了解美國流行文化的教科書級美劇:《廢柴聯盟》

經老石朋友推薦，我們最近看了一部美劇——《廢柴聯盟》（Community），沒想到我一發不可收拾地迷上了，打算用幾篇文章詳細安利這部優秀的情景喜劇。

As recommended by one of Ryan's friends, we recently watched an American sitcom "Community", and now I'm hooked. I plan to write several posts to introduce this sitcom in detail.

在開始介紹該劇前，先告訴大家觀看方法：我是用騰訊會員在騰訊視頻上看的，中英文雙語字幕，中文字幕翻譯非常良心。

Before I start, let me tell you where to watch it: I used Tencent membership to watch it on Tencent video, with Chinese and English bilingual subtitles. The Chinese subtitle is quite decent.

Great Crew

這部劇雖然在國內可能名氣不大，其實卻雲集了美國電視行業廣播平臺、製作、導演、演員的各類大咖。

Although this sitcom may not be well-known in China, it boasts many masters in the American TV industry in terms of broadcasting platforms, producers, directors, actors, etc.

廣播平臺為《老友記》東家

Broadcasting network is the host of "Friends"

《廢柴聯盟》是美國知名電視臺NBC於2009年推出的情景喜劇。目前已完結，共6季。

"Community" is a sitcom released in 2009 by the well-known American television station NBC. It’s finished with a total of 6 seasons.

眾所周知，《老友記》是有史以來最成功的美國情景喜劇之一，幾乎影響了美國一代人的流行文化。

As we know, "Friends" is one of the most successful American sitcom in history, and it has impacted an entire generation of American pop culture.

Friends was launched by NBC.

2004年《老友記》圓滿收官後，美國情景喜劇市場便主要被CBS電臺的《生活大爆炸》佔領。

After Friends was successfully concluded in 2004, the American sitcom market was mainly occupied by 「The Big Bang Theory」 on CBS.

在此情況下，NBC推出了《廢柴聯盟》對抗CBS的異軍突起。

Under these circumstances, NBC launched Community to compete with CBS.

製作人是美國當紅動畫《瑞克和莫蒂》主創

Show runner is the creator of the popular American animated show, "Rick and Morty"

《瑞克和莫蒂》(Rick and Morty) 是2014年由美國Adult Swim廣播平臺推出的一部成人動畫。

"Rick and Morty" is a cartoon launched by Adult Swim in 2014.

該動畫自推出以來在美國引起極大轟動，各類獎項拿到手軟，在國內也是口碑炸裂，豆瓣評分高得嚇人：

The show has caused a great sensation in the United States since its launch. It’s received various awards, and it is also well recognized in China with a freaking high Douban score (which is somewhat like rotten tomato rating in China):

該動畫的兩名主創之一，丹哈萌（Dan Harmon)，就是《廢柴聯盟》的製作人(show runner）。

One of the co-creators of R&M, Dan Harmon, is the show runner of Community.

牛人製作出的作品自然差不了，雖然豆瓣評分沒有《瑞克和莫蒂》高，但《廢柴聯盟》的豆瓣評分也一點都不差：

The works produced by this master certainly can't help but succeed. Although the Douban score isn’t as high as Rick and Morty, Community’s score is not bad at all either:

Comments from netizens are also very positive:

Translation: Community is better than The Big Bang Theory season 3...probably...10 times...yeah...period.

導演是漫威電影御用兄弟

Directors of the show directed MCU movies

除製作人外，該劇的前三季導演也來頭不小——羅素兄弟。

Besides show runner, the directors of the first three seasons of Community aren’t nobodies either - the Russo Brothers.

雖然在國內不像伍迪艾倫、史匹柏那樣出名，但如果你知道這對兄弟是下面這幾部電影的導演，就知道他們有多牛：

They may not be as famous in China as Woody Allen or Spielberg, but if you know that the brothers are the directors of the following movies, you would know whom I’m talking about:

主演中的神級人物

Hot celebrity in the cast

除了製作方，演員方也是牛人云集，其中最牛的就是這位：

In addition to the production side, the cast is also filled with popular actors, the most famous being this guy:

這位哥們名叫Donald Glover，說他是個天才絕不為過。他不僅是獲過艾美獎（相當於美國電視業的奧斯卡）的演員、導演、編劇，還是個獲過葛萊美獎的嘻哈歌手，嘻哈藝名叫Childish Gambino。

His name is Donald Glover, and it's no exaggeration to say that he is a genius. He's not only won Emmies for actor, director, and show runner, but is also a Grammy-winning singer, with the stage name of Childish Gambino.

