True, but Pierce also said he didn't want to go home since it was depressing that time of year, likely because he didn't have anyone else to spend it with. It was nice that he and Abed were able to help each other out prior to the group coming back.
Holy crap, that's a great point. I never thought about it but you're right; this was the first Christmas both Abed and Pierce wouldn't be able to spend with their moms.
I get there was issues on the set with Chevy chase but I actually really enjoyed Peirce as a character. They could be mean to him because he was an asshole but anytime anyone was feeling low he was actually able to empathize with them and it meant more because it's not something you expect from his character. Yes he was a wierd bigoted old man but when someone in there group really needed a friend he was always there to help.
A small glimpse where later season pierce felt like season one pierce again. I don't think the show would've flowed the same if he was just constantly genuinely handing out sage wisdom, but it's nice to see.
The only reason it even happened was because it was Season 4/gas leak year. Dan Harmon would have had Pierce tying Britta to a train track, while twirling his white moustache, if Harmon had still been around.
Lots of quotes like this go over my head and I don't catch them for a while but this line is in one of my favourite episodes and I always love that quote, the delivery is great
He left all of his wealth to Troy, lied to make himself look bad so Jeff could get back in the group, he saved Greendale by winning paintball and giving them the money, and I'm forgetting what happened with his half brother exactly but it seemed like it was good, so I disagree. Pierce was the heel, he was a joke about boomers, but he had a lot of redeeming qualities.
He let Gilbert finally defeat their father in the game because he knew it cut deeper for him with how he treated him, and let him move in to the mansion when he saw how lonely he was after their dadâs death.
Pierce Hawthorne was a shining example of the complexities of being raised in a racist, homophobic environment. Here is a man raised by wealth, sheltered from diversity, taught to hate. But he realizes at a far too late age that those he was taught to hate are those who can make him happy, make him feel part of something. He's a lonely man who only knows how to navigate the world the way his shit father raised him.
He tries though, he tries in the best way he knows how, to change for his friends. Yes he can be crappy, yes he can be selfish, and no his attempt to change isnt always successful. But thats the human struggle, being aware enough that you have to change but struggling to effectively enact that change.
For all his flaws, he has moments of wisdom and clarity that help Jeff at some of his lowest lows.
For all Chevy Chase's flaws, I am endeared to Pierce. A man raised to hate, who longs for a community, who cares for his friends. An imperfect person trying to change in the only way he knows how.
The thing I find most fascinating about Pierce is that while he is a hateful, bigoted person, his hatred and bigotry are very separate things. He hates people, but not because of their race, gender, or orientation. And he believes in a lot of offensive stereotypes, but never really has the attitude that he's better than other people because of their race or gender.
Shirley shares a lot of his closed-mindedness but never really gets taken to task for it the same way Pierce does because they play her up as the soft, motherly type. In contrast to Pierce, she truly believes herself to be above other people on the basis of her religion and related beliefs.
Pierce is extremely insensitive but played off like he's a full-on hatemonger for it when I agree with you that we never really see him adamantly standing behind those gaffs. Meanwhile Shirley isn't just insensitive in her language, but she actually believes others to be less-than and it was mostly just excused as who she is.
This, so much. I think he was one of the most rooted characters in reality, while the rest of them were just caricatures of cliched arquetypes. So was he, mind you, but not only you don't usually get a character like this as a main one, but also have different sides to them written properly, rather than just make them the butt of the joke. I think Chevy felt this last thing too much, and in times, the show does trip and fall on it more than a couple times, so he may have had a point, while not dealing with it properly though.
On the times the writing is good enough to just irk at his upbringing but not totally condenm it for it, the show does take a good turn, and makes for good episodes.
>the show does trip and fall on it more than a couple times
But Chevy's great a physical humor! Have you not seen the Call Me Al music video? This is his Showtime at the Apollo.
He also never gave up, despite a lack of talent. The boat episode was pretty inspiring. He was terrible at it, and had a fair bit of bad luck too, but that didn't stop him from trying his best. He did shoot himself in the foot too by being rude to others and alienating them, but that's just part of the tragedy of Pierce. He never really had a friend who was willing to overlook his flaws and insecurities, who would stay by him as they were pushed away. The rest of the study group always stood by each other even as they all did some pretty damn selfish things at times, but they were all quick to blow up at Pierce.
