A new TV series about what it’s like to be a community-college student will make its debut next month on NBC. It will tackle serious topics like academic preparedness and financial aid.
Wait … strike that. It’s a comedy featuring Chevy Chase in a turtleneck.
The show is called Community, and judging from the online clips, it may not offer the most sensitive portrayal of our nation’s community colleges. It may also not be particularly funny.
If you like your college-themed comedy delivered with a tad more subtlety and a lot less Chevy Chase, check out the underappreciated, Web-only mockumentary Dorm Life.
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13 Responses to Chevy Chase Makes Fun of Community College
11147726 - August 27, 2009 at 9:00 am
Chevy who?
11216278 - August 27, 2009 at 9:34 am
And whom will did she chase?
willynilly - August 27, 2009 at 10:23 am
I say let this thing go forward full steam ahead. Please don’t attack it. The millions of students who have attended community colleges, and benefited greatly from the experience, will be highly offended and outraged. This backlash will result in a big hit on Chevy Chase’s reputation and his ratings – so big that it will serve as a deterrent to any future programming of this type -and will like likely end with a save-face apology from the producers and sponsors of the show.
emoticon - August 27, 2009 at 10:26 am
@willynilly – Truly hope your post was tongue in cheek. Otherwise, you and and I live on different planets.
emoticon - August 27, 2009 at 10:29 am
Who really cares if the show accurately represents community college. Does anyone care that The Office is not an accurate representation of white collar America? Besides, any show with Chevy Chase is bound to be unfunny. Other than the first and third vacation movies, what has he ever done that even closely resembled humor?
minnesotan - August 27, 2009 at 10:57 am
Academia is where humor goes to die. When any of you make a movie half as funny a Caddy Shack or Fletch, I’ll trust your opinion on funny. ;)On a serious note, some folks need to retract the stick. Nobody in the real world cares if a comedy show insults you or hurts your precious feelings. I realize that academics are willing to go to war (read: squeal to the department head, or filibuster the faculty senate) over any minor slight, but the rest of the world will tell you what daddy should have said more often: suck it up, junior!
aiblibrary - August 27, 2009 at 11:33 am
This is just a TV show. People don’t even trust “Reality” shows to be reality. I hope you can trust your students are smart enough to recognize this as VERY loosely based on a community college experience. My husband and I already heard the tagline, “Putting new meaning to a BS degree.” The producers don’t even realize community colleges don’t offer Bachelor programs. This is nothing to get upset over, it is just a show.
11274135 - August 27, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Nothing is “just a show.” There’s enough anti-education feeling in this country. We don’t need to feed it.
texasmusic - August 27, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Bring on the Chevy, I say. The world has been deprived of his wit long enough. I think Slate was right about The Chronicle not having a sense of humor. I guess everything about academic life has to be straight-laced, dramatic, and very serious. Like academic life is actually like that. Look around. There’s ridiculous humor EVERYWHERE!
texasmusic - August 27, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Bring on the Chevy, I say. The world has been deprived of his wit long enough. I think Slate was right about The Chronicle not having a sense of humor. I guess everything about academic life has to be straight-laced, dramatic, and very serious. Like academic life is actually like that. Look around. There’s ridiculous humor EVERYWHERE!
texasmusic - August 27, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Like when you make double posts…
smithl1 - August 28, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Some of you need to loosen up. Life is going on outside of your classroom and faculty senate meetings. If you don’t look out your window, you’ll miss it. If this show really degraded the community college ideals, do you think the liberals running NBC would allow their show to do so. Get a grip and join the rest of us who reside in the realm of reality.
11130659 - September 3, 2009 at 11:04 am
Many years ago there was a show called “Bronx Zoo” which portrayed a dysfunctional high school in the Bronx. The show lasted less than one season. Having seen trailers for this show I believe a similar fate awaits.