It pays to be nice. And eloquent. And not bash NBC.

Spurred on by the news that my beloved Community (WHY AREN'T YOU WATCHING AMERICA????) is being benched mid-season, I wrote Leslie Schwartz, who is the media contact for Community at NBC. I resisted the urge to rant and say that NBC sucks or that other shows that shall remain nameless suck. And it paid off, because she answered me within MINUTES of me sending this...

Dear Leslie,

I am sure (I hope so anyway) your email inbox has been flooded by Community fans today. Allow me to add one more voice.

I watch a LOT of television, and I have been passionate about many shows. But I have never written to a network/joined a "save this show" campaign. Until now. I will admit, I was a latecomer to the awesomeness that is Community. A friend gave me the season one DVD last winter and said "Just watch". And I devoured the first season in a weekend, and then caught up on season Two via nbc.com. I fell in love and I fell in love HARD. I look forward to Thursdays because it is Community night, and I am sad after every episode is over because I have to wait a whole week for a new episode. I watch the episodes live, and then I often go back and rewatch them on my DVR to make sure I caught everything. So I was devastated to come home last night to discover that my beloved Greendale Study Group had been benched for the midseason. I don't want to spew vitriol at any of your other shows, as I am sure many have. That won't get us anywhere. I just want to express my love for the brilliance that is Community. What other show would even attempt ambitious episodes like "Remedial Chaos Theory" (which I can not bring myself to delete from my DVR. I've lost track of how many times I have watched it), "Paradigms of Human Memory", "Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps", and of course the epic trilogy of "Modern Warfare", "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More"? No other show on Network TV, and that's the truth.

I understand that TV is a business. And yes, Community has been struggling in the ratings. The Nielsen System, however, is broken, and I think you all know that. We watch TV differently now, and I really feel that this applies to the people who watch Community. But NBC has had other shows struggle in ratings (Chuck, Friday Night Lights and even Parks and Rec and 30 Rock) and the network has gotten behind them because you believed in the shows and you believed in the fans. So please, believe in Community. Believe in the brilliance of Dan Harmon, the writers, and the fantastic ensemble of actors (don't even get me started on how many Emmy Nominations they should have by now). Community is a 4 year story, and I desperately want to see Jeff Winger and Company graduate. Please allow the creators to tell the story they mapped out from the beginning and the story that we the fans have invested in for two and a half seasons. I'm metaphorically on my knees here, Leslie.

Thank you and NBC for giving us Community in the first place. Please give it back to all of us Human Beings of Greendale ASAP.
Sincerely,
Kim Rogers

PS I DO look forward to Smash.

And I am not joking, she responded within 3 minutes. I almost fell out of my chair. Sure, it was a short response:

Hi Kim. Keep the faith. Just curious who has given out my email? Can you tell me? Thanks!
Leslie

But I was still heard. I told her I had gotten her email through a friend via Twitter, but her email was also on various Save Community blogs, and I gave her their addresses (this is the big one: http://savenbccommunity.tumblr.com/)and the link to the Save Community petition (http://www.save-community.com/).

If you want to express your support (in a classy and eloquent way) for Community her email is: Leslie.Schwartz@nbcuni.com

Clearly, she at least sees the emails.

And for the love of Greendale, watch the show either as it airs tomorrow or within three days on your DVR.