Networks NBC and The CW have finally announced the shows up for renewals, and thanks to hardworking, supportive fans, ‘Community’ (2009) and ‘Nikita’ (2010) are getting new seasons. These two shows are unique among all the other shows receiving more episodes because both have been struggling with ratings and viewership, but have very devoted fanbases who fought to get them renewed.

‘Community’ is a comedy about a ragtag bunch of students at Greendale Community College who have formed a loving but dysfunctional family. The group consists of Jeff (Joel McHale), Annie (Alison Brie), Troy (Donald Glover), Abed (Danny Pudi), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and Pierce (Chevy Chase). Other regular cast members are Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and Ben Chang (Ken Jeong).

‘Community’ is highly rated among critics, but its less-than-stellar ratings caused it to be put on hiatus in the 2011-2012 mid-season schedule. Many fans feared it would be the death of the show because hiatus tends to cause a drop in viewers as people move on or assume the show would go off the air for good.

Thus, they pulled together and made online petitions, sent emails and rallied around the show to get more support so that it would be able to return and finish its third season. All of the cast members worked hard in interviews to get publicity for the show and prove to NBC that people wanted the show to return.

Joel McHale, who hosts ‘The Soup,’ did an outstanding job of plugging ‘Community’ in to help out his fans and his co-workers. They’ve also gotten a surprise amount of support from geek god Nathan Fillion, who loves the show and even visited the set a couple of times recently to meet the cast. Furthermore, the cast regularly attends San Diego Comic Con to answer questions and conduct interviews about how they feel things are going with the show.

However, while ‘Community’ has more support than ‘Nikita’, there is one roadblock standing in the way of their fourth season. Chevy Chase and show creator Dan Harmon have recently entered into a dispute with one another. This greatly worries fans because it could mean that Chase won’t return for season four and his absence from the group would throw off the dynamic that has been established in the past three seasons. Chase has not given his official word yet, but many are concerned about his future decision.

‘Nikita’ is an action-centric show that takes its concept from the Luc Besson 1990 film ‘La Femme Nikita.’ Nikita (Maggie Q) was once a highly trained assassin who worked for a shady American government agency called Division, run by Percy (Xander Berkeley). They killed her fiancée Daniel and she went rogue, vowing to take them down and free all the recruits they were training to become assassins as well.

To do this, Nikita sent in Alexandra Udinov (Lyndsy Fonseca) to infiltrate Division and prompt Nikita on their actions. Nikita’s mentor and trainer Michael (Shane West) has been ordered by Percy to take Nikita down, but he is unable to because the two are in love with each other.

‘Nikita’ has a faithful fanbase, but its ratings plummeted due to what some fans know as the “Friday Night Death Slot.” This is when a network puts a show on Friday nights, anywhere between 6pm and 9pm, and automatically dooms it to low views because most people go out on Friday nights. This problem is especially noted for what helped cause the death of the beloved Joss Whedon show ‘Firefly’ (2002), which also got stuck in this awful time slot.

‘Nikita’ fans have worked hard to get the word out for the show, mostly in online petitions and voting tirelessly in different Internet contests to get their show and its actors noticed by the general public. Like ‘Community,’ the cast of ‘Nikita’ also regularly attends San Diego Comic Con, but they have upped the ante by going to New York Comic Con as well. This allows them a wider spread of potential fans and exposure for the show, which hopefully will be moved to a different day and time slot for their third season.

‘Community’ and ‘Nikita’ definitely have a long, hard road ahead of them, but the fans have done an outstanding job of standing by them in their time of need. These renewals prove that it is possible to save a show through the hard work of the actors, the crew, the network executives and the fans. We look forward to seeing these two shows return for their upcoming seasons and wish them the best of luck in the future endeavors.

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The seeds of a memorable film most often comes from the craftsmanship of a well-written screenplay. For the Oscars 2012, the winners in the categories Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Screenplay were equally expected as they were surprising.

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash were awarded for their delicate adapted drama ‘The Descendants’, capturing the inner turmoil of a fractured family and personal chaos of an estranged father and betrayed husband. Backstage, the Oscar press corps caught up with them.

Credit: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. I was wondering, from their first draft, what did you keep, what did you like, because I’m under the impression that you just rewrote everything and shot with your version of the script. And I’m just wondering what you kept from what Jim and Nat did.

A. (Alexander Payne) They paved a path for me because they had been through the book quite a few times, they had done a number of drafts. I think the main things you know, I’ve got to say in all honesty it was helpful for me to read their drafts both for what I kept and what I didn’t keep. I was able to sort of they gave me the luxury to be able to pick and choose what I personally responded to. What I didn’t keep, for example, was more screen time with the younger daughter rather than with the older daughter. For example, I was much more interested in the relationship with the older daughter. Two items in particular which I did keep, neither of them, sadly, made it in the final film, the girl singing “that shit is bananas.” Anyway, in one scene, you have to read the script, it’s not interesting to talk about.

And at the very end something also maintained, carried over from the novel, which was kind of a joke at the end of the what became in the film we hope a poignant spreading of the ashes, there was a joke which punctuated that. We shot that, that didn’t make it into the final film. But the [unintelligible], it’s just a matter of taste what one picks and chooses from a novel.

Credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. I recently saw you were at the Spirit Awards. And you talked a lot about taking original work and making it your own, so I was just curious about what you took from the book and how you put your own original spin on it.

A. (Jim Rash) Well, I think, you know, after our first draft, actually I’m meeting with Alexander and our producer, Jim Burke, and getting some notes, that was sort of a thing that Alexander said to us to put the book aside for a second and get ourselves into understanding this character better. So I think it was more to sort of be able to put that away for a second and expand on it and let the scenes and the emotions there carry us through it, you know, and brighten that story.

Credit: Michael Yada / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. Mr. Payne, like the novelist William Kennedy’s ties to Albany, you have very profound and deep ties to Nebraska. And now that this Hawaiian story is over, what is the next part of your Nebraska identity, Nebraska roots, cultural ties and moves, and where does Nebraska fit into your future, sir?

A. (Alexander Payne) It’s been ten years thanks for the question. It’s been ten years since I’ve shot there and I haven’t shot there since ’01 since ‘About Schmidt’ and I’m anxious to go back. If I can cast it right, the next screenplay I’m involved in directing is a father son road trip from Billings, Montana to Lincoln that gets waylaid in a small town in central Nebraska. I’m from Omaha, so in a way my trying to interpret small town Nebraska is as exotic an endeavor as going to Hawaii. But I’m anxious to do so. I’m having trouble casting it, quite frankly, but I hope it works out.

Credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Q. Why?

A. (Alexander Payne) Because the characters I didn’t write the script, by the way, I rewrote it, but I didn’t originate it. They’re very specific. I’m having trouble finding specifically people to fill those roles.

For Best Original Screenplay, Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ ran off with the glory. The quirky romantic comedy about the protagonist Gil, who is swept away in the magic of the Parisian night as he is caught up in a professional, and personal crisis, is cited as one of Allen’s best films in recent years.

The 76-year-old was not present to claim his awards, having consistently avoided the Academy Awards and his recognition within it throughout his career. The Academy accepted the statue on his behalf.

Image Courtesy of  Fox Searchlight (Top Image)

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NBC’s smash hit sitcom ‘Community’ has been announced to return from its hiatus on Thursday, March 15^th 2012 at 8:00pm. Creator Dan Harmon released the news via Twitter February 21^st to the celebration of many fans of the show. For those who are unfamiliar with it, ‘Community’ is a comedy about a collection of misfits at Greendale community college who have formed a study group and inadvertently become a dysfunctional little family.

The study group consists of the self-absorbed Jeff (Joel McHale), the continuously preachy liberal Britta (Gillian Jacobs), the television obsessed Abed (Danny Pudi), the former jock Troy (Donald Glover), the innocent straight-A student Annie (Alison Brie), steadfast Christian Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), and the perpetually offensive Pierce (Chevy Chase). The college is run by the effeminate and ever-meddling Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) who often charges the group with helping him with school activities against their will.

In season one, the group had been taking a Spanish class with the demented Señor Chang (Ken Jeong) and learning their dynamics. Jeff had been interested in Britta and claimed he was a Spanish tutor in order to get her to hang out with him so he could ask her out, but Britta invited Abed and Abed invited the other members of the group, much to Jeff’s frustration.

He tried to leave but his selfish instincts were pushed aside as he realized that they needed his help and he reluctantly became the leader of the study group. As the season progressed, they became closer and much more fond of each other and proceeded to the next Spanish course together.

In season two, it is revealed that Señor Chang lied on his application to the college and is not a certified Spanish teacher. Furthermore, he reveals that he has become obsessed with their study group and wants to join it, much to their horror. Relationships within the group begin to change over the course of the semester, such as Jeff and Britta’s romance fluctuating, Annie developing a crush on Jeff, and Pierce continually alienating himself from the group by being a sexist, racist jerk more and more often.

In the first half of season three, which will continue March 15^th, the group reluctantly accepts Pierce back into the fold, and starts taking a Biology class together. Jeff and Britta are now friends rather than lovers, Jeff tries his best to keep Annie at a distance despite their mutual attraction, Troy and Abed move in together as best buds, and Pierce is pretty much still Pierce.

The broke and homeless Señor Chang has become a security guard on campus, and continues to menace the group at every turn after being unable to join them. The Dean has to work with a lower budget for the college, and continues coercing the group into helping him with school activities.

‘Community’ is well known for its fast-paced humor, savvy pop culture examinations, and most of all for its spread of characters. Each member of the group has a distinct personality with plenty of quirks and problems that make their interactions comedic gold. Despite all the hijinks they get themselves into, it is easy to see them as one big family, and that is the selling point of the show.

Its hiatus united the fans, who launched an online petition to get the show back on the air, and the cast members themselves continue to support it. Joel McHale, who some know as the host of E’s ‘The Soup’, promoted the show during the hiatus. The show also received surprise support from geek god Nathan Fillion, via Twitter.

Hopefully, with this fierce nation of fans, ‘Community’ will be greenlit for season four.

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