I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not

One of my favorite new shows on this season is Community.  It plays on Thursday nights at 8pm on NBC before other shows that I like in this order:

1) 30 Rock
1) The Office
2) Parks and Recreation
2) Grey's Anatomy
3) Private Practice


It's about a community college--so you know, right there, the premise is just going to be soooo funny.  The show centers around those you might see at community college--dumb people out of high school, college dropouts going back in their mid twenties, moms, old guys going back for a career change, etc.  All the characters originally connect in a spanish study group.

Joel McHale is the main character...for those who don't know he also hosts the Soup on E!  He's supposed to be the sane one on the show, the zookeeper if you will.  I think that's why TV shows of this type, and by this type I mean when all the characters are legit insane, is that you have one person that is supposed to be the reference of normal. It's like Jim and Pam on the office, Michael Bluth on Arrested Development--the show might get annoying if you don't have those normal people in there as a point of reference. but then it makes you wonder, are they actually normal because they put up with these crazy people?  They never really acknowledge just to what extent everyone is out of their minds...

But one of my favorite characters in the whole show is Chevy Chase playing the old man going back for the career change.  I just finished a book on the history of Saturday Night Live, where Chevy Chase got his start, and proceeded to watch some of the clips from the first season he was in on hulu.  He is probably just as funny on community as he was back then.  He combines physical comedy with a dickish overconfidence.  The most recent episode, the halloween special, is just the epitome of Chevy Chaseness.  I think what I like the most, especially after reading the book on SNL, was about how horrible Chevy was in real life when he would come back to host throughout the course of the show.  The writers and cast members describe him as just saying whatever rude or obnoxious thing, no matter how offensive or malicious.  I think he inserts a part of that into his character, but he's not 20 years old anymore, he looks like a grandfather. so it kind of works in a new way now, because you can't really imagine your grandfather acting like that but you kind of can...

and in order for me to convince you to watch, or just at least appreciate why I like it, I suggest you watch this 30 second clip of the end of the episode: Click Me!