Salon.com > Community http://www.salon.com Wed, 03 Jul 2013 01:14:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Dan Harmon just can’t shut up http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/dan_harmon_just_cant_shut_up/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/dan_harmon_just_cant_shut_up/#comments Fri, 21 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13330947 When it was announced a few weeks ago that Dan Harmon would be returning to “Community,” the show he created and had been fired from, it looked like a feel-good story. A wronged auteur has his creation stolen away from him by forces that care more about money, ratings and professionalism than art, only to be vindicated when that creation flounders in his absence, and the same forces have to return his work, admitting it is nothing without him. The genius triumphed over the suits, talent over money, fans over ratings. It’s a happy ending, right? Absolutely — except for the part where, as this story unfolded, the genius auteur got more and more insufferable, a man using his self-proclaimed emotional neediness to behave like an exhausting, smug prat. Is Dan Harmon really great at making “Community”? He sure is, but boy is he getting tiresome.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/21/dan_harmon_just_cant_shut_up/feed/ 27 Dan Harmon apologizes for comparing “Community’s” season 4 to rape http://www.salon.com/2013/06/18/dan_harmon_apologizes_for_comparing_communitys_season_4_to_rape/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/18/dan_harmon_apologizes_for_comparing_communitys_season_4_to_rape/#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:37:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13329862 Followers of Dan Harmon's podcast, "Harmontown," got an earful last night when the "Community" creator and recently reinstated showrunner trashed season 4 of the NBC show, which was produced without his leadership.

He described the season as "not my cup of tea" and compared the viewing experience to “flipping through Instagram just watching your girlfriend blow everyone” and seeing a friend “Like” a photo of your ex-girlfriend with her new boyfriend on Facebook. But Harmon's rant went into the distinctively unfunny territory when he made a rape joke, saying: "There's something awesome about having all of those preconceived notions ripped away from you. It's exciting. There's something exciting about being held down and watching your family get raped on a beach. It's liberating. It makes you focus on what's important."

Harmon has since apologized to "Community" fans, the season 4 cast and crew -- but not before former "Community" writer Megan Ganz responded to Harmon's rape comment:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/18/dan_harmon_apologizes_for_comparing_communitys_season_4_to_rape/feed/ 0 Dan Harmon tweets that he’s returning to “Community” http://www.salon.com/2013/06/01/dan_harmon_tweets_that_hes_returning_to_community/ http://www.salon.com/2013/06/01/dan_harmon_tweets_that_hes_returning_to_community/#comments Sat, 01 Jun 2013 18:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13314971 "Community" creator Dan Harmon, who was unceremoniously ousted from his position as show-runner at the beginning of the ailing fourth season, is reportedly returning. Harmon was discussing the possibility with Sony executives earlier this week, and today told a fan that he is, indeed, coming back:

[embedtweet id="340859201922412544"]

He joked about the news with "Community" cast members:

[embedtweet id="340859201922412544"]

[embedtweet id="340854308654428162"]

[embedtweet id="340854919890337793"]

There's a chance, however, that Harmon is trolling fans, too, as yesterday he tweeted the following:

[embedtweet id="340640538388750336"]

[embedtweet id="340648399433003008"]

[embedtweet id="340656545987698688"]

For the sake of the show, let's hope that Harmon isn't still drunk-tweeting.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/06/01/dan_harmon_tweets_that_hes_returning_to_community/feed/ 2 Dan Harmon may return to “Community” http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/dan_harmon_may_return_to_community/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/dan_harmon_may_return_to_community/#comments Tue, 28 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13310796 "Community" creator and former showrunner Dan Harmon was booted at the beginning of the fourth season -- but the production studio execs may want him back.

THR reports:

The creator of NBC's Community is in talks with studio Sony Pictures Television to return in some capacity for the series' upcoming fifth season, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Details on just what role the former showrunner would have with the series remain unclear.

