks off its third season.
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The flashy opening number speaks to creator Dan Harmon's plan for the third season, which he says won't be as stunt-episode heavy as the self-referential comedy has been in the past.
"I don't want to disappoint any more of the more hyperactive savvy fans that love nothing more than the fact that the show is completely unpredictable," Harmon first told TVGuide.com at the end of Season 2. "I have to continue a promise to the audience to always engage them in every part of their brain that love television. But at the same time I've got to get my mom more comfortable with the show."
But doesn't an elaborate song-and-dance routine fly in the face of that?
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"Can I get a 'pop pop'?" TV Guide Magazine's L.A. Bureau Chief Michael Schneider, who moderated the Community panel, asked a crowd of 2,000 fans before the cast hit the stage at Comic-Con. The audience channeled their inner Magnitude and obliged enthusiastically, setting the tone of fan love for the rest of the hour-long session. The entire cast — minus Alison Brie, who was unavailable due to a filming conflict — ran on stage to deafening cheers, with the loudest being reserved for Donald Glover and Joel McHale. But the surprise cast member of the hour was Annie's Boobs, Greendale's resident monkey, who delivered the Community Season 2 DVD to creator Dan Harmon. "I don't know what she's doing, but I think she's pooping," said Harmon after the skit....
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Community creator Dan Harmon will once again join his cast for a panel at Comic-Con on Saturday, but we just couldn't wait that long. So, we phoned Harmon to see what he's got up his sleeve for Season 3, and boy, did he spill the goods. Britta's choosing a major! Shirley will redefine herself. And despite the cliff-hanger of Season 2, it sounds like our study group may grow closer than ever this season (or at least certain members of it will). Plus: Harmon teases the group's new biology teacher and an "epic" hero's journey for Troy...
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Interviewing the entire cast of Community together is a fool's errand, but a fortunate fool's. Ken Jeong, who plays professor-turned-student Señor Chang, wears only a navy bathrobe. "You've been off camera for an hour and you can't even put a shirt on," jokingly scolds Gillian Jacobs (the often brittle Britta). Jeong deadpans, "There goes the buzzkill — it's all about her."
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Cheers to Community for giving viewers a reason to celebrate Valentine's Day.
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With all due respect to a certain weekly entertainment magazine (where — in the interest of full disclosure — I must admit I worked for many years), "TV's smartest comedy" airs 90 minutes earlier than the glib, heartless Parks & Recreation.
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