6 Reasons Community Should Be Your Next Netflix Binge

This is the Community study group - Abed, Britta, Jeff, Shirley, Annie,
Troy, Pierce (and senor Chang)

Netflix and other similar streaming services truly are a modern day luxury that I would struggle to function without.  I have made reference many a time to the notable Marina And The Diamonds lyrics: Tv taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal (from the song "OH NO!" which featured on Marina's 2010 masterful debut album The Family Jewels) because if it came down to it and I had to quote a lyric which resonated particularly with me those are the lyrics that would probably spring to mind.  

 Anyway as pivotal as these services are in many of our lives there is a constant struggle of finding a new TV show to commit yourself to.  There are such a variety of TV shows out there and choosing one to commit your heart and soul to can be extremely hard.  I find this choice much harder after having just finished a show that I have become very attached to, you cant help but compare the new show to the old one and, at least for me, I would often rather just

They sometimes study and often get into
weird/awkward situations together

rewatch this show over and over again to try to live in this fictional world for a little while longer (for me the period of time after just finishing a show often consists of watching commentaries, cast interviews, special features and films featuring cast members who played my fave characters).


In order to tackle this problem I always try to find somebody to do a rewatch with whilst simultaneously also starting a new show - you get the best of both worlds! (Montana, H., 2006-2011).

For those of you out there trying to find a new show to watch I want to propose Community as your next Netflix binge with a list of the leading 6 reasons to justify this choice.  Firstly let me clarify a few points before I begin my list.  

• Community is a sitcom and so if you absolutely hate sitcoms then maybe you should skip this post.
• This show is great for both getting super invested in but also for being an easy watch and so regardless of if you want to pay a lot of attention or not its a fun watch.
• It's available to watch seasons 1-5 on Netflix UK and season 6 on Yahoo.  
• If I go into any more detail about the show then I would be just as well to start my top 6 list
• and so without any further ado
• here we go
• Mario

1. (As stated above) Community Is An Extremely Watchable

Troy and Abed in the morning.  Troy and Abed are in mourning,
Troy and Abed in the morning, nights.

Community started off just okay for me, my sister was on board from the get go and knew she was going to love it but it took me some time to realise that I actually really loved this show.  As with every TV show I watch there comes a moment when I realise I'm no longer just watching the show because it's easy to watch but rather something has happened and I am suddenly invested and my interest is gained.  In Gossip Girl it was the episode where Chuck and Blair first hook up; How I Met Your Mother kind of had me from the get go tbh because I just loved Ted and Robin (a sin in the eyes of most apparently); Grey's Anatomy was probably when Mer and Der started seeing eachother... there is a bit of a theme going on here apparently.  Well I'm a creature of habit and I would say I found myself rewinding Community in order to actually pay proper attention to what was happening during episode 9 of Season 1, this is an episode I have enjoyed watching back after finishing the show.  The show fluctuated from very watchable to contender for my fave throughout season 1.  Basically even before I found myself getting invested I still found it an enjoyable watch and so it really doesn't matter to what level you want to become invested in your next TV binge, you can love this show regardless.

2. The Characters

When Abed imagined himself and his friends in a TV show.

The characters in Community are so interesting because they are all so different, the youngest member of the study group being 18 years old and fresh from high school to the oldest member being in his 70s and coming from a fairly well off and judgmental background.  Each character is dealing with different issues and has ended up at community college for a different reason.  They all have different beliefs and ideals which allows the sitcom to address some pretty complex issues, such as religion and feminism, but in a fun way.

There are 7 members of the 'study group' and then as the show progresses the college dean also becomes a main character.  Generally Troy, Abed and Annie (the youngest members of the study group are considered the firm faves of the show, if tumblr and buzzfeed are anything to go by) Personally I'd have to agree with Tumblr and I'd rate the characters in order of my favourite to least favourite as:

1. Annie
2. Troy, Abed and (sheerly for comedic purposes) Dean Pelton
3. Jeff
4. Britta
5. Pierce
6. Shirley

As the show develops they all become a family of sorts, some characters being noticeably closer to one another than others (Troy and Abed and Jeff and Annie probably spend the most scenes together #BFFGOALS #MILADYMILORD). 

