Community vs. ACC

"What is community college? Well you've heard all kinds of things. You've heard it is a loser college for remedial teens, 20-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees, and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity."

That's part of the opening speech given by Dean Pelton (played by Jim Rash) as he welcomes everyone, on and off screen, to the debut of NBC's tv show "Community." The show follows eight students at fictional Greendale Community College (GCC).

Even though they form a study group to combine their knowledge and class notes so they can pass their language requirement, they eventually become more than just study buddies.

"This is kinda like Breakfast Club, right?" Abed says in the first episode. Abed is the awkwardly hilarious character played by Danny Pudi.

Pretty much. While everyone in the "club" represents the clichés mentioned in the beginning speech, "Community" surprisingly is a fair representation of what it's like to be a community college student.

Several show situations mirror recent real situations Austin Community College went through such as designing a mascot which ACC will reveal in November, and the "I am Greendale Community College" ad campaign similar to the "I am ACC" project.

But "Community" presents community college life in a more dramatic, over-the-top, that-would-never-happen type of way.

The most obvious example is the dean giving school announcement at the beginning of every episode. With ACC having eight campuses all over Austin, this would be impossible to achieve.

Most of the recent record enrollment of over 44,000 students at ACC are not at any of the campuses at the same time. Classes are offered at various times on various days to accommodate everyone's schedules.

Plus ACC President Dr. Stephen Kinslow and the deans probably have enough to do with their time without making announcements about the various events on campuses.

Usually on the show, these announcements are just used to foreshadow what the episode is about.

During the holiday-themed episodes, there is always an elaborate celebration with a carnival or a party. The study group and everyone else on campus shows up no matter what time the event takes place.

Sadly, this doesn't happen with most ACC events. Then again, there is alcohol served at GCC's events.

ACC has drug and alcohol free campuses, which isn't to say students aren't attending events because of it, but the point is that maybe there needs to be more promotion besides posters around the designated bulletin boards on the campuses to get people to come.

Also remember that the people at the events in "Community" are also extras who are getting paid to be there. Plus, it's also a tv show.

If "Community" happened in ACC's real world, there would be inspirational music playing during those academic challenges, there would be a wierd guy popping up on campus to make a random yet related-to-the-situation pop culture reference, and Accent's Editor-in-Chief would have his own office.