Harmon broke the news during his Harmontown podcast on Sunday, according to HollyWookiee.com, which had a reporter present for the taping. According to the site, Harmon told the audience that he has been asked to return to Community, and later asked that it be edited out of the podcast -- which has not yet been released online.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/28/dan_harmon_may_return_to_community/feed/ 3 NBC cancels “Whitney” after two seasons, renews “Parks and Recreation” http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/nbc_cancels_whitney_after_two_seasons_renews_parks_and_recreation/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/nbc_cancels_whitney_after_two_seasons_renews_parks_and_recreation/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 21:56:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13294288 NBC has (finally) canceled ailing sitcom "Whitney," the two-season comedy series starring frequent "Chelsea Lately" guest Whitney Cummings.

The show opened to 7 million viewers in its premiere two years ago and dropped to 4 million after its first season. The show now brings in less than 3 million.

Rearragning its comedy lineup, Deadline reports that the network has also canceled "Guys With Kids" and sophomore White House comedy "1600 Penn" after their first seasons. "Up All Night," which suffered from a series of departures and formatting changes, has also been axed.

The verdict is still out on "Community," but Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" will stay on for a sixth season.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/09/nbc_cancels_whitney_after_two_seasons_renews_parks_and_recreation/feed/ 5 What was the fateful change that forever ruined a TV series? http://www.salon.com/2013/02/08/what_was_the_fateful_change_that_forever_ruined_a_tv_series/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/08/what_was_the_fateful_change_that_forever_ruined_a_tv_series/#comments Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:09:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13195040 Last night’s “Community,” the first of the series’ fourth season, was also the first made without creator Dan Harmon, the difficult perfectionist who had made it the most ambitious, genre-goofing comedy on TV. Since Harmon got fired last spring, it’s been very hard to imagine “Community” staying “Community” without him. The new episode, despite being a good-faith, fittingly meta-effort, only solidified this: The new iteration of “Community” feels like a zombified one.  This got us thinking: What are some other changes, be they a behind the scenes personnel switch, a plot point, or a casting decision, that forever ruined a popular TV show? We took to Twitter to ask the TV critics who participated in our year-end Blue Glow Awards their opinions (and sparked a great debate about “Moonlighting” in the process.) Here’s what they had to say.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/08/what_was_the_fateful_change_that_forever_ruined_a_tv_series/feed/ 16 “Community’s” new season is a no-win situation http://www.salon.com/2013/02/07/communitys_new_season_is_a_no_win_situation/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/07/communitys_new_season_is_a_no_win_situation/#comments Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:23:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13193518 “Community” returns tonight for its fourth season and its first without series creator Dan Harmon. Harmon, for better and for crazy, was one of the more essential showrunners on TV: “Community” reflected and refracted his very singular, trippy, pop-culture-soaked worldview and genre-bending and -busting instincts. For three seasons he oversaw a series that was supremely ambitious, usually impressive, occasionally exhausting and like nothing else on television. He appears to have been extremely difficult to work with as he did so. NBC fired him at the end of last season instead of canceling the show, a good number of the show’s staff writers left soon after, and David Guarascio and Moses Port, two writers and producers with excellent credits ("Happy Endings,” “Aliens in America”), were given the unenviable task of carrying on “Community,” post-Harmon. The new episodes are such a good-faith effort to continue Harmon’s legacy it’s a shame that they don’t really work at all.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/07/communitys_new_season_is_a_no_win_situation/feed/ 4 Joel McHale: Chevy Chase “physically wanted to fight me” http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/joel_mchale_chevy_chase_physically_wanted_to_fight_me/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/joel_mchale_chevy_chase_physically_wanted_to_fight_me/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13192821 Despite how chummy they may look in the picture above, "Community" actor Joel McHale painted a very different picture of his relationship with ex-"Community" actor Chevy Chase to Howard Stern recently. Chase, who made no secret that he hated the show because it was "the lowest form of television," left mid-season apparently to star in the highest form of television, a commercial.

McHale recounted to Stern that Chase "didn't want to be there." And, according to McHale, Chase "would try to fight" him when reminded that the show was a good opportunity. (McHale clarified that "he'd physically try to fight.") McHale says that Chase also "threw around the N-word" on set, justifying its use by saying he had permission from Richard Pryor.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/joel_mchale_chevy_chase_physically_wanted_to_fight_me/feed/ 15 “Community” writer Megan Ganz leaves for “Modern Family” http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/community_writer_megan_ganz_leaves_for_modern_family/ http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/community_writer_megan_ganz_leaves_for_modern_family/#comments Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:41:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13160911 After losing its showrunner and executive producer Dan Harmon and actor Chevy Chase, NBC's dwindling comedy "Community" is facing a third major blow: the departure of one of its top writers, Megan Ganz, who as of today writes for "Modern Family."