2018年，Childish Gambino推出了一首單曲《This is America》（這裡是美國），引起現象級轟動，目前該曲MV在油管點擊量已超過6.6億次：

In 2018, Childish Gambino released a single "This is America", which gained phenomenal popularity. The MV has more than 660 million views on YouTube so far:

該曲MV以隱晦的藝術手法諷刺了美國當前的種族歧視、槍枝泛濫、草菅人命、娛樂至死等社會問題，完整版MTV見下：

The music video satirizes social problems such as racial discrimination, gun proliferation, amusing ourselves to death in the United States with obscure artistic methods.

I have also written an analysis of the song before:這首把美國黑出翔的歌，如今越發應景

命途多舛的六季一影

Rough road for six seasons and a movie

雖然這部劇抓得一手好牌，但就像很多後世追封的優秀藝術品一樣，在被世俗接受的過程中，一直命途多舛。

Although this sitcom has been dealt a good hand, like many great artworks recognized by audiences after their completion,  it was a rough road during the process of being accepted by the world.

製作人被趕出家門

The show runner was kicked off of his own show

該劇由丹哈萌一手創辦，講述格林德爾社區大學（Greendale Community College）7個廢柴學生在其學習小組的奇葩經歷。故事靈感就來自丹哈萌本人的社區大學經歷。

The sitcom created by Dan Hamon is about the experience of 7 misfits of a study group at Greendale Community College. The inspiration for the story comes from Dan Harmon’s own experience at community college.

然而，丹哈萌是個有個性的人，還患有輕微阿斯伯格綜合症（一種社交交往障礙，與自閉症類似，區別為阿斯伯格綜合症沒有明顯的語言和智能障礙），並不善於迎合好萊塢式價值觀。

However, Dan Harmon is an individual with a strong personality, and also suffers from mild Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's is a disorder of social communication, similar to autism. The difference is that Asperger’s Syndrome has no obvious language and intellectual disabilities. Harmon is not good at catering to Hollywood-style values.

自開始製作此劇起，丹哈萌和製作公司索尼就摩擦不斷，還因和該劇主演之一Chevy Chase性格不合（據說該演員性格自大並種族歧視）發生衝突。

Since the production of this show, Dan Harmon has been in constant friction with Sony (the production company), and also raised conflicts with one of the lead cast members - Chevy Chase (it is said that the actor is arrogant and racist).

第三季結束後，丹哈萌果然被炒了，由其他製作人完成了該劇第四季製作。

After the third season ended, Dan Harmon was fired, and other show runners completed the fourth season of the show.

但丹哈萌走後該劇就失去了靈魂，在主演班底和粉絲的施壓下，丹哈萌於第五季回歸，可該劇多舛的命運已不可逆轉了。

But the show lost its soul with Harmon’s leaving. Under pressure from the leading cast and fan base, the show called Dan Harmon back in the fifth season, but the show’s rough fate was already inevitable.

導演另謀高就

The directors left for other opportunities

上文提到，該劇前三季導演是羅素兄弟，在丹哈萌被趕出劇組的同時，羅素兄弟也得到了執導漫威電影的難得機會，於是該劇導演也退出劇組，另謀高就了。

As mentioned above, the directors of the first three seasons of the show were the Russo brothers. While Dan Harmon was cast out of the crew, the Russo brothers were offered the rare opportunity to direct MCU movies, so the directors also left.

主演接連退出

Lead cast left one after another

隨著丹哈萌第五季回歸，與丹哈萌結下梁子的演員Chevy Chase徹底退出該劇，自此解鎖了該劇主演不斷換血的慘劇。

With the return of Dan Harmon in the fifth season, the actor Chevy Chase, whose relationship with Dan Harmon didn’t end on good terms, left the show, which unlocked the tragedy of the show’s hemorrhaging of characters.

繼Chevy Chase後，Donald Glover和Yvette Nicole Brown等主演也相繼離開劇組。

Following Chevy Chase, lead cast members Donald Glover and Yvette Nicole Brown also left the show.