Shout out to Garrett, one of the supporting characters, for giving us classic moments to quote back such as "Crisis alert!" and "It's a bear dance!".  And shout out to Leonard for giving us his food review youtube videos and for being a badass OAP.

Our Annie vs other Annie at the model UN.  Garrett stole the show,

3. Shaking It Up (Non-Live Action Episodes and Innovative Episodes)

Okay so this is where, for me, Community gets interesting and is probably one of the reasons I love it so much!  Community is the only live action sitcom I know to feature non-live action episodes and whole episodes which completely change the usual dynamics of the show 

Ballerannie.  Christmas wizard. Baby doll Shirley. Brittabot. Troy Soldier. Jeff in the box. Teddy Pierce and Abed

The Animation

The Community cast with their puppets. Yes, now that's an adventure.

Season 2's Christmas episode was done entirely in claymation which allowed it to be really original and have a super classic Christmassy feel to it.  Season 3 featured an episode where the characters play a video game and part of the episode features the characters avatars as they make their way through the game.  Season 4 featured an episode done with puppets and Season 5 featured an animated 'G.I Jeff' episode.  I found the show's creativity so impressive and this helped set it apart from other sitcoms I have watched.

 The Innovation

Video game study group. Fucking shit up in the virtual world.

The show also featured episodes which were completely outside of reality or just pretty different to the usual set up of the show.

For instance there were several documentary style episodes changing from the usual camera layout to more of a 'The Office' feel (or you know just an actual documentary feel).  There are many episodes which focus specific events happening at the school but addressing them in a different way, less gripped to reality with more of an exaggerated way of telling the story for instance:

• 'The Floor Is Lava' episode
• MeowMeowBeenz episode where a new app takes over the school.
• Dungeons and Dragons episode 
• Musical Episode
• An episode which takes part within the imaginations of Annie and Abed
• 'Classic Sitcom' style episode with a laugh track.
• Musical Epiosde

Another pivotal and unique episode of Community are the paintball episodes which are discussed below.

4. Paintball Episodes

One of many times the school became a warzone.

Arguably the most famous Community episodes.  Throughout the show there are a few paintball episodes and they are so original and amazing and just really good fun tbh.  In season 1 Modern Warfare the dean announces that there will be a campus wide paintball game and the winner gets an amazing prize.  This leads to total carnage and a full on paintball war breaks out on campus.  This episode does something that most episodes of Community does as it pays homage to many famous films, however this episode does so on a much larger scale than some of the more normal or tame episodes.  This episode also birthed 3 sequel episodes, the season 2 two parter was, in my humble opinion the best one!  These
episodes definitely feature Community at its best. 

5. The Homage Factor/Meta Humour/Genre Spoofs

So Community has a tendency, often through Abed, to make reference to other films and TV shows.  Sometimes full episodes are homage episodes such as 

That time they were in an asylum.

• The Law and Order episodes
• The gangster film themed chicken wing fiasco episode in season 1 
• The previously mentioned glee Christmas episode
• Season 2 paintball part 1 being a spaghetti western and part 2 being Star Wars. 
• Pulp Fiction episode
• Die Hard episode

Then there were the genre spoofs such as:

• (Again) the glee Christmas episode making fun of the musical genre
• Season 2 Halloween taking on the zombie apocalypse genre
• The multiple documentary themed episodes
• The action film genre was taken on during Modern Warfare;
• The classic romance scene of leading guy running through the rain to get the girl starred in a season 2 episode... 
• there were so many more
• I love lists btw, in case you couldn't tell yet

Annie being Abed before actually being Abed that time they
spent an episode being everyone in their imaginations...

Then there were the times the show was so aware that it was a show.  There were countless times when Abed would point out how much their lives were like a sitcom.  In season 2 and entire episode takes place in the study room and Abed states there are doing a 'bottle episode'.  In the shows finale Abed suggests that the study group come up with potential pitches for their ideal season 7.  Season 2 also features a clip episode and throughout the show there is a lot of breaking the fourth wall basically.  

