Welp, caught up on the Season 3 commentaries. On the whole, pretty entertaining, but not as informative as my favorites (is it weird that I have favorite commentaries? I like the ones with technical experts explaining how they do stuff I never thought much about like color correction and incidental music). All the ones towards the end of the season where the episodes hadn't aired yet when they recorded the commentaries and they just go silent for stretches because they're sucked into watching the show crack me up.

Sad to say, Dan Harmon's commentaries make me less sympathetic to his whole tale of woe. So negative.

Just outtakes and deleted scenes left, then it's 8 weeks until new episodes.

I just finished re-watching S1 episodes, and I can't decide if I re-do the commentaries, the special features, or power on to S2 episodes. Also, I do need to get off my ass and order S3, which should be here once I'm done S2 in any capacity.

I think I will prepare some breakfast and then start watching the S2 episodes.

Weirdly, the difference that's most apparent to me between seasons is that the Dean doesn't wear costumes yet. He just really starts the study room entrances towards the end, but he's conventionally dressed all through S1. I hadn't particularly noticed that.

And dammit! I saw that he was watching video of that guy who really creepily dresses up as animals especially dogs (and Anubis), and I made a tumblr post about him, but I hadn't realised he had a Community connection, and I can't find the post (what in hell did I tag it?) and I can't work out how to google it again, or how I stumbled on him the first time.

Anyone know the performance artist I mean? I think it's the first evidence we see of the Dean's dalmatian desires.

I am pretty unsympathetic to Dan Harmon in general. I think he's clearly brilliant, but the times when he's being a person (as opposed to writing characters) he seems to veer to the petulant when it comes to expressing strong emotions. Just because I think Chevy Chase is an enormous asshole (still can't make it through most commentaries he's on) doesn't mean I think Harmon is rainbows and glitter, like Tumblr seems to suggest.

Weirdly, the difference that's most apparent to me between seasons is that the Dean doesn't wear costumes yet.

I'll be up to D&D tomorrow in my daily watch, so about halfway through S2, and it's seemed strange to me all season how normal the Dean is dressing. The parade of costumes works as a joke in Paradigms of Human Memory, so in my head Season 2 is chock full of wacky Dean getups but so far nsm. I'll be paying attention to how that works going forward.

I don't know if I should get into my problems with Harmon's commentaries if you haven't watched them yet. I wouldn't want to prime the pump of dissatisfaction if I am unfairly overreacting. Which I probably am, I do that. Suffice it to say, I wanted him to STFU when he was talking about the show and the characters, and at least since he's off the show he won't be doing commentaries for it in the future so, hooray for new show runners.

I think you linked to that performance artist in Natter at some point, I didn't realize it was the same guy.

I'm at the Halloween episode, and there's been at least two costumes, maybe three so far. Octoberfest, this, and maybe the space simulation. They've had plot-related reasons, but they're setting the familiarity.

Ah, maybe it's the plot-relatedess that is confusing me. Really, every time I see him in a shirt and tie it seems a little wrong, so I'm probably registering all that accumulated pereceived wrongness more than actual lack of costumes.

every time I see him in a shirt and tie it seems a little wrong,

What was Most Wrong was him in casual clothes (clearly Imitation Jeff casual clothes) in Studies in Modern Movement.

No, that was all kinds of right for (let's call blackmail) A Day at the Mall with Craig!

Hahahaha! He just looked so...in drag. Seriously.

Totally a Jeff costume, yeah. Which is awesome.

I;m not usually a commentary watcher, and it sounds like I shouldn't make an exception for Community, right? Unless there are specific eps one of you would recommend?