I was really disappointed in Mockingbird Lane. Everything about it felt wrong to me. But I never watched Pushing Daises beyond an episode or two at the start. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't what they showed. Jerry O'Connell and the kid felt really off to me especially.

I only watched about 10 minutes of it, but in the scene I saw Lily was more Carmen Miranda than goth.

I do wonder about Community--when you consider every possibility other than changing a thing about the episodes, what would it take to succeed? Marketing? Different network? Different timeslot? What does it take to get that sort of quality that's making a small group of people deliriously happy to work out?

I gotta figure that the ratings they've been getting would be good enough for a cable channel (TBS, maybe, I think they're the ones who picked up Cougartown), but I assume that would also mean further budget constraints. So I don't know how that would work out.

I don't know if expanding the audience significantly can happen, I have the feeling that it's reaching its audience and its audience is just small but dedicated. But that's just me saying words, I have no idea. OTOH, a lot of its audience is probably watching timeshifted and on hulu or youtube or whatever and I don't know how or if that all gets figured into ratings.

More people watch Community then Mad Men, which I think goes to show how different expectations are cable v. network. 2.7 million people watched the Mad Men finale: [link] Community series low rating of 3.1 in April: [link]

The kid was way off. I don't know if I can be objective about Herman (someone on IO9 said he couldn't play the role because he's too "Method, and suggested Lee Pace instead. Much as I love Lee, he does have a way to go before I think Patriarch-in-training (this Grampa seemed much more head of the family than I remember from the TV show, even though Herman sat at the other end of the table), but I didn't like the kid's arc, and the acting didn't do anything for me either.

I liked the Eddie that looked different, damn it! I know, he's a werewolf, he's different, but I liked about the original was that she was the only one who could pass inside and out (well, not inside her brain), but with two normal-looking kids...weird to me.

eta: I do get the feeling that everyone who's going to watch Community (and see the ads) is already watching, but that's my pessimism talking loud and clear. If you don't change the show, and you can't change the audience, then we are left with changing channels.

Honestly, I would think that, given how much NBC is struggling, having a low-rated critically-acclaimed show here and there in their schedule might not be a bad thing. I mean, it's not like they've got a guaranteed blow-out success to slot into that space.

But that's me with my vast oceans of ignorance about how these decisions are made.

I liked the Eddie that looked different, damn it!

The heart of the original show, to me, was that none of them really understood they weren't a typical American family. Sure, it was a joke, and mostly a sight gag, but the point was, monsters or not, they were a family, doing what families do.

To have Eddie angsting about being a werewolf seemed completely counter-intuitive to me. But I think I was really expecting -- and wanting -- the old show just updated with new situations and references, not new takes on the characters.

Yeah, Amy, I couldn't put my finger on it, but that's what I wanted, too, I think. I appreciate that someone gave some thought to how a family made up of vampires and werewolves and Frankenstein's monster might come about, but the tone of Mockingbird Lane never jelled right for me.

Hey, Parks and Rec is going to move back to 8:30 so I'll have my Community/Parks and Rec hour again! Hooray!

Even if you don't read Shortpacked, this comic strip is relevant: [link]