Kevthewriter compares the relative successes of Dan Harmon’s cult TV shows; Community and Rick and Morty.

To say Community, a show with a devoted fanbase that lasted for 6 years, bombed might seem odd. But, through those 6 years, it was constantly in danger of getting cancelled because ratings were never great. Not only that but it had terrible production troubles, especially thanks to one Chevy Chase and his feud with creator, Dan Harmon.

Harmon also had a feud with the network itself, NBC, who even fired him from his own show for season 4 only to bring him back when not only fans but the cast begged for his return.

But, even once he returned, Community ended up getting a mixed response once Donald Glover, whose character, Troy Barnes, was one of the most popular characters, left and ratings still weren’t great.

In fact, the ratings were so bad that NBC cancelled the show after season 5. It was thankfully picked up by Yahoo Screen for Season 6 but Yahoo Screen failed for a variety of reasons.

However, a couple years before Community‘s final season, Harmon premiered Rick & Morty. And, even though Community had a strong cult following, Rick & Morty became an outright phenomenon. While it has a devoted fanbase, it’s just a huge show in general. So huge that even if you’ve never seen it, it’s one of those shows you’ve probably at least heard of, unless you’re completely sheltered.

So why did Community never break out into the mainstream in the way Rick & Morty did? In fact, why wasn’t it ever as big as Rick & Morty?

I think the problem was Community was too weird for NBC’s target audience.

Sure it’s not the only silly, over the top, cartoony show on NBC’s lineup but it was the one that people probably didn’t expect to be as cartoony and over the top as it was.

Compare it to 30 Rock. 30 Rock is silly and over the top but it’s from Tina Fey, who people know from SNL, so people kind’ve knew to expect a show with SNL-esque humor. (Also it never really killed it in the ratings either, it just lasted as long as it did from critical and awards goodwill if anything…)

Meanwhile everyone in Community, except for Chevy Chase, Joel McHale, and John Oliver, were complete unknowns at the time. And the only big star was Chase, whose star had already waned over 10 years ago. Otherwise, McHale was mostly well known as the host of a show on E! and Oliver was just one of many Daily Show correspondents.

So I don’t think people were really that excited for it. Sure the show promoted itself as Chase’s big comeback but no one cared to see Chase have a comeback by 2009. And then, once the show premiered, it did have good reviews but I think the people tuned in just expected a generic sitcom set on a community college campus. I don’t think they really expected pop culture references, multiple stylistic shifts, heavy continuity, loads of meta humor, etc., etc., etc. While that style won over a devoted fanbase, that fanbase wasn’t really the network TV crowd, which is probably why ratings were never strong.

I think that’s what made Rick & Morty a success. Rick & Morty had most, if not all, those things but Harmon’s style was more popular with the Adult Swim crowd than it was with the NBC crowd, who are probably more used to grounded fare. After all Adult Swim’s shows are never grounded. This is the same network that airs Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Robot Chicken for crying out loud.

So the very things that might have turned off the average NBC viewer from Community is actually what made Rick & Morty more popular (plus catchphrases that are easy to put on a T-shirt like “Wubba lubba dub dub”, “I’m Mr. Meseeks, look at me!”, and “I’m _______ Rick”).

There’s also the fact that many of NBC’s sitcoms at the time had been on the verge of cancellation, not just Community. 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation also never had strong ratings. Like Community, they survived mostly thanks to a small but devoted following and critical goodwill. 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation were even more successful, though, in that they constantly won Emmy’s and Golden Globes, something Community can’t attest to. The goodwill with awards probably convinced NBC to keep them on, hoping it would get them noticed.

So at the end of the day, Community just was maybe not the best fit for NBC. But Rick & Morty was right at home at Adult Swim, which is why it became the household name Community never became.

But it’s not all bad news. As we know, not only has Harmon become successful with Rick & Morty but, as we also know, Glover, Brie, and Jacobs have become much bigger stars in the years since.

And there’s talks of a movie. Cross our fingers it’s true.

0 0 vote Article Rating

Advertisements