Oh, COME ON. Jesus, NBC, are you so miserable that you have to bring everyone and everything down with you? Just because you suck so bad doesn’t mean you have to go spreading your pus-filled suck infection to everyone else. Why would you want to stop production of a “Inspector Spacetime” web series that could only serve to provide more exposure to “Community”? THIS IS WHY YOU’RE THE LAST PLACE NETWORK.
The scoop: An enterprising gentleman with an impeccable sense of humor, Travis Richey, started a kickstarter page to make enough money to produce a few episodes of “Inspector Spacetime,” the “Doctor Who” parody spun off from NBC’s “Community.” This week, Richey received a cease and desist letter. Richey responded, as such:
Lawyers from Sony and NBC have contacted me demanding that I cease production on an Inspector Spacetime web series.
Though I firmly believe the law would be on my side in producing this parody, I have no wish or ability to fight a show that I love as much as “Community.” I had hoped that they would embrace what is essentially a fan film and appreciate the value it adds to the character, and the audience that we would bring who are finding “Community” for the first time through this character, but alas, that’s not the case. So, I will be removing all references to Inspector Spacetime from this series (it only happened in the title anyway), and altering the appearance of the Inspector so that he does not look like Inspector Spacetime. What remains is 100% the creation of myself, my writing partner, and you, the fans.
You are the worst, NBC. Really. Is there even a profit motive for trying to kill “Inspector Spacetime”? It’s not like NBC is going to make their own “Spacetime” web series, and if they did, it’d just get cancelled.
The good news, at least, is that the series is continuing on as “Untitled Webseries About A Space Traveler Who Can Also Travel Through Time.”
(Source: Io9)
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UWSTWCATTT sounds dope. I hope they still call him “The Inspector”
Somebody needs to kickpunch NBC right in the face.
Seriously, though, I can’t really blame NBC for taking this position. They’re not going to make any money from it, and if they want to get involved and make sure it doesn’t suck, they’ll have to spend money on it. The publicity factor is a non-starter anyhow; there are few people who will watch it that don’t already watch Community, and if it sucks then they will actually be less likely to become viewers.
Personally I think the best way for them to make sure it doesn’t suck is to not get involved in it.
I’m with you on this one.
Plus, although NBC has annoyed me many times in the past, I can see why they just can’t let this happen legally. Not without spending money on being involved, as you said.
It wasn’t really this guy’s right/responsibility to take it upon himself to make it (however awesome it would be).
Can we just create FX2 and move the last remaining shreds of NBC’s quality programs over, already? Let Universal sell the rest off for parts.
I think he should do “Inspector Asstime” about an NBC executive who just wastes time going up his own ass.
Community should never have been on NBC in the first place.
NBC is human tennis elbow. NBC is a pizza burn on the roof of the world’s mouth. NBC is the OPPOSITE of Batman.
So you’re saying NBC is the Britta of tv networks.
I seem to recall this other show that was eerily similar to Inspector Spacetime. So similar one would think they were the exact same thing. What was it called?
Who was the star? Was it a doctor?
I understand NBC has made huge mistakes ( i.e. semi-cancelling Friday Night Lights, the Community hiatus, the Whitney/Chelsea hour of suck), but I think the hate has gone too far. What network actually put FNL and Community on the air in the first place, not to mention 30 Rock, The Office (pre 2 years ago), Parks and Rec and now Awake? There’s maybe 1 or 2 scripted shows I would watch on FOX, CBS and ABC in a given season COMBINED. Why don’t we pick on CBS? Would those schlock artists ever even think about putting Community on the air?
This guy speaks truth, y’all.
I like hating things more than most people, but (if I remember the whole story correctly, lord knows I’m not re-reading the OG story) he asked for permission and funding to do it, got denied and still tried to do it. He seems like a royal pain in the ass and that is not to be encouraged.
In their defense, the animatic for the Inspector Spacetime web series was pretty damn terrible.
Count this as more one post for “Community Glow” under this new regime. And as much as I enjoy the show, I probably wouldn’t check this out. Anyone can take the likenesses and characteristics of Troy and Abed and make them do things…but we aren’t Community writers.
And last place network? Aren’t they still ahead of the CW, or did they finally reach the Strive for Five?
isn’t it more that this guy isn’t funny and they don’t want to cheapen the brand by having spinoffs be done by non writers?
im glad its dead. its funny as a one off but to have it go off and have a life of its own? no thanks.
if this guy is so talented, let him create his own thing.
although, had this been a porno parody, it would already be on the shelves. just sayin.
I dunno, I’m actually kinda glad they killed this. It didn’t sound like it was actually gonna be that funny. I’d rather just watch Troy and Abed pretend to be the Inspector and the Constable.
The dude asked for no permission from Dan Harmon or NBC and decided that he could use characters that Community created in order to further his own career. How is NBC at fault here?
I see someone posted that he asked for permission but was denied. If true, what did he expect to happen?
Whatever programming mistakes you think NBC has made, defending its IP is not one of those mistakes. I’m as big a Community fan as they come, but this isn’t something being done in defense of Community and we can’t just let people run around lawlessly ripping off whatever they want for their own gains or because it will make fanboys giggle.
Not surprising, not really significant. A pointless axing of a pointless idea. And you’re kidding yourself if you think this would provide any exposure for Community. I extremely doubt that anyone who’s not already a Community fan would’ve watched this webseries. If anything, it would probably put non-fans off, since, if it’s the least bit faithful to the source material, it’ll be just awful. (It makes for a very funny running joke, but let’s be honest here, the actual [fictional] show looks very bad, right?)