制播易主

Broadcasting and production changed

由於更換製作人、痛失導演、主演接連退出等問題，即使丹哈萌回歸也無力回天。《廢柴聯盟》第五季蹣跚堅持13集就草草收尾、並被NBC宣布不再續播，製作方索尼也宣布取消該劇製作。

Due to problems such as changing show runners, losing directors, and cast members quitting, even with Dan Harmon’s return, the show couldn't go back to where it was. The fifth season of Community staggered 13 episodes with a hasty wrap-up, and then NBC announced its official cancelation. The production company Sony also announced it would stop producing the show.

但在《廢柴聯盟》死忠粉奔走相告下，《廢柴聯盟》最終由雅虎接盤，掙扎製作及在線播出了第六季。

However, thanks to the effort from die-hard fans of Community, Community was finally taken over by Yahoo, and ultimately produced and broadcasted the sixth season online with struggle.

丹哈萌還在《瑞克和莫蒂》中自嘲過《廢柴聯盟》的曲折命運：

Dan Harmon actually mocked the twists and turns of Community’s fate in Rick and Morty:

六季一影的執念

The obsession with six seasons and a movie

雖然《廢柴聯盟》如此多舛的命運看起來有點讓人唏噓，但這種換人、被砍的電視劇在美國並不少見，曾經在國內紅極一時的《破產姐妹》也是沒播完就被砍了。為什麼《廢柴聯盟》的粉絲對《廢柴聯盟》的重啟如此執著呢？

Although fans might feel pity for the tough fate of Community, it’s not a big deal for American TV shows to change main staff or be cancelled. 2 Broke Girls, which was once hugely popular in China, was also cancelled before it had a chance to have a finale. Why are Community fans fixating on finishing the show?

原因有點讓人無語：因為第二季21集中，劇中人物Jeff抱怨Abed對其的惡作劇已經持續了三周，而Abed回答「（我要持續）六季再加一個電影」。

The reason behind this might be hard to understand for most people: in episode 21 of season 2, the show’s character Jeff complained that Abed ’s prank on him has been going on for three weeks, and Abed replied: 「(It would last) Six seasons and a movie.」

就這樣，因為一句臺詞裡的笑話，《廢柴聯盟》的粉絲編織起了對該劇要拍滿六季外加一個電影的執念，並以驚人的毅力促成了六季的實現，現在只需要再拍一個電影了。

That's it, because of a joke in the lines, Community fans dreamed up the obsession for the show to contain six seasons and a movie, and made the 「six seasons」 part happen with amazing perseverance. Just one movie to go.

但因為該劇從製作人、導演到演員，全都比《廢柴聯盟》剛起家時更大牌，大家都很忙，這個電影還能不能實現，只能看緣分了。

But since the entire crew, from show runner to directors to actors, have all gained much more popularity compared to when Community started, everybody is pretty busy now. So I guess whether if the movie can be realized can only be determined by destiny.

這部劇到底有什麼魅力

What is the charm of this show?

上文說了半天，其實還沒說到這部劇的內容。一部電視劇，不論導演多牛批、演員多大牌，能讓粉絲如此痴迷，最終一定是因為劇情吸引人。

After talking about the show for a long time, I still haven’t got to the content of this show yet. A TV show, regardless of how famous the directors and actors are, in the end it’s the content that attracts and maintain fans.

嚴謹的故事架構

Scientifically structured stories

西方情景喜劇最大的特點就是，依靠幾個固定的角色在幾個固定的場景製造笑點，大多時候每集獨立成故事、時長只有20分鐘左右。

The most important feature of a sitcom is that it relies on a fixed set of characters to create jokes in an array of fixed spots. Most of the time, each episode completes a story individually within about 20 minutes.

這個特點看過《老友記》、《生活大爆炸》等情景喜劇的人都能理解，比如在《老友記》的10季中，6個主角間90%的笑話不是發生在Central Perk咖啡館，就是發生在Monica的公寓。除了要有密集的笑點外，20分鐘的劇情後基本都要有個皆大歡喜的結局。

This feature can be understood by people who watched sitcoms such as Friends and The Big Band Theory, as in the 10 seasons of Friends, 90% of the jokes among the six main characters happened either in Central Perk or in Monica’s apartment. In addition to being packed with jokes, after 20 minutes of plot,  a happy ending is always needed to wrap up the episode.

