PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA, THE: PALEYFEST 2014: COMMUNITY {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Paley Center for Media's 31st William S. Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television and is dedicated to television's creative community. This PALEYFEST 2014 seminar honors "Community," the comedy series about a group of adult students at Greendale Community College, a small and eccentric institution in Colorado.
Host Dany Berghoff (vice-president, The Paley Center for Media/Los Angeles) offers opening remarks and acknowledges Allison and Sam Paley, relatives of the festival's namesake, in the audience. Berghoff welcomes moderator Michael Schneider (L.A. bureau chief, TV Guide magazine) to the stage, and Schneider introduces the episode "Basic Story," which is screened in its entirety. (For synopsis and credits, see ACCNUM 114223.)
After the screening, Schneider moderates the following panelists: executive producer and creator Dan Harmon; executive producer Chris McKenna; and cast members Joel McHale (Jeff Winger), Jim Rash (Dean Craig Pelton), Danny Pudi (Abed Nadir), Yvette Nicole Brown (Shirley Bennett), and Gillian Jacobs (Britta Perry).
The panelists touch on such topics as: the uncertain future of the Jeff-Britta relationship after their impulsive engagement; McKenna and Harmon's return to the show after being fired between the third and fourth seasons; the pair's "bromance"; the departure of Troy, played by Donald Glover, in the fifth season; the show's "refreshingly tragic" handling of loss; Brown's Twitter arguments with Shirley-haters over the character's dark side; the growth of Britta, previously thought to be "the worst"; the very memorable scene involving Dean Pelton's freestyle rap while dressed as a peanut candy bar; Harmon's guilt over "almost killing" supporting actor Richard Erdman (Leonard) in a swimming pool scene; the cast and crew's never-ending fears about being renewed; the decision to avoid replacing the departing Pierce, played by Chevy Chase, with a similar character; the addition of no-nonsense ex-cop Professor Hickey, played by the "super-professional" Jonathan Banks; and guest appearances from "Arrested Development" showrunner Mitchell Hurwitz and "Breaking Bad" showrunner Vince Gilligan.
Questions from the audience then lead to a discussion of the following topics among others: the actors' advice for their characters; Glover's improvisational skills; the show's survival because of Internet fan support; the unclear reasons why the network "suits" renew some shows and cancel others; Rash's inspiration from Dean Pelton's unflagging optimism; Pudi's experience learning sign language from guest star Katie Leclerc; ideas for future episodes; Pudi's enjoyment of "playing catch-up" with the pop culture-savvy Abed; the possible return of the Dean's "time desk" and challenges of writing time-travel; and the decision to avoid bringing in a "female Abed" as a love interest for the eccentric character.
A brief clip from the upcoming animated episode "G.I. Jeff," a parody of eighties kids' toy-related cartoons like "G.I. Joe," is then shown, and Harmon briefly discusses the challenges of writing and creating the episode.
Details
- NETWORK: N/A
- DATE: March 26, 2014 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: N/A
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 113973
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Dany Berghoff … Host
- Michael Schneider … Moderator
- Chris McKenna … Panelist
- Dan Harmon … Panelist
- Gillian Jacobs … Panelist
- Danny Pudi … Panelist
- Yvette Nicole Brown … Panelist
- Jim Rash … Panelist
- Joel McHale … Panelist
- Allison Paley … Guest
- Sam Paley … Guest
- Donald Glover
- Jonathan Banks
- Richard Erdman
- Chevy Chase
- Mitchell Hurwitz
- Vince Gilligan
- Katie Leclerc