The Battle for Thursday

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I was steamed to find out that CBS was moving the "The Big Bang Theory" to Thursday nights at 8PM, because that would put it directly against NBC's "Community." These are the only two sitcoms that I enjoy enough to make an effort to watch weekly. So after eight weeks of the new schedule, who won the timeslot? It depends on how you measure success.

I love both shows and I've been keeping up with them fairly well from week to week. I admit that I've defaulted to watching "The Big Bang Theory" live, solely because it's not available through any legitimate online sources. However, I've also skipped several episodes without feeling particularly deprived. "Big Bang" is far more formulaic than "Community," and though I like my weekly dose of Jim Parsons' Sheldon, the episodes are interchangeable and I don't feel the urgency to watch them right away. Unless there's considerable buzz or discussion about a particular upcoming episode, I don't take any measures to ensure that I don't miss them.

"Big Bang Theory" has been having a great season so far, even with Kelly Cuoco benched for several episodes due to an injury. I like the addition of Mayim Bialik as Sheldon's strictly non-romantic female companion, Amy Farrah Fowler, and the return of Melissa Rauch as Bernadette to up the girl geek presence on the show. Last week's episode that guest-starred Wil Wheaton resulted in a nice early-'90s nostalgia trip as I realized the actors who portrayed Blossom Russo, Wesley Crusher, and Darlene Connor's cute-emo-boyfriend had all survived adolescence just fine. And what do you know? I did too.

"Community," on the other hand, has consistently been blowing "Big Bang Theory" out of the water on every level. The Spanish study group of Greendale Community College has become the Anthropology study group, and so far this year there's been a zombie episode, and a space shuttle launch spoof, and Abed became Jesus. I never know what I'm going to get. I've gone totally head over heels for the show, and I haven't missed an episode of this season. While I'll watch "Big Bang" on live television, I'll often flip to "Community" during commercials breaks to give myself a preview of what I'll be watching later online.

I'm not proud to admit it, but "Community" has gotten me to suck it up and go back to Hulu. I may gripe about their streaming service, but it's much easier and more satisfying to watch the show online. New episodes are uploaded the day after they air on NBC. I don't set aside a specific time to watch them, but I'll rarely wait longer than a day or two. If Hulu uploaded them earlier, I'd happily watch them right after "Big Bang Theory." Or before. Or during. "Community" is especially well suited to online viewing because it's one of the most densely packed sitcoms I've ever seen. I'm constantly rewatching or scanning through episodes multiple times to catch things I missed.

Jokes come fast and furious, and the writers often toss in little Easter Eggs like last week, which was about Annie's pen being stolen and the study group trying to out the culprit. If you had a quick eye, you could spot the theft in the first act. Or a few weeks ago, a story with Abed was playing out in the background of several different scenes, totally unrelated to the main storyline. And this isn't even getting into the 30-second Troy-and-Abed viral video skits. Those things are addictive. For the record, I prefer the Anthropology Rap to the Spanish Rap, since it segues so nicely into Toto's "Africa." I've been catching up on the back episodes and the webisodes too.

So "Community" wins hands down as far as capturing more of my time and attention and affection, but still the measure that much of Hollywood still places the most importance on is the fact that I'm watching "Big Bang Theory" live and waiting to watch "Community" on the Internet. But if "Big Bang Theory" were available online, I'd probably be watching "Community" live, then "Big Bang Theory" online, then "Community" online again. I suspect that many fans of the show are in the same boat, which hasn't been helping "Community" in ratings. They're still pulling in roughly the same number of viewers as last year, but "Big Bang" is really putting the hurt on it.

As long as NBC's still supporting the show, I don't see any reason to change my viewing habits. If things take a turn for the worse, however, Sheldon Cooper may have to wait for the reruns.