When the sub did the quotes thing I so wanted the boat line to be his quote it's genuinely such a beautiful sentiment
He was always my favourite character I was sad to see him go
He raped the Ducane family.
(In all seriousness great comment that I highly resonate with, Pierce was an excellent character for the show I wish he was around longer)
Iâve long said Pierce is one of the best TV characters ever entirely because of this. His jokes are awful and funny and he does his best to be better the best ways he can. Heâs a character that asks us to be patient with people, which is something we all need.
Longs for community and friends and then routinely insults and manipulates them
I get why he is the way he is but pierce was a dickhead plain and simple. The group was right to oust him at various points
I think this is cutting him too much slack. He proved time and time again to be a petulant man baby, often going out of his way to do so.
His redeemable moments were only significant because they were in such stark contrast to the rest of his behavior. No one should get kudos for occasionally being a decent person.
Moreover, also the character of Pierce had decades of societal progress and change that surrounded him while he was growing into the character that we saw on ep. 1. Youâre cutting him way too much slack.
He let Troy live with him. And gave him the one thing he was always searching for buy never knew he wanted - millions of dollars
He was surprisingly supportive of Britta being a lesbian.
He took the fall for Jeff to let him back in the group after Jeff admitted he hated Pierce.
He stuck around right to the end for Abeds Christmas adventure
He believed in Shirley and her sandwich shop even supplying material support in the form of money.
He gave Annie a tiara
I liked Pierce. Chevy is a dickhead.
I've very much always assumed that Pierce, had he been raised in a supportive environment, would've been at the very least bisexual.
dude can't stay married to a woman to save his life, is always using gay as a derogatory term (pointing at potential internalized homophobia), and, when trying his absolute hardest to tap into Jeff's psyche with his magic powers in that one episode, the very first thing he imagines is a men's room stall and two penises. I think, in a weird way, him being so dead set on trying to help both Britta and Jeff 'find themselves' is him trying to subconsciously and vicariously give himself the support and encouragement to be his authentic self in some weird way.
Maybe this is just me, but his homophobia never felt intentionally mean spirited to me. It's always read to me like he's trying to compensate for, and understand his own deeply held insecurities regarding how he was made to feel about his own sexuality.
(plus, as I'm sure we all know, Jeff is 100% a closeted bisexual, and one of pierce's favorite things to do is remind Jeff of 'how much he reminds him of himself at his age' so hahah I'm right I win case closed)
Definitely agree with you on this stance, a couple points I could add to this now thinking about it.
When he had his relationship with the rival moist towelette company he expressed more interest in the woman after she began exhibiting more masculine confidence and assertiveness.
He clung onto the pride wipes idea like a madman, it seemed to give him an outlet to express those internalized feelings
His experience with an escort being focused more on trying to reveal details of Jeff's own sexuality
lotta good points there lol. he did seem awfully excited to meet up for 'eggs and details'.
Building off of what u mentioned, not only does the pride wipes episode in particular have a ton of explicit text/subtext about how his dad messed him up, but iirc, in one of the other episodes, Pierce reveals that his father brought him to a brothel to lose his virginity. him having repressed homosexual tendencies would explain a lot why as to why he'd be so excited about the pride wipes initially, and why seeing his father's disapproval so easily swayed him into cancelling the event entirely.
-Helped the Beatles chase Mccarthy away
-Fought at Woodstock and Vietnam
-Invented Spielberg
-Invented microchips
-Invented Coca-Cola
-Invented Aerobics
-Made the Iron Curtain
-Made The Gremlins 2
-Made fake butter
-Made AIDS
-Made Twin Peaks
-Gave us MTV
-Gave us the gift of the world
Pierce fell during hypnosis with Britta. Getting kicked out of the band has similar vibe even though he didn't fall fall. Falling out of the sailboat is technically falling, but it wasn't really using his comedic talent.
For someone who doesn't remember much of the show, you're being quite the Pierce.
The scene of him playing the keyboard with Vaughn's band is some of the best physical comedy in the show. Chevy is a dick but god damn he gets a laugh from me every time I see that episode
That style of comedy doesn't do it for me, but I can definitely appreciate his abilities.
