When NBC’s Community lost showrunner Dan Harmon in exchange for a fourth season, many fans were skeptical that the series could keep the same highbrow, madcap sensibilities it had under its creator when the next group came in; these fears weren’t exactly eased when it became clear that the role of Joe and Anthony Russo, regular producers and directors on the series, would also be pretty limited, thanks in no small part to their involvement with Captain America: The Winter Soldier.Still, the cult hit’s fans held out hope that incoming producers David Guarascio and Moses Port could keep what was important while bringing in some larger audiences–something they’d shown an ability to cultivate during their years on more mainstream successes like Just Shoot Me! and Happy Endings.Before the season began, though, ComicBook.com almost ran a list of the five most predictable things we figured we would see from “NuCommunity.” We opted not to write it, though, figuring that it would feel like an attack on the new showrunners rather than what it was–a statement of expectations.After all, NBC and Sony Pictures Television seem to want a more traditional series, with more traditional hooks. Fans of cancelled shows often complain that they’re improperly marketed, but Community makes itself almost aggressively difficult to promote, and without Dan Harmon there exerting his influence, it always seemed as though we’d see a little more “normal” sitcom fodder creeping into Greendale.Weirdly, though, the things that haven’t particularly worked about the first three episodes of the new season are the very things we expected to see from the show when it came back under new management…and it hasn’t helped. Community’s 1.1 million viewers for the much-anticipated Dr. Spacetime convention episode last week marked a series low and, for the second week in a row, the precipitous drop in ratings have made “six seasons and a movie” seem less and less likely.So it seemed as good a time as any to point out these wholly predictable events that we thought might happen ahead of time, and why it is that they haven’t worked for Community.
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