6. Just So You Know, Jeff, You Are Now Creating 6 Different Timelines

One of the most famous gif in the history of time.

Ahhh Remedial Chaos Theory.  An episode from season 3 which produced one of the best GIFs of all time... you know the one, Troy walking into a room to find total and utter havoc.  Fire.  Blood.  Chaos.  Confusion.  Magic.  Madness. Heaven. Sin. 

Basically this is such a great episode I wanted to give it its on section.  Also it kind of creates this alternative timeline which pops up every now and then.  Basically while playing a game of Yahtzee Jeff decides to role a dice to determine who is going downstairs to get the pizza from the delivery man but Abed warns him that by letting a dice decide their fate he is unintentionally creating 6 different possible timelines.  The episode focuses on each timeline showing what happens depending on who leaves to get the pizza.  The episode features guns, weed, kissing, fire, injury, hurt feelings, death, institutionalization and the evil study group from the darkest timeline (who do turn up once or twice later on in the show).  

The Summary

The Evil study group. Minus Evil Pierce and Evil Abed.

Okay so Community is a very bizarre TV show which I have discovered to be very hard to separate into 10 specific categories.  I also feel like this may not sell the show as well as I had hoped because honestly I have come to the conclusion writing this that it's really just a show you have to watch to get. 

The key message

• You have to binge it because the show is so out there and tries so many crazy things that not everything is going to please everyone.  The majority of the show I found to be a hit but there were the occasional episodes I felt were a bit of a miss, just for me.  
• By binging the show you can get past the episode that might not work for you, or even the story lines which sometimes do take things a little too far.  In these moments the show always bounces back stronger than ever.  

An episode I wish they would have shown in full.
What happened to you guys

By the time I finished Community I was very sad that it was all over, the show had a strong final season and the finale was perfect, however it left me wanting more.  The show's tag line has been #SixSeasonsAndAMovie since season 2 and the show's creator has clarified that after the cast have had some time to do other things and when they are all free he still intends to make the movie.  I know what I want the movie to focus on... #USTbetweenacertain2characters

I'm almost done with my rewatch with my sister: her thoughts are that the show is amazing, Abed is the best, she fell out of love with it briefly during a few episodes in the middle of season 5 but thinks that it got back on track and loves it again now.  I'm also at the start of a rewatch with my friend Beth now too.  

So go fourth and view away fellow bloggers.  

We've had six season... now we wait.

xoxo

Things I'm lovin' To Watch Right Now

Good morrow fair gentles...  It has come to my attention that in my previous blog post I was sorely mistaken when I stated that I would be back in the blogisphere on the reg.  There are two good reasons that I have not been blogging it up down on the tennis court like yeah, yeah:

1. I have been super busy with university (ugh lame)
2. I have done roughly 0 blog worthy things since I last blogged (Actually since the summer hahahaha its funny because its true, my life sucks hahaha laugh through the pain.

The rumors are true... I'm back

So anyway, I decided that in keeping with the 2016 tradition of the world giving people what they want (Leo got his Oscar, the cast of friends had a reunion of sorts, cats continued to exist and the existence of mermaids was confirmed -lol jk mermaids arent real or at least thats what the government want us to believe!) I have decided to return to the 21st century type writer and chronicle my life again - this will also be a great assistance to the forward thinking being that decides to write my biography.

Tbh a lot of the things that I'm loving right now are fairly similar to the things I was lovin in October because like an dolphin I am also a creature of habit - dolphins are undoubtable creatures of habit because for the past 400 years there has not been one report of a dolphin choosing to leave his or her comfort zone, the ocean, for a life on the land.  Silly little vegan sharks, bless em!  And since I haven't really done much of interest as of late I narrow this post down to things that I am loving to view right now.

So without further ado here are the things that I am loving to watch right now...

