Now, three weeks into the new season, there has been nary a single film convention skewered. Community has become – gasp – a straight sitcom. The stories are about what they appear to be about without any deeper layers of pop culture reference.

Not only did the leitmotif change, but the characters have undergone an unwelcome reformation as well. Jeff, once the voice of reason, is now the crabby, self-absorbed jerk (to be fair, he was always crabby & self-absorbed, but he also managed to be the voice of reason for the first two years). Abed has been mostly invisible through three weeks. Britta devolved into her pre-college radical self. Pierce suddenly started making sense. It’s as if instead of being caricatures of various pop culture icons, the characters are now caricatures of… themselves.

It isn’t all bad. John Goodman’s all-too-brief cameo in the season opener was a bright spot that set the tone for a season-long subplot concerning the school’s financial woes. The once sexually-ambiguous but now downright flaming dean is coming into his own as a character. Former professor cum unpaid security guard Chang provides some over-the-top comedy as his character has evolved (for better or worse) from creepy weirdo to full-on lunatic.

When Community debuted, I gave it a favorable review but wondered how long the writers could keep up the theme-a-week format. Two years, it turns out, is it. Rather than going out with a whimper, the weekly homage went out on a high note, cutting it off completely rather than attempting lamely to keep it going. But unless things pick up in coming weeks, we may all find ourselves wishing that Community chose the whimper.

Det. Timoney still wants to try to fit in and belong. But in the end, the only thing she really cares about is doing the best job she knows how, finding the Prime Suspect.

About The Characters

Detective Jane Timoney (Maria Bello) is a tough NYPD homicide detective, who still needs to fit in with the boys’ club at work while doing her job. Lt. Kevin Sweeney (Aidan Quinn) is Det. Timoney’s boss.

Detective Luisito Calderon (Kirk Acevedo) is a former football player-turned homicide detective. Together with Detective Augie Blando (Tim Griffin) and Detective Reg Duffy (Brian F. O’Byrne), he and the rest of the homicide department resent Det. Timoney’s presence as a new addition to their team.

Her only allies are her longtime friend, also a  new member of the homicide department, Detective Evrard Valerio (Damon Gupton), her supportive father, Desmond Timoney (Peter Gerety) and Matt Webb (Kenny Johnson), her contractor boyfriend.

Prime Suspect premieres on Thursday, September 22, 10/9c on NBC.

This week, four prominent shows shows premiered on network television.

On CBS:

Accidentally on Purpose

I talked about this show a couple of weeks ago, and I was a little excited to see it. It was fun. Jenna Elfman wasn’t trying to be over the top as Billie, and Ashley Jensen (who plays her best friend, Olivia) and Lennon Parham (who plays her sister, Abby) are the perfect companions for her. They were like the devil and the angel, and it wasn’t always apparent who the devil and the angel were. The baby-daddy, played by Jon Foster, was interesting but not quite charming. I’m not entirely sure I want to continue watching it.

On ABC:

Cougar Town

I loved this show. Courtney Cox is funny as Julie Cobb, the 40 year old divorced mother, who finds herself thrown back in the dating world again. Dan Byrd, who plays her teenage son, Travis, is equally memorable in this show. One memorable scene was when Cox and her son got home, and her son was giving her a hard time about her new posters all over town. Her neighbor comes to tease her, and she starts pushing him to the ground while she screams out all her frustrations. Every time he came back up, she pushed him back down. Definitely a show to watch out for!

Eastwick

Three people who live in the same town but have never spoken to each other before bond when they feel a connection after making a wish. They start to discover powers they never had before and use them to their advantage. It’s not a show I highly recommend. The characters were uninspiring, the acting was lackluster. Maybe if it was a half-hour show, I’d watch it.

Flashforward

Flashforward is promising. It actually reminds me of Heroes, Season 1. I’m hoping it won’t go the route of that show, though. It’s got curious me the way Lost got me curious, but it didn’t have the same writing. I’m more excited really because Jack Davenport is in the show. I am looking forward to next week.

Were you able to watch these shows? What did you think?