情景喜劇的這種模式，要求編劇高頻率創作高品質劇情，這聽起來並不容易，但丹哈萌卻總結出了一種標準化的故事創作模式，即丹哈萌故事環（Dan Harmon Story Circle）：

This story mode of sitcom requires the screenwriters to create high-quality plots with high frequency, which does not sound easy. To address this challenge, Dan Harmon has put together a standardized story creation model - the Dan Harmon Story Circle:

這個故事環把故事創作標準化了，尤其適合情景喜劇創作，很多國外著名情景喜劇，比如愛爾蘭著名情景喜劇《神父特德》（Father Ted）、英國著名情景喜劇《IT狂人》（IT Crowd）等製作人，都承認採用了丹哈萌故事環方法創作劇集。

This story circle standardizes story creation, and is especially suitable for sitcom creation. Many show runners of well-known sitcoms, such as the famous Irish sitcom "Father Ted」 and the famous British sitcom "IT Crowd」 claimed they adopted Dan Harmon's Story Circle to write for the series.

得益於科學的創作方法，該劇保證了每集故事結構完整、情節質量穩定，視頻彈幕中也可以看到國內網友對《廢柴聯盟》故事創作的肯定：

Thanks to the scientific creation method, the show guarantees a complete story structure and stable plot quality for each episode, and it can be seen from the bulletin comments that Chinese audiences also recognized the story plot of Community:

後續我會專門用一篇文章來分析《廢柴聯盟》如何利用故事環方法創作好故事。

In the follow-up, I will write other posts to specifically analyze how Community uses the story circle to create good stories.

一封獻給美國流行文化的情書

A love letter dedicated to American pop culture

維基百科對《廢柴聯盟》的介紹中說: It makes heavy use of meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television cliches and tropes.

Wikipedia's introduction to Community says: It makes heavy use of meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television cliches and tropes.

因為很多詞在中文中沒有對應詞，這句話只能翻譯成：該劇深入運用了meta-humor和pop culture reference的手法，parody了很多電影和電視劇的cliches和tropes。下面插播英語學習，讓我們來認識一下這句話裡這些英語單詞都是什麼意思吧。

Let’s see what this sentence means.

1️⃣meta-humor

維基百科對meta-humor的定義是：Meta-humor is humor about humor。所以Meta-humor就是諷刺幽默的幽默，關於笑話的笑話。比如，如果一個相聲演員講了一個關於相聲的笑話，這就是meta-humor。

Wikipedia's definition of meta-humor is: Meta-humor is humor about humor, a joke about jokes. For example, if a stand-up comedian tells a joke about stand-up comedy, that’s meta-humor.

為什麼說這部劇深入運用了meta-humor呢？因為作為一部電視劇，這部劇經常借角色之口諷刺其他電視劇，甚至諷刺自己，比如劇中角色Abed諷刺該劇拍了六季，又經歷了每年角色換血，沒希望了。

Why do people say this show uses heavy meta-humor? Because this show often leverages the character’s lines to mock other TV shows, even mocking itself. For example, the character Abed mocks the show won’t peak after six seasons while hemorrhaging characters every year. 

pop culture reference直譯就是引用流行文化，在這方面《廢柴聯盟》是怎麼做的呢？

How does Community make heavy use of pop culture?

從下面這個豆瓣用戶對《廢柴聯盟》的評價中可以找到一些答案：

You can probably find some answers from this comments of a Chinese viewer of Community:

Translation: An American TV show including comedy, romance, drama, musical, inspirational, suspense, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi, cartoon, documentary, action, gay film, memoir, I’m blown away~

In the show, you can see multiple genres:

Action:

Thriller:

Western:

Musical:

Stop motion animation:

Video game:

And these are just a fraction of what the show can offer.