TV

1. Some opening thoughts on Netflix

I can only assume she is talking about Netflix UK

Netflix continues to be a big part of my life, however; there is no doubting that the way the head honchos over at the Netflix headquarters abnegate us Brits of all of the best TV shows is sheer tyranny.  Sure they like to tease us a little, make us feel appreciated and special but Netfix are 100% corporate fuckboys!  They find give us How I Met Your Mother, How To Get Away With Murder, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and (for any poor people who have not been able to escape the trainwreck that this show has become) they gave us Pretty Little Liars too.  We see their offering and even though we know they have so much more to give we decide to commit, maybe we can change them!  We decide to sign up for the month free trial which is basically the TV subscription of a date and then afterwards we agree to pay £6 a month but... the next thing you know you are sitting there waiting for them to update their TV show selection feeling like you slept with them and they never called you back, you feel cheated and used #classicfuckboys.  Eventually you accept that this is just how things are but you can't cancel the subscription just in case one day they decide to give you want you want and deserve ...  

2. Grey's Anatomy

The Carousel Never Stops Turning

Grey's Anatomy is a wonderful, magical gem of a show!  It's about Meredith Grey working her way up from surgical intern to legit surgeon and the people she works with at Seatle Grace Hospital (AKA Seatle Grace Mercy West Hospital AKA Seatle Grace Mercy Death AKA Grey-Sloan Memeorial Hospital AKA the only hospital in the world where the surgeons are more likely to die than the patients).This show has everything you could ever want in a TV show; happiness, sadness, tragedy, death, cute couples, suspense, death, explosions, surgery, carousel metaphors, infidelity, death, eye candy and miracles.  It's a just such a good show and even after 12 seasons its still just as strong and true as it always was.  To sum up I was forced at gunpoint (just like many doctors on the show) to pay £60 for the Grey's boxset because Netflix UK has been denying me of this show, the same as denying me of a basic human right if you ask me!  It's a small price to pay to be able to step into the lives of the worlds most talented and attractive surgeons (actually it was a huge price to pay, also now I'm broke).  I basically eat, sleep and breathe Meredith Grey and co. I briefly considered applying to med school but decided to settle for just playing Mer in a home video version of Grey's which is currently underproduction and stars myself and B.  

Rating of my fave Grey's characters:

1. Meredith Grey
2. Arizona Robbins
3. Derek Shephered
4. Mark Sloan
5. Amelia Shephered
6. Callie Torres
7. Lexi Grey
8. Jackson Avery when he is part of the Plastic Posse  

Rating of the worst Grey's characters  

1. Erica Hahn (SP? WHO CARES? Of all the people to survive why her!!?)
2. The Plane that crashed that one time
3. Adele Webber (Richaaaaard Pls)
4. The truck that killed McDreamy 
5. Jo Wilson
6. Dr Burke
7. Every character during their musical numbers in that godawful musical episode

. 

Rating 10/10

Best Method of viewing Binge Watch so either Netflix US or DVDs

Fave Episode Season 6 final 2 episodes

Worst Episodes The musical episode 

Best Character Meredith Grey

Worst Character Ever = Erica Hahn. Current = Jo Wilson 

Best Couple Meredith and Derek. Callie and Arizona

2. Parks and Recreation

We all fell into the pit

Another show that Netflix UK is denying me of!  How do the ownders of Netflix even sleep at night!? (Probably on a bed of money because this is the 21st century - if you don't have a Netflix account are you even living?  Also considering everyone hates the fact that Netflix UK is pretty awful nobody can bring themselves to end their subscription, and so instead we wait and wait and wait hoping one day it will pay off and Netflix UK will be great again.  Okay so Parks and Rec is basically about Leslie Knope (who is the most adorable human beings ever) and the people she works with in the Parks department, its a documentary style sitcom like The Office.  Highlights of the show include the fact that it is set in a town that basically worships a tiny horse; Anne and Leslie gave a new meaning to friendship goals; Chris Pratt is the lead singer of a band called Mouse Rat and so much more.  The first season is a little slow but it gets better and better as each season progresses.  It's a really cute feel good show that's easy to watch and you end up caring about the characters a lot more than you initially think you will.   I started watching this show many moons ago, cant remember why I ever stopped watching it but I am 100% invested again. I only have a season left and I'm starting to mentally prepare myself to say goodbye to all of the characters

Rating 8/10

Best Method of viewing It's super easy to watch either as a binge or not.  