Ganz made a heartfelt announcement to her fans on Reddit yesterday, describing the moment she first considered herself a TV writer (Ganz entered TV writing with comedy sketch show "Important Things With Demetri Martin," after working her way up at the Onion):

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/01/03/community_writer_megan_ganz_leaves_for_modern_family/feed/ 1 Chevy Chase leaves “Community” http://www.salon.com/2012/11/22/chevy_chase_leaves_community/ http://www.salon.com/2012/11/22/chevy_chase_leaves_community/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2012 14:18:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13105810 The NBC series ‘‘Community’’ will finish the season without Chevy Chase.

Sony Pictures Television said Wednesday that the actor is leaving the sitcom by mutual agreement with producers.

His immediate departure means he won’t be included in the last episode or two of the show’s 13-episode season, which is still in production.

Chase had a rocky tenure playing a bored and wealthy man who enrolls in community college. The actor publicly expressed unhappiness at working on a sitcom and feuded last year with the show’s creator and former executive producer, Dan Harmon.

The fourth-season premiere of ‘‘Community’’ is Feb. 7, when it makes a delayed return to the 8 p.m. EST Thursday time slot. The show’s ensemble cast includes Joel McHale and Donald Glover.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/11/22/chevy_chase_leaves_community/feed/ 12 My neighbor bosses me around http://www.salon.com/2012/09/28/my_neighbor_bosses_me_around/ http://www.salon.com/2012/09/28/my_neighbor_bosses_me_around/#comments Fri, 28 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13023791 Hi,

I have a serious problem. My neighbor, who is this super old lady, asks me to take her garbage out every time I pass her front door to get into my apartment. She doesn't say "Please" or "Thank you" and she just expects me to take her garbage out every time. I'm a nice guy and don't like to be rude to old people. But now I'm getting anxiety attacks every time I have to go back to my apartment. What should I do?

Terrified to Go Home

Dear Terrified to Go Home,

If it's not too much trouble, if it wouldn't be a terrible strain on you to take her garbage out, I suggest you do this favor for the old woman for the time being, until you can figure out what her situation is.

One advantage is that then you won't have to be afraid to go home. Plus, bit by bit you could discover what exactly is going on with this old lady -- why she needs someone to take her garbage out, and why she picked you. That way, you might be able to find a permanent solution, or at least put into place some stable practice that will eliminate your fear.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/09/28/my_neighbor_bosses_me_around/feed/ 39 “Community” botches damage control http://www.salon.com/2012/05/24/community_botches_damage_control/ http://www.salon.com/2012/05/24/community_botches_damage_control/#comments Thu, 24 May 2012 16:00:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12926724 It's adorable the way Old Media keeps forgetting that we live in the age of transparency. Hey, Sony Pictures Television, your metaphoric fly is undone.

You'd think that after that ranting, complaining voice mail that "Community" star Chevy Chase left showrunner Dan Harmon went viral this spring they'd have learned. Or maybe after Harmon responded to his dismissal just last Friday by spilling his guts on Tumblr. You'd think the muckety-mucks would have figured out by now that the best you can do when there's tension in your little creative family is to be forthright and creative about it.

