The Shows Mostly Formerly Affiliated with NBC's Thursday Night Comedy Block Thread **SPOILERS**

[C-MIL]

The dog.

Animal tragedy does to me what slutty women do to Sousa... which sounds really, really wrong, but is what I meant to say.

EDIT: Oh, and I liked Parks & Rec a lot. Really finding their groove with the campaign stuff.

Spoilers since I know Pizza missed it.

"I'm against crime and I'm not afraid to admit it."

I howled.

[Meacon Keaton]

Sounds like I won't be catching The Office this week then. Dogs are my weakness too.

[C-MIL]

It turned out okay, but the punchline was not worth toeing that line in the set-up IMO.

Would've written off the show for good if they hadn't reeled it back last second though.

Not an endorsement of the episode, but it's just not as bad as my posts might suggest...

[GoGo Yubari]

Everything in Parks and Rec except for the eternally unconvincing Tom and Ann stuff was absolutely wonderful. Community knocked it out of the park too. Haven't watched the other two yet.

[RPS]

It turned out okay, but the punchline was not worth toeing that line in the set-up IMO.

Would've written off the show for good if they hadn't reeled it back last second though.

Not an endorsement of the episode, but it's just not as bad as my posts might suggest...

Nah, the whole episode was really really really bad. Like, I've enjoyed this entire season - nothing has been overwhelming amazing or horribly bad, in my opinion. That episode though... was very bad. This season has seen the characters leave the Office so much that you can tell the writers just don't know what to do anymore.

[Berober]

Community. Outstanding. That's all I have to say on the matter.

[MalaCloudy Black]

OK, Jon Hamm's guest spot on 30 Rock was awesome. As was the whole Young Tracy, Young Jack & Young Liz thing.

[GoGo Yubari]

Overall 30 Rock was a bit hit-and-miss but holy fuck, the Amos 'n' Andy bit. That's the hardest I've laughed at something on TV in a while.

[Lint]

Community. Outstanding. That's all I have to say on the matter.

QFT. I don't think I laughed that hard in a long time. The fact they get the woman who plays the medical examiner on Law and Order to party the "medical examiner" was a nice touch too

[Walker]

Community was just perfect. Loved every second of it.

[Dynamite]

Omar from The Wire is brilliant. More episodes with him please.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I think, of all the bits from last night's Community, by far my favourite was the end. Spot on nailed it. Just like a Law & Order episode. Leave a thread hanging the entire episode, then wrap it up with something tragic/dramatic at the end and cut to credits with no music.

[Ruki]

I loved last nights Community episode, so awesome.

But...Starburns

[Guest mr. potato head]

Really, really good Community. Never been a huge L&O fan so it was more "rote parody" than "affectionate parody", but still enjoyed it for what it was. Britta was graet in her small dose ("I can make the picture all Old West-y!"). I think this was the first episode this season to not reference Inspector Spacetime?

As good as Community was, 30 Rock was even better. It was a gimmick show, yeah, but it was a gimmick show that was done superbly. McCartney was a great surprise, Hamm and Poehler and Spaceman and everybody else were excellent in their bits (agreed on the Amos 'n' Andy parody being hilarious). Only mild complaint was that, same as last year, the main actors sounded a little too much like they were in a theatre show, but that's quite the minor thing.

The Office was utter shit. Not a single redeeming quality other than MAYBE the Dwight thing.

Parks and Rec was really good as well. Andy was awesome, which was good because Ron and April and Donna were quite toned down. Main plot, the debate, was great. Loved the fringe candidates. Wondered if the porn star was a ploy by Newport's campaign manager but apparently not. Why was Jerry in a convent?

[Berober]

Really, really good Community. Never been a huge L&O fan so it was more "rote parody" than "affectionate parody", but still enjoyed it for what it was. Britta was graet in her small dose ("I can make the picture all Old West-y!"). I think this was the first episode this season to not reference Inspector Spacetime?

As good as Community was, 30 Rock was even better. It was a gimmick show, yeah, but it was a gimmick show that was done superbly. McCartney was a great surprise, Hamm and Poehler and Spaceman and everybody else were excellent in their bits (agreed on the Amos 'n' Andy parody being hilarious). Only mild complaint was that, same as last year, the main actors sounded a little too much like they were in a theatre show, but that's quite the minor thing.