3️⃣對電影、電視劇的parody

Parody of movies and TV shows

parody的直譯是「拙劣的模仿」，但其真正含義並不是那麼回事，其實可以理解成網上經常提到的「致敬」。《廢柴聯盟》對電影、電視劇的致敬密度基本可說是前無古人後無來者了，下面是牛人劇迷整理的該劇前五季致敬電影列表：

It’s safe to say that the density of movie/TV show parody of Community is a singular achievement for a TV show. Here’s a list of parodied movies for the first five seasons of Community, arranged by a bad-ass fan:

早餐俱樂部   S01E01

Breakfast Club S01E01

木蘭花   S01E02

Magnolia S01E02

死亡詩社   S01E03

Dead Poets Society  S01E03

蝙蝠俠   S01E07

Batman S01E07

美國鼠譚   S01E10

An American Tail S01E10

甲殼蟲汁   分別在S01E16；S02E08；S03E05

Beetlejuice S01E16；S02E08；S03E05

人鬼情未了，完美風暴   S01E19

Ghost, Perfect Storm  S01E19

致命武器   S01E20

Lethal Weapon  S01E20

好傢夥，教父，十六支蠟燭   S01E21

Goodfellas, The Godfather, Sixteen Candles   S01E21

動物屋   S01E22

Animal House  S01E22

驚變28天，虎膽龍威，第一滴血，疤面煞星   S01E23

28 Days Later, Die Hard, First Blood, Scarface S01E23

心靈捕手   S01E24

Good Will Hunting   S01E24

阿波羅13號   S02E04

Apollo 13  S02E04

紐約提喻法   S02E05

Synecdoche, New York  S02E05

異形，活死人之夜，殭屍肖恩   S02E06

Alien, Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead S02E06

秘密花園，賤女孩   S02E07

The Secret Garden, Mean Girls  S02E07

紅鼻子馴鹿魯道夫   S02E11

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  S02E11

指環王   S02E14

The Lord Of The Rings  S02E14

低俗小說，與安德烈晚餐   S02E19

Pulp Fiction, My Dinner with Andre  S02E19

黃金三鏢客，星球大戰, 荒野大鏢客   S02E23

The Good, the bad and the ugly, Star Wars, A Fistful of Dollars   S02E23

星球大戰：帝國反擊戰，肖申克的救贖   S02E24

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, The Shawshank Redemption  S02E24

2001太空漫遊   S03E01

2001: A Space Odyssey S03E01

黑客帝國   S03E06

The Matrix S03E06

黑暗的心，現代啟示錄   S03E08

Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now  S03E08

人體異形，天外魔花  S03E10

Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956 and 1978 version   S03E10

無恥混蛋，巴頓將軍 S03E12

Inglourious Basterds, Patton S03E12

美國內戰   S03E14

The Birth of a Nation  S03E14

盜夢空間   S03E16

Inception  S03E16

禁閉島   S03E19

Shutter Island  S03E19

十一羅漢   S03E21

Ocean's Eleven S03E21

飢餓遊戲   S04E01

The Hunger Games  S04E01

午夜兇鈴   S04E02

The Ring  S04E02

記憶碎片   S04E06

Memento  S04E06

布偶大電影   S04E09

The Muppets  S04E09

奪魂索   S04E10

Rope S04E10

怪誕星期五/辣媽辣妹   S04E11

Freaky Friday   S04E11

通緝令   S04E12

Wanted   S04E12

終結者   S04E13

Terminator   S04E13

十二宮，七宗罪   S05E03

Zodiac Killer，Seven  S05E03

鐵鉤船長，瘋狂的麥克斯   S05E05

Hook，Mad Max   S05E05

這個殺手不太冷   S05E06

Léon   S05E06

靈異第六感，閃靈   S05E07

The Sixth Sense，The Shining  S05E07

我不能死，薩杜斯   S05E08

Logan's Run，Zardoz  S05E08

八英裡   S05E09

8 Mile  S05E09

這還只是《廢柴聯盟》前五季致敬的電影，還沒有列出致敬的電視劇（也有很多）。

And this is just the list of parodied movies for the first five seasons of Community,  TV shows are not even listed (also very many).

4️⃣cliches和tropes

Cliches and tropes

    

篇幅所限，我後續會再專門寫一篇文章解釋這兩個概念。

I will write another post for these two concepts, otherwise this post would be too long.

由於該劇對流行文化的引用、對電影電視劇的致敬，《廢柴聯盟》被很多劇迷稱為是對美國流行文化的一封情書。

Due to the parody of so many movies and TV series, Community is considered by many fans as a love letter to American popular culture.

溫馨的深井冰日常

Sweet idiocy

就像《老友記》、《生活大爆炸》等情景喜劇一樣，《廢柴聯盟》的主角也不止一個。

Like Friends and The Big Bang Theory, Community also has more than one main character.

該劇有7個主角，每一個都有不同的背景、性格，但都有一個共同點——深井冰。

There are 7 main characters in the show, each with a different background and personality, but all have one thing in common - idiocy.

