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Unpopular Opinions is a bi-weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.

Earlier this year, after a hard-fought tournament, you decided that Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory" was the best sitcom episode ever. There is no way to say for sure with these things but maybe it's true; maybe when you zoom out completely, the dynamism and ambition of "Chaos" wins. However, in the context of this one season, I'd argue, and will argue for a bunch of words below, that "Chaos" loses out to another very ambitious [...]

OK, here’s what we know: Dan Harmon, the creator of Community, won’t be returning to his baby next season because…well, that’s the question, isn’t it? On his Tumblr (I love 2012), Harmon wrote, "A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know. Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community…Why’d Sony want me gone? I can’t answer that because I’ve been in as much contact with them as you have. They literally haven’t called me since the season four pickup, so their reasons for replacing me are clearly none of my business." So, really, like [...]

Season three of Community, which seems like it began 17 years ago, due in no small part to a hiatus that momentarily shook the world (a.k.a. the Internet), began with a song. Well, to be fair, it actually started with Jeff literally soaring above the clouds, but semantics.

In less than 60 seconds, “Finally Be Free” accomplishes everything that's so great about the show, and laid out a template for the rest of the season: it was an exaggerated, amusing view of reality, but with enough of an emotional core to keep things grounded, sung by a diverse group of people who love each other and are hoping to [...]

This is the last NBC Thursday night of the season. Hopefully, that's as sad for you to read as it is for me to write. In a time of non-stop media intake, it's nice to know each week there is a collection of shows, aired in succession, that will be worth dedicating a night to. Cherish these clips and these shows and these Thursday nights, before they pave paradise and put up a Dane Cook show. Clips from the 30 Rock and the other Community episodes below:

First, let me say, I love what NBC is trying to do. They could have easily cut costs by surrounding The Voice with reality and competition shows, but they are going with real television shows, some with very distinct voices. And I love them moving Community to Friday, at least I do conceptually and only if the bring Dan Harmon back, who currently/ominously remains unsigned for next year.

Though, it's hard to get a sense if the Friday move should be interpreted with a dread or enthusiasm. Currently, there are conflicting messages behind the decision. NBC bossman Bob Greenblatt told Deadline:

“There is an opportunity for comedy on [...]

Ken Levine is a TV writer that has worked on some of the most acclaimed sitcoms there are: M*A*S*H, Cheers, The Simpsons, Frasier, and Becker (just kidding about the last one). He took over as showrunner of M*A*S*H when creator Larry Gelbart left. This gives him a unique perspective on the whole Dan Harmon situation so he wrote a must-read blog post about it. He still has hope for the show as he writes:

Shows tend to survive without the original creative force. Even WEST WING when Aaron Sorkin was sacked. Even MASH when Larry Gelbart quit. MASH is a perfect example. If they could replace the genius [...]

Late Friday night, Vulture reported that Sony Television (the company that produces Community) had hired David Guarascio and Moses Port (previously of Happy Endings) as the new showrunners of Community, leaving Dan Harmon with a diminished role. Their justification was partially about creative differences (Sony and NBC wanted Community to at least try to appeal to more people) and partially about what it was like working with Harmon. A person close to the show explained, "Dan is brilliant at ideas, but he's terrible at [management]." Specifically, Harmon is given a lot of the blame for much of Community's writing and production staff turnover. The flipside of course is that Harmon [...]

This picture was snapped by the New York Post from the Brooklyn set of Girls. Yep, that is Donald Glover smiling really big and Lena Dunham smiling a normal size. It's a photo that might single-handedly explode the Internet. As Lena said earlier this month on Fresh Air, with her show's second season she aspires to expand the diversity of the cast but no one would have guessed that meant The Don of Gloves. It will be interesting to see if a famous person will be distracting in the hyper-real universe of the show. If you want to stand in the background of these two while the'yre [...]

Hollywood Reporterand AV Club have exclusive photos from the first of tomorrow's three Community episode and they look super cool (the rest are after the jump). For obvious reasons, video games are such a perfect fit for Community that it's surprising they've never done it before. Apparently, in an attempt to save Pierce's inheritance, the gang plays this video game against Giancarlo Esposito (aka Breaking Bad's Gus Fring!). Sounds like the Community and the best.

Yesterday was officially Mother's Day but, when NBC announced its projected fall lineup, it felt more like Christmas. How about another analogy? Sure. Upfronts are like the NFL Draft, they mark the end of one season and the start of the next, but its still be months before anything plays out. So what does NBC's draft class look like? If comedies were offensive lineman, than NBC drafted like a lot of right guards. We had reported that they picked up a zillion (or seven) new sitcoms but it's still interesting to look at. If you include SNL, NBC has comedic programming five nights a week, which [...]

With the season finales of all of our most favorite shows in the can, we thought this week would be the best time to look back at the 2011-2012 TV season that was. We'll be posting a whole mess of essays on all things comedic television. There will be posts about the best episode, best new shows, sitcoms' growing use of inside jokes, what the traditional fall and spring season still means, and more. Friday will be all about the hotly contested title of Best Comedy of the Season, as we'll being making the cases for many shows. Later today, we'll open a poll for you guys to have [...]

Poorly! 30 Rock and all of the Communitys brought in a 1.3 18-49 rating (at least they're consistent?). In comparison, last week The Office did a 2.3 and Parks & Recreation a 1.7. This matched a series low for the Greendale 7. In real numbers, less than 3 million people watched all of it. Just a reminder of how many people can watch a TV program, American Idol topped off at almost 16 million last night. However, now that both shows have been renewed, this news is less depressing and more something that should brushed off one's shoulders. Brush away everybody, we're almost at our goal of #twelveseasonsandathemepark.

Cool cool cool cool. "Cool cool cool, cool cool — cool." Cool cool! Cool cool cool cool Buzzfeed cool. Cool, cool cool cool (cool). Cool, cool cool cool?

I don't know if it's a good or bad sign for him returning to Community, but Dan Harmon is producing a 30-minute animated pilot for Adult Swim, as one of the eight new pilots they're considering. The show, Rick & Morty, is about "A genius inventor grandfather and his less than genius grandson, and the journeys in life they share." It sure sounds like an Adult Swim pilot. Also, the writers (Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg) and stars (John Cho and Kal Penn) of the Harold & Kumar series are all signed to make an animated show out of the mini-hamburger-built film franchise. Below are the other six [...]