It just struck me recently and I’m sharing.
As a millennial who enjoyed these shows as a young(er) adult … I cherished them both, and at the time probably like 30 Rock more, and probably would have said that it’s “the better comedy”.
Over time though I’ve noticed I basically don’t really think about 30 Rock … frankly I almost certainly think about Seinfeld more … but Community has “seeped in” to my TV subconscious fabric.
If I were to re-watch either right now, it’d be Community hands down. It’d be heart warming and comfortable and, I suspect, more relevant or still meaningful. By comparison, I wouldn’t be surprised if 30 Rock would feel more dated, “noisy”, and kinda culturally narrow and specific in a not-coincidentally SNL-like way.
30 Rock may still be “the better” TV Comedy (whatever that means). But it was written by a TV writer about making TV in New York, while Community was written about TV and its fans, IE “us”, living in any random city.
Ok but the real question is, is Community better than Parks and Recreation?
Community is better. But Michael Schur gets his revenge because The Good Place is better than both.
Ha … interesting … they don’t feel comparable in the same way to me.
For me Parks & Rec is slightly better than Community.
I love and adore Community, but it’s basically a live action cartoon or at least more in line with old school sitcoms than P&R is.
Despite the craziness in P&R, it feels more grounded to me lol.