The Office was utter shit. Not a single redeeming quality other than MAYBE the Dwight thing.

Parks and Rec was really good as well. Andy was awesome, which was good because Ron and April and Donna were quite toned down. Main plot, the debate, was great. Loved the fringe candidates. Wondered if the porn star was a ploy by Newport's campaign manager but apparently not. Why was Jerry in a convent?

Did you see the badge on Abed's jacket?

[Guest mr. potato head]

Nope!

[Berober]

It took me a second viewing to notice it to be fair

[Panni]

Typically I'm not a big fan of the episodes where Community spoofs a certain genre. Often times I feel like they are trying to be too smart for their own good. However, this one was just awesome. The dialogue was brilliant from start to finish, and it was probably the best episode of it's kind.

As far as the Office goes it was just another one of the "going through the motions" type of episodes. There were a few points where I laughed, but that's because I love the characters. When the cast split between Scranton & Florida things were looking like they were going to pick up, but right now it feels like we are still in the same monotony of the beginning of this season. It's such a shame because when it was at it's best, years ago, I think it was better than Community/Parks & Rec/30 Rock. Now it just seems like an old dog waiting to be put to sleep.

[AnnIQ Edison]

Typically I'm not a big fan of the episodes where Community spoofs a certain genre. Often times I feel like they are trying to be too smart for their own good. However, this one was just awesome. The dialogue was brilliant from start to finish, and it was probably the best episode of it's kind.

The advantage this week was that they played it so on the nose that no one could have missed the parody. Some other episodes you can kind of question what they are exactly parodying but this episode was so clear that you just accept it and enjoy.

[Josh]

Community was actually so into the parody, that I'm certain I missed a lot that I'll only catch on further viewings. That's praise, to be clear. I was still tracking with the plot every step of the way, and I especially enjoyed seeing so many minor recurring characters play into things. I'm left with the impression that the ending will be the jumping off point for where the thrust of the remainder of the season is headed. Really a tremendous episode, and the end tag with the Dean was a fantastic cherry on top.

30 Rock live was just pure fucking goddamn Id. Early on, I was wondering if the gimmick would help or hurt a second time around, but it quickly became clear that this episode had to be live. It's hard to pick a favorite moment, although Jon Hamm doing blackface and Tracy Morgan having none of it makes a strong argument. Alec Baldwin as a Dean Martin rip-off was a lot fun too. I actually think my favorite bit was the almost completely under-the-radar runner of Fred Armisen as random background characters. Something about him as Frank was hysterical to me, especially since none of the live audience apparently noticed. I think seeing the Amos and Andy parody got me amped, so when Armisen just leaned right into Jimmy Fallon's shot I lost all control. They'll have to return to more semblance of a plot next week, but this was a side-trip that was completely worth it.

The Office often sticks out like a sore thumb this season by being among three great episodes and just being decent-to-good. That disparity was much more noticeable last night, as the other three shows had tremendous outings, while The Office probably had its weakest episode in a long time. I'm not as down on this episode as some others seem to be, but the highest praise I can give here is that it was largely inoffensive. The Dwight story (which I thought really worked) and maybe Andy's aside, I thought the subplots were either meh (the whole state senator thing) or pushed the bounds of believability more than normal (how has Nellie never heard of a taco?) If there's a larger saving grace here, it's that it seems the show is intent upon making Andy's rise and fall as manager the super-arc of the season. I'm for that, but this particular beat in that larger story could have been done in a more compelling way. I'm holding out hope that this was the low point and things only get better from here.

Parks and Rec wasn't necessarily laugh-a-minute (it would be hard for anything to feel that way after 30 Rock's effort earlier), but it was a very strong episode on the merits of plot and emotion. There were certainly laughs in there (Perd Hapley has quietly become my new favorite character by doing the same basic bit over and over; plus Donna being completely engrossed in Andy's retelling of old - often cheesy - movies), but the highlights here were all about Leslie's struggle and Ben supporting her. Having it not only lead to a moral victory, but to have Bobby Newport actually enjoy Leslie kicking ass was just compelling as fuck.

With one weak link, it was still a tremendous block of comedy.