Fave Episode Undecided as I haven't finished the show yet - However the telethon episode                          was fun as was every episode with a town meeting... Basically TBC.

Worst Episodes Something from season 1

Best Character Chris Trager?  Again TBC

Worst Character Crazy Ira and The Douche (Just found them so annoying) 

Best Couple Andy and April, Ben and Leslie and Chris and Anne.

3. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

They alive dammit it's a miracle 

It's basically about this girl (Kimmy) who was kidnapped and kept underground for 15 years living as part of a cult who being rescued and adapting to life in New York City.  With her childlike wonder and enthusiasm she meets lots of fun people and gets into random situations.  Its a super stupid show with an average first episode but it really does improve and I couldn't stop watching.  The show is 100% quotable and introduced the world to two of the most catchy songs that have ever existed: Pinot Noir and The theme tune.  There is only one season out so far, and god bless all that is holy it's even on Netflix UK, so it is definitely worth the watch.  There isn't too much more to say about this show because you kind of have to watch it to understand the hype.

Rating 7.5/10

Best Method of viewing Weekend (or one day) binge.  

Fave Episode Probably Kimmy Goes To School because Piot Noir

Worst Episodes The First One

Best Character I Like Kimmy, Lillian and Mrs Voorhees

Worst Character Maybe  Xanthippe Voorhees 

Best Couple N/a

4. SNL

I made left one extra hole for it's hopes and dreams

Okay So I don't Legit watch SNL but I have gone through a phase of like binge watching SNL clips on Youtube and found some firm faves.  B and I tend to differ on which ones we like as I am a big fan of kristen Wiig's charcters Sue and Penelope whereas she just found them annoying.  Firm fave clips that I would recommend everyone to watch are:

• High School Theater Show with Elizabeth Banks
• The Real Housewives of Disney
• Being Quirky with Zooey Deschanel 
• Taylor Swift's roommate clip and parent driver's clip
• The Ryan Gosling clip about being abducted by aliens where he has a breakdown.

5. How I Met Your Mother

Haaaaaaave you met Ted?

 I want to clarify that I still love How I Met Your Mother but I dont want to go into it too much because I already spoke about it in my last post.  Basically it is the best comedy show there has ever been - yes even better than Friends and that is a truth fact!  It's about a man in 2030 telling his kids the story of his life in New York living with his friends and all the decisions he made that led him to meeting their mother.  I am also a solid supporter of the shows finale and I think the show might even be better than salmon and cream cheese bagels.

Rating 10/10

Best Method of viewing All day every day (but as a binge first time round).  

Fave Episode So hard to choose! Maybe Sandcastles In The Sand?

Worst Episodes The from the final season that was set during one slap...

Best Character IRobin Scherbatsky(AKA Robin Sparkles), Ted Mosby and Marshall           Erikson

Worst Character Maybe Zooey or Stella because they are evil 

Best Couple Ted and Robin, Robin and Barney and Lily and Marshall.  

 

Film

1.The Walk

He alive dammit it's a miracle

This film tells the true story of how great CGI and one man's love for wire walking resulted in a movie scene which almost gave my dearest mother who is terrified of heights a panic attack... I can't remember the last time I wanted someone to come down from a wire so badly.  It's a really great film that is completely worth committing 2 hours of your life to because the second half which focuses on how Phillipe Petit and friends attempy to illegally rig a wire between the twin towers so he can do the worlds most dangerous wore walk.   I was 100% invested in this film, I completely forgot that it was cgi, I screamed multiple times and I remembered how much I love Joseph Gordon Levitt. 9/10 - would recommend.

Honourable mentions worth a shout out are:

• How To Get Away With Murder
• Deadpool

The moral of the story is you don't kick a dressage horse after a failed pas de deux

Until next time

xoxo

Queen G

Is Ed OK?