Note, for example, how the show's star Joel McHale spent the spring diplomatically – and wittily -- handling the talk-show circuit after Chase's meltdown, joking that the voice mail had to be fake because "there’s no way Chevy could figure out voice mail." See, it's glib and funny and sounds magically off-the-cuff! Get it? The cast of "Community" -- which includes the incredibly on-the-ball Danny Pudi, Alison Brie and Donald Glover – knows how to handle itself.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/05/24/community_botches_damage_control/feed/ 14 More sex and disasters, please http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/more_sex_and_disasters_please/ http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/more_sex_and_disasters_please/#comments Wed, 23 May 2012 15:15:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12925481 There are a few times of year when network television can typically be relied upon to be as interesting as cable: The fall, when the networks vomit out dozens of new programs; February, when the networks cough up a dozen or so more; and May, when all the series that have survived the year try to end in spectacular fashion. During this last period, season-finale time, couples couple, get married and have babies; characters quit, get fired and die; disasters occur; buildings explode; guns blaze; hatches are discovered and protagonists are left dangling off cliffs, both actual and metaphorical. It’s the TV equivalent of blockbuster season, and like blockbuster season, it can and should be fun. Though in recent years cable shows have been responsible for a disproportionate number of the “Holy crap, did that just happen?!” finales (hello, Gus Fring and his brand-new face!), network shows are usually good for at least some insanity, some drama, some transcendent event that will get people talking around the storied watercooler. Not this year. Nope, this year, season finale season has been a bust.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/05/23/more_sex_and_disasters_please/feed/ 13 What’s “Community” without Dan Harmon? http://www.salon.com/2012/05/21/whats_community_without_dan_harmon/ http://www.salon.com/2012/05/21/whats_community_without_dan_harmon/#comments Mon, 21 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12923830 A recent episode of NBC's “Community” floated the possibility — debunked by episode’s end — that the seven main characters had not spent the previous three years navigating life, each other and paintball fights at Greendale Community College, but instead, had only been imagining them. In the episode, the recently expelled Greendale Seven found themselves in a group therapy session with a nefarious shrink, keen to keep them away from their college using any psychological means necessary. The therapist temporarily convinced them they had spent the previous years in a mental institution and that everything they remembered happening at school, except their friendship, had been a collective fantasy, a “shared psychosis” dreamed up in the asylum.

As I was watching this episode, "Curriculum Unavailable,” I remember calmly thinking something like, “Huh. That would really explain Leonard.” The possibility that “Community” might be about to “St. Elsewhere” its audience ("St. Elsewhere" ended on the reveal that everything that had happened in the series had all taken place inside the mind of an autistic boy) was not particularly alarming to me. Group psychosis explained a lot about the show's extremely dark psychology, and, anyway, on “Community,” stranger things had happened.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/05/21/whats_community_without_dan_harmon/feed/ 9 “Community’s” identity crisis http://www.salon.com/2012/03/16/communitys_identity_crisis/ http://www.salon.com/2012/03/16/communitys_identity_crisis/#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:45:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=12682141 Confession: I have a case of "Community" fatigue. "Community," NBC’s low-rated, but passionately beloved, sitcom returned to the NBC lineup last night. It had been pulled from the schedule in December, kicking off another round of anxiety among fans, critics and the cast that the Greendale Study Group might not be back for a fourth season next fall. In the lead-up to last night’s episode, the "Community" faithful hectored anyone and everyone who appreciates good television to help save the show and boost "Community" to the ultimate goal, that longed-for TV state: six seasons and a movie.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2012/03/16/communitys_identity_crisis/feed/ 15 Stop the remakes! http://www.salon.com/2011/11/18/stop_the_remakes/ http://www.salon.com/2011/11/18/stop_the_remakes/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:30:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=10233588 Should you have ever believed that there couldn't possibly be any more entertainment barrel yet to be scraped, remember this: NBC has just approved a pilot for a remake of "The Munsters." Yes, the sitcom about a wacky monster family, a show that has been off the air since 1966, is returning at last. Naturally, this new version will "have a darker and less campy feel" than the Vietnam War-era original. Well, that makes it sound awesome. And NBC is the network that put "Community" on ice while giving "Whitney" a pickup -- so I, the viewer, trust its taste implicitly!

It might be a hopeful sign that the show will be overseen by Bryan Fuller, who created the imaginative, not completely awful "Pushing Daisies." Less hopeful: Fuller is also developing a show based on "Silence of the Lambs." This undoubtedly essential "Munsters" update comes in the midst of an unprecedented glut of reboots and reimaginings, all thick with the promise that No, really, this will be very different. It will creepy and full of action and with a feminist theme. You know what's really different? A stinkin' original idea.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/11/18/stop_the_remakes/feed/ 59 An interview with the dean of “Community” http://www.salon.com/2011/09/28/community_season_three_dan_harmon_interview/ http://www.salon.com/2011/09/28/community_season_three_dan_harmon_interview/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:30:00 +0000 NBC's "Community" (Thursdays, 8 p.m./7 Central) is one of the most deceptively light shows on network television -- a seeming spoof of pop culture and pop obsessives that's as densely imagined as the world of "The Simpsons," and that has a lot more on its mind than movie and TV quotes and self-referential devices. 