事實上，在他們的社區大學格林德爾，人人都是深井冰：

In fact, everybody in Greendale, the community college, is an idiot:

這裡先強調，我們知道，看情景喜劇，一定要把劇情和日常生活分開，因為日常生活中基本不會遇到情景喜劇裡那麼誇張的人物或情節。

I would like to point out first, we all know that when watching sitcoms, we need to separate the plot from daily life, because we know we'll never encounter people with such extreme personalities or drama in real life.

比如現實生活中，像《老友記》裡Joey那麼二的人，根本不可能成為一個成功的肥皂劇演員；像Rachel那麼毫無工作經驗的人，也絕不可能做到拉夫勞倫的主管。

For example, it is impossible for an idiot like Joey in Friends to become a successful soap opera star in real life, and there’s little chance that Rachel, who basically has no relevant working experience, will end up as a supervisor at Ralph Lauren.

但我們還是愛看，因為我們知道這些只是故事，情景喜劇看著就是圖一樂。

Yet we still love to watch the show, because we know these are just stories, and sitcoms are supposed to make us feel relaxed.

該劇最深井冰的兩個角色就是Abed和Troy，他們是劇中的活寶，也是最好的朋友，製造了很多深井冰又不乏溫馨的場面，比如下面這個《廢柴聯盟》中非常出名的兩人合作用毫無邏輯的西班牙語單詞拼湊出的B-box +rap片段：

The two biggest idiots in the show are Abed and Troy, they are the lovely clowns in the show with the best friendship. They two created many stupid but sweet scenes, like the following famous scene from the show: a dual B-box + rap clip using non-sense Spanish words:

把Abed和Troy這種溫馨的深井冰演繹到極致的一集是第五季第五集「Geothermal Escapism」.

The episode which brought the sweet idiocy of Abed and Troy to its peak is the fifth episode of the fifth season 「Geothermal Escapism ". 

這集內容我就先不劇透了，很多劇迷表示這是他們心目中最愛的劇集之一，而看過這集的感受就是：

I will not spoil the content of this episode, but I will tell you many fans consider this one as their favorite, and the feeling of watching this episode is:

插圖翻譯：簡直太深井冰了，但我卻感動哭了

除了Abed和Troy，其他人物也經常毫無保留地展現他們深井冰、幼稚、犯二的一面，比如劇中人物皮爾斯（Pierce）為挑釁校友沃恩（Vaughn）創作的說唱歌詞：

Besides Abed and Troy, other characters often display their idiocy, childishness, and stupidity without reservation, such as Pierce's rap lyrics to diss his classmate Vaughn:

對美國社會問題的辛辣諷刺

Spicy satire on American social issues

如上文說到的，雖然現實中不可能出現像《廢柴聯盟》裡這樣深井冰的人，但該劇中每個角色的人設都是現實生活中一些人群體現出的特點被加倍放大、又集中拼湊到一起的集合。通過這些角色的互動，該劇生動地諷刺了很多社會問題，比如美國的民主制度、總統競選、移民問題、政治正確等，這部分內容我打算在下篇文章分析。

As mentioned above, although in reality it is rare to encounter idiots like the ones in Community, every character in the show is instilled with enlarged personalities of certain groups of people in reality. Through the interactions of the characters, the show mocked many social issues, such as the American democratic system, presidential elections, immigration problems, political correctness, etc, which I will analyze in my next post.

成功的人物塑造

Sucessful character creation

對流行文化的引用、對社會問題的諷刺，離不開劇中人物的成功塑造。個人認為《廢柴聯盟》對其主角人物塑造的系統性和完整性，在情景喜劇中絕對在最優秀的行列。具體的人物塑造分析，我也會在後續的文章中進行分析。

The effect of pop culture references and the satire of social issues can’t be separated from the successful creation of the characters in the show. Personally I think Commuity has the best character creation in terms of systematicness and completeness among sitcoms. I will elaborate that point in my future posts as well.

References:

https://www.zhihu.com/question/22398342/answer/125381322?utm_source=wechat_session&utm_medium=social&utm_oi=771717685384867840

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Glover

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Harmon

https://blog.reedsy.com/dan-harmon-story-circle/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-joke

https://b23.tv/0Zyp0s

https://youtu.be/ihtpZY-OpKM