Okay so if you know me at all then you'll know that I love Ed Westwick so much!  But what used to be feelings of admiration and oh-my-god-I-want-to-marry-you have now turned to feelings of concern and they aren't too far from those of a concerned mother.  You see Ed used to be one of the greats, he was the Jack Dawson, king of the world standing Titanic's bow, of teen dramas.  Ed portrayed Chuck Bass in the CW's Gossip Girl.  Chuck was a boy billionaire who thought of nothing other than himself, sex and money and throughout the 6 years that Gossip Girl reined the small screen Chuck grew and developed as a character (Fun Fact: during this time he undoubtedly fell in love with Leighton Meester but it was an unrequited love, how tragic) .  Chuck was one of the most popular characters from the show and he initiated many young teens sexual awakenings and to this day, largely thanks to Netflix, he continues to be on many youngsters I-would-bang lists.  

So how does the actor who brought thee Chuck Bass to life, a star of such a successful teen drama end up having to send out a change of address card because he's moving away from cloud 9!?  On the surface Ed seems to be doing just fine but let me tell you this he is not.  He is the Ross Geller of fine, and to all you poor unfortunate souls who for whatever godawful reason haven't seen Friends 'Ross Geller fine' is not fine at all!  

Item Number 1

Who posts this type of picture of themselves?

So like Gossip Girl is over, the movie role offers aren't exactly rolling in and you're starting to get a bit nervous about that fact that you perhaps shouldn't have bought Jessica Szoewhogivesacrap that expensive book about how not to cheat on your boyfriend because you're going broke.  I mean I could see how that could do things to a guy but I wouldn't say that setting up an international T-shirt business is the normal, natural response.   And sure the tshirts are for charity and sure it's all fun and games but like the way that Ed promotes them seems a little desperate and a bit like a cry for help.  Almost as if he truly believes that he is Chuck Bass and there is only the one of him swimming around in the sea, desperately looking for Blair Waldorf and wondering why she doesn't call, doesn't write... why she's living with that guy from that show, you know the one, the less extreme Gossip Girl of California.

Item Number 2

"Gotta look where you going" -
Ed Westwick 12 May 2015

So again I would say that really there are two options of what happened here.  Either A) Ed sat on  his phone and made this fun edit of himself or B) He google image searched himself and saved this picture off of the internet.  Next he decided to upload this picture to his Facebook, twitter and instagram pages with the caption which is below.  I mean I don't know if it's meant to be an inspirational quote or some legit life advice.  Personally I think it's a shout out to Adam Brody like either he is saying "yo man I'm coming for you, get away from my girl" or he is saying "one minute you're happily married, living on the upper east side with a child and the next thing you know some punk steals your girl".  I don't even know but it just doesn't seem like the kind of thing you upload of yourself.  Ed, oh ed.

Item Number 3

Are you guys on Twitter?
Find me there @EdWestwick or link in bio

So then Ed uploads this fun selfie because that's what everyone on the brink of a breakdown does.  Oh my life is falling apart, but first let me take a selfie!  Honestly when a screen legend, THE STAR OF CHALET GIRL, needs to beg for followers that's when you know!  I can't even say anything else.  Except at least this proves that, even if only every now and then, Ed knows that he is Ed Westwick and not Chuck Bass.  Because L and I are genuinely concerned that sometimes he struggles to tell what is real and who he really is.





Item Number 4

Thinking...

And finally there is this picture, captioned "Thinking".  And honestly I think this is sort of #relatable because honestly Ed, you got me thinking too.  You got me wondering about what you're thinking, and what you make of what's happening to you.  Are you ok?  

Please call me when you have found yourself, I understand we can't be together just now.  You can't love others until you love yourself.  



I cant help but wonder:  Are Ed's social media accounts being run by 14 year old fan girls?  



The moral of the story is somewhere beyond the sea I'll be waiting for Ed once he is ready to say goodbye to the Bass, the only Bass in the sea according to his Tshirts.

Yes of course I own a tshirt

XOXO
Queen G