Fan response of Community’s unlikely fifth season

摘要: In May 2012 Community fans received the news they had been anxiously waiting for since the show’s third season came to a close: confirmation that the show had been renewed and there would be a fourth season. 1 Community has achieved a cultish, fan-and critic-favorite status as a smart, cutting edge television show that does not adhere to the rules of a normal sitcom. When season four of community was announced, fans were overjoyed. Months of campaigning and raising awareness seemed to have saved their show, but there was a catch. The show’s creator and executive producer, Dan Harmon, had been fired by NBC, leaving what fans believed would be a void in the heart of the show, and it appeared they were not wrong. The fourth season was ill received, with each individual episode of its shortened, thirteen-episode season receiving the lowest ratings the series had ever seen, with multiple episodes dropping below a seven out of ten rating based on user reviews from IMDB. com. 2 This study focuses on sectors of Community fandom online to gauge and analyze fan responses to two renewals of Community to answer the question: how do viewers use social online spaces to communicate their fandom following the saving of their show? This study is an exercise in fandom studies, a branch of cultural and communication studies prominently brought into the mainstream by theorist Henry Jenkins. 3 Fans actively participate in the media they consume, from dressing up as their favorite characters, writing fan fiction, sharing scene remixes and reenactments online, or simply posting about