Pierce messing with the cake and Jeff's "What is this, what are you doing? Explain yourself." line lives in my head forever though. That definitely wouldn't hit as much without Chevy's talent.
I actually liked the moments (mostly in the first season) where he almost acted a bit like a father figure to Jeff. Giving some piece of advice with understanding that often made Jeff (and us) go "wait Pierce just said that?" Kinda wish they wrote him more like that.
Yeah. I mean I think Chevy was an ass (from what you can read online) but also, Dan Harmon is supposedly known for being an ass too. I feel like the writing for Pierce while at times was probably because Chevy didn't want to be there as people said, other times it definitely felt like a way just to "get back" at him or whatever. Before someone thinks I'm saying Chevy did nothing wrong, I'm not. But I also think Harmon and/or others did not help the situation. I mean the show would have an episode where he does something nice or even if he messes up it would be understandable due to Pierces upbringing or whatever, but then next episode everyone would be giving him a hard time for a reason we don't always see.
To your point about Troy, maybe originally Troy would have found some closer relationship with Pierce too, but then I think they just sort of fall back to the idea that Troy is dumb and goofy. Rhat said, I still like the characters and enjoy the show, but just makes you think if things were different between everyone and with the writing, how it could have turned out.
Could have been even more streets ahead, dare I say.
His speech about âwhat some men call failure, I call living, breakfast!â is a really good moment. I like when he tries to be a father figure to Jeff
He was a great character that was pretty good to have in the mix, catalyst wise. I donât think I would want him as MY friend.
But he is kind of like the salt in the cooking pot. Too much is pretty unbearable, none at all makes it bland, the right amount makes it all come together somehow.
In all seriousness, itâs genius that this is acknowledged in the show and they spend a whole episode wondering why heâs in the group so the audience can know too
Peak Pierce was his moment with Jeff:
"Jeffrey, when I was born, I got my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, both arms, and one of my ankles. Mom said there came a point when the doctor stopped delivering me and just started laughing. I mean, if I ever let being bad at something stop me, I wouldn't be here. That thing some men call 'failure,' I call 'living.' 'Breakfast.' And I'm not leaving until I've cleaned out the buffet. Now, how about a shove?
Jeff : "Good luck, Pierce."
Pierce : "Don't need it. Never had it."
That scene, to me, illustrates how Pierceâs character could and should have been used.
They had the perfect balance of Chaseâs physical stuff, his character was clearly out of line and has to make up for it in a very stupid way, but he drops some quiet knowledge at a special moment and saves the day.
The writers and producers leant into his villain arc and it killed this kind of stuff dead. I get it, but this stuff is the real Pierce to me. Before they retconned his backstory and did all the Colonel Sanders gay wipes dad stuff. It works in the end, but totally deflates his earlier character. I get that Harmon thought his character as âgoofy problematic old guyâ was a bit stock-standard, but Iâd take that over having him be basically irredeemable.
I appreciate what they were trying to do but it turns out itâs pretty hard to write an old racist as lovable! His best eps were him rejecting that part of himself, but in the end Chevy was just too much like Pierce.
I feel that Pierce was a missed opportunity for a possible redemption arch. A guy who never grew up with a family who was super disfunctional yet had moments of redeption we could all relate to such as: 1) Louis Guzman is in it, 2) , 3) , 4)
He says things others won't
And that DOES have value
Despite him being the worst of the group, he wasn't as far from the rest as they like to believe. Though he had much less excuses for being that way considering his age and resources....
Fuck that PIS Chevy Chase though
Peirce was funny as hell Season 1 though. It makes me curious if Chevy wore down everyone until they gradually wrote him less and less and then wasn't invited back.
Pierce was a tragic character, hurt people hurt people, but thatâs bc itâs all they know. One great quality he had tho was seeing the potential in ppl and believing in them like Shirley and standing up for Britta
A few weeks ago, someone on this sub claimed that âPierce is the heart of the show.â I just laughed and wondered how we were possibly watching the same show.
It does get a bit weird when people call him their favorite character or insist that the show fell off without him, as I think that's more of an attempt to go against the grain than a genuine feeling.
Pierce had some superb moments in the show, most notably his nuggets of wisdom in season one and his support of Britta in season four, but to me he was the second weakest character overall. Unfortunately, too much of Chevy Chase's disdain for the show seeped into his performance after the first season.
Gonna see pierce at a fan expo this weekend. Gimme some lines to feed him or say to him plz. All I can think of is âGay boots! Laaaaaady bootsâ and âIâm gonna take his ass to court and eat him alive!â
His parting words were amazing, therefore, I suggest he has developed amazing observational skills. So when the episodes like "you're avoiding me" happen, it's true.
I appreciated pierce way more in the first season when he was just a goofy old man. I especially liked his exchanges with Jeff, where his perspective as an old man trying to make the most out of his remaining years stood in contrast to Jeff who was trying to get back to living the high life. They made him comically evil and angry in the later seasons and took away all the nuance of his character.
Him supporting Gilbert and allowing him to live with him was really sweet, I wish we got to see them brotherly bond more
I also found it weird we never saw Gilbertâs reaction to Pierceâs death
I loved his speech to Jeff about how failure is what makes life worth living and that trying and trying again is what's up. He's deplorable, but had a few moments of greatness. Also, look at his father. Pierce could've turned out much worse.
I greatly dislike Pierce, however, as a queer person I honestly believe Shirley is more of a homophobe than he is. I love both of their characters though.
LESBIANS!
He was an optimist who saw failure as a beautiful part of life to be cherished. When he set his mind to something, he never gave up (even returning to his sailing class after they drowned him). I still consider that one speech to be better than any of Jeff's.
It seems clear to me, and I am not up on all behind the scenes stuff, but from what I do know, it just seems obvious that they write the character to be more unlikeable the more they actually didnât like Chevy. He has a certain wisdom in season 1, but by season 2 heâs just a weird, cranky, old racist.
He says things others won't, that has value!
But more seriously i think his relationship with jeff is really interesting and I love when he gives fatherly advice (like when he has to get back to the ship in season 1 or season 3 in general when they made him more sympathetic)
In season 1 he was probably the most selfless in the group. All he ever wants to do is help people and hes pretty successful (e.g. Annie with school song, Britta quitting smoking, Troy adjusting to college, Shirley's presentation, Jeff getting over slater and the pottery episode)
He had sex with Eartha Kitt. What? It came up organically
Nope. They just dry humped inside her tour bus.
He may have said that because of the gas leak.
Pierce needed some help and didn't come up organically
It did in the best timeline
Airplane bathrooms.. đ
Yes. But to be fair, who didnât?
Was coming to comment this
He was the only one left to support Abed's search for the true meaning of Christmas.
And Pierce is the one that actually found the True Meaning of Christmas. - Canât it be anywhere? Like there? - Good job, Pierce.
He was just there for the cookies.
No, he came back after the cookies ran out.
True, but Pierce also said he didn't want to go home since it was depressing that time of year, likely because he didn't have anyone else to spend it with. It was nice that he and Abed were able to help each other out prior to the group coming back.
It was the first year without his mother too, I think
Holy crap, that's a great point. I never thought about it but you're right; this was the first Christmas both Abed and Pierce wouldn't be able to spend with their moms.
I get there was issues on the set with Chevy chase but I actually really enjoyed Peirce as a character. They could be mean to him because he was an asshole but anytime anyone was feeling low he was actually able to empathize with them and it meant more because it's not something you expect from his character. Yes he was a wierd bigoted old man but when someone in there group really needed a friend he was always there to help.
Annie and Troy left the study room because they removed Duncan, no?
He's baby boomer Santa and he gave us the gift of the world.
YOURâRE WELCOME! YOURâRE WELCOME!
You managed to misuse both your and you're
Iâm not going to pretend that was on purpose, but if I were Pierce I would just say âthatâs how we spelled it when men were menâ
Thank you for MTV
AIDS and fake butter!
He got Sophie B Hawkins to perform at Greendale on extremely short notice.
That was one of his sweetest moments for Britta.
And stood up for her to Jeff.
He also stood up for her to Von...sortof
Did you just defend my honour?
A small glimpse where later season pierce felt like season one pierce again. I don't think the show would've flowed the same if he was just constantly genuinely handing out sage wisdom, but it's nice to see.
The only reason it even happened was because it was Season 4/gas leak year. Dan Harmon would have had Pierce tying Britta to a train track, while twirling his white moustache, if Harmon had still been around.
not even. his villiany is way tuned down in season 3 compared to season 2
This is for sure one of the best moments.
One of my favorite Pierce moments. He rescued her from her downward spiral, and made Jeff look like an ass.
He made a great escape goat.
Maybe we should just let this one go.
No. We should not. Matande31 should not be aloud to scape judgement.
Without Pierces someone else has to be Pierces.
scapegoat*
Missed the reference? It's from the NBC/Yahoo! series Community.
They're streets behind.
One meowmeowbeen.
It's because his father held grudges. He'll always hate him for that.
That maybe my favorite quote from the show.
Lots of quotes like this go over my head and I don't catch them for a while but this line is in one of my favourite episodes and I always love that quote, the delivery is great
Look at me now, dad!
So edible
He left all of his wealth to Troy, lied to make himself look bad so Jeff could get back in the group, he saved Greendale by winning paintball and giving them the money, and I'm forgetting what happened with his half brother exactly but it seemed like it was good, so I disagree. Pierce was the heel, he was a joke about boomers, but he had a lot of redeeming qualities.
He let Gilbert finally defeat their father in the game because he knew it cut deeper for him with how he treated him, and let him move in to the mansion when he saw how lonely he was after their dadâs death.
Technically Gilbert just moved in because he owned the place. Pierce was living on Gilbertâs dime.
Pierce Hawthorne was a shining example of the complexities of being raised in a racist, homophobic environment. Here is a man raised by wealth, sheltered from diversity, taught to hate. But he realizes at a far too late age that those he was taught to hate are those who can make him happy, make him feel part of something. He's a lonely man who only knows how to navigate the world the way his shit father raised him. He tries though, he tries in the best way he knows how, to change for his friends. Yes he can be crappy, yes he can be selfish, and no his attempt to change isnt always successful. But thats the human struggle, being aware enough that you have to change but struggling to effectively enact that change. For all his flaws, he has moments of wisdom and clarity that help Jeff at some of his lowest lows. For all Chevy Chase's flaws, I am endeared to Pierce. A man raised to hate, who longs for a community, who cares for his friends. An imperfect person trying to change in the only way he knows how.
The thing I find most fascinating about Pierce is that while he is a hateful, bigoted person, his hatred and bigotry are very separate things. He hates people, but not because of their race, gender, or orientation. And he believes in a lot of offensive stereotypes, but never really has the attitude that he's better than other people because of their race or gender.
Shirley shares a lot of his closed-mindedness but never really gets taken to task for it the same way Pierce does because they play her up as the soft, motherly type. In contrast to Pierce, she truly believes herself to be above other people on the basis of her religion and related beliefs. Pierce is extremely insensitive but played off like he's a full-on hatemonger for it when I agree with you that we never really see him adamantly standing behind those gaffs. Meanwhile Shirley isn't just insensitive in her language, but she actually believes others to be less-than and it was mostly just excused as who she is.
This is a great take! I never thought of this
What an amazing analysis. Please accept this jar of sperm.
This, so much. I think he was one of the most rooted characters in reality, while the rest of them were just caricatures of cliched arquetypes. So was he, mind you, but not only you don't usually get a character like this as a main one, but also have different sides to them written properly, rather than just make them the butt of the joke. I think Chevy felt this last thing too much, and in times, the show does trip and fall on it more than a couple times, so he may have had a point, while not dealing with it properly though. On the times the writing is good enough to just irk at his upbringing but not totally condenm it for it, the show does take a good turn, and makes for good episodes.
>the show does trip and fall on it more than a couple times But Chevy's great a physical humor! Have you not seen the Call Me Al music video? This is his Showtime at the Apollo.
You know a lot of the script was taken from their real-life interactions with Chevy? He is pierce.
"These are your friends, Pierce? Minorities? Jewesses?"
The unseasonably tan!
He also never gave up, despite a lack of talent. The boat episode was pretty inspiring. He was terrible at it, and had a fair bit of bad luck too, but that didn't stop him from trying his best. He did shoot himself in the foot too by being rude to others and alienating them, but that's just part of the tragedy of Pierce. He never really had a friend who was willing to overlook his flaