It's been almost two weeks since I saw Community at PaleyFest, and I know I probably should have written about it before now seeing that the Internet is going to blowing up with Community-related bidness tonight and tomorrow, but I don't care. The posts come as they come, folks. Anyway, it was an amazing night. One of the reasons I've waited so long to do this is that the way the panel made me feel is almost ineffable. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My seat was in the third row. I can't emphasize enough how much of a difference that made. Being close enough to not only see but also hear every little thing that was going on with the people on-stage was like being let in on a secret. Watching the panels on LiveStream or even from farther back in the theater where you have to rely on the big screen is an incomplete experience. The camera usually only shows 1-3 people at a time, but often the rest of the panel is doing or saying something that you would also like to see or hear, or the camera isn't quick enough to catch a quick visual joke that someone makes. Danny Pudi and Ken Jeong in particular were sitting together and were basically just making jokes and having fun the ENTIRE time. It was maravilloso.
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| Danny must hate his job |
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| Look at Danny's face! |
So after the episode the panel came out for the discussion. It included Harmon, two or three writers/producers, and the entire cast excepting Donald Glover and Chevy Chase. During the Q&A somebody asked why Chevy never came to these things, which I thought was both rude and also wrong, because I've watched him on at least one of these panels before. They were all like, "Uh, he does when he can. He's busy. He's Chevy Chase. So rude! (words and emphasis mine)" Basically the critic/moderator asked questions and people would answer them or just talk about whatever. I'll admit, in the past I've been kind of bored by these types of panels, but what made this one so great is that everyone just used it as an opportunity to not only give a lot of love to the fans and share some cool behind-the-scenes tidbits with us, but also just to make a ton of jokes and be incredibly funny. Danny Pudi and Ken Jeong were rocking it (I can only imagine what kind of fembot explosion I would have gone through had Donald Glover & his overwhelming hotness & mad improv skills been there), but Joel McHale was also totes killing it with his off-the-cuff one-liners and Jim Rash was/is (a) an amazing genius and (b) the toast of the theater/Internet, fresh off his Oscar win/successful mockery of Angelina Jolie. This is where it became obvious that sitting up close was crucial. While one person would be answering a question, somebody else would be telling a quiet joke to their neighbor, or, more often than not, doing a physical comedy bit, and the camera would miss it. But not me!