Last week I interviewed the show's creator, Dan Harmon. Our wide-ranging conversation covered many of the expected areas: his sense of humor, his influences, behind-the-scenes production anecdotes, and hints of episodes to come. But it also delved into more elusive and heady issues: the role of pain and humiliation in comedy; the question of how self-referential a show can get without destroying our ability to sympathize with its characters; and the influence of "The Simpsons" and -- yes, really -- "Gilligan's Island" on "Community." It's also the only interview I've ever done with a TV showrunner who casually dropped the word "vestigial."

Now that we've waded into the show's third season, I wanted to ask you what sort of reaction Season 2 got from the show's fans. This series is closely watched and obsessively scrutinized.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/09/28/community_season_three_dan_harmon_interview/feed/ 3 Alison Brie: Buttoned-up sex bomb http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/alison_brie/ http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/alison_brie/#comments Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:16:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/07/15/alison_brie She didn't snag an Emmy nomination Thursday -- despite being in the cast of both a beloved comedy and a critically acclaimed drama series. But "Community" and "Mad Men's" Alison Brie is nonetheless having a swell week. 

First, a clip of her doing a rocking karaoke duet of "Total Eclipse of the Heart"  last month with Emily Blunt in Ann Arbor, Mich., went viral, proving her adorable shamelessness knows no bounds. Then GQ answered America's prayers and served up a black lingerie-clad Brie getting spanked with the business end of a hairbrush by her "Community" costar Gillian Jacobs.  Take that, Betty White. 

What is it about the fresh-faced Brie that makes her such a standout? Well, the looks don't hurt. Like Katy Perry, she's got the kind of doe eyes and formidable rack that would make a manga character jealous.  But more than that, Brie isn't just another hot chick lucky enough to land on a sitcom. 

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/07/15/alison_brie/feed/ 11 Betty White clones herself for the AARP http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/betty_white_clones_aarp/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/betty_white_clones_aarp/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:22:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/21/betty_white_clones_aarp Betty White is like the James Franco of older women. At first everyone jumped aboard her popularity train, and then as she became ubiquitous in our pop culture, the backlash began. (Although, unlike Franco, no one can be too mean to White; instead they blamed the media gigs that keep employing her, like "Saturday Night Live" and "Community.")

This time last year, we were all suffering from a little bit of Betty White fatigue. She was on the Emmys! "Hot in Cleveland"! "Inside the Actor's Studio"! It was like, we got it, Betty White: You are talented and funny (we can trace this whole thing back to when you called Sarah Palin a crazy bitch in 2008) and have sex appeal, something that only older men like Paul Newman are supposed to have! You're one in a million!

Well, not quite.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2011/06/21/betty_white_clones_aarp/feed/ 9 Ken Jeong’s CPR infomercial http://www.salon.com/2011/06/17/ken_jeong_cpr_commercial/ http://www.salon.com/2011/06/17/ken_jeong_cpr_commercial/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:18:00 +0000 http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/feature/2011/06/17/ken_jeong_cpr_commercial Ken Jeong has made a name for himself in the past several years with small, hysterical cameos in everything from "Knocked Up" to "The Hangover." Now on "Community," Jeong has subsidized his teacher's income with several commercial spots, most infamously in Adidas spots as "Slim Chin," a hip-hopping mogul who hangs out with Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose.  Oddly, the official video for the commercial has now been marked "private," perhaps in response to the swirling controversy around his portrayal of Asian stereotypes. 

Maybe that's why Jeong is now starring in infomercials for CPR: As penance for playing up the ethnic card (if you want to call it that), he is now giving people tips on how to save lives with cardiopulmonary resuscitation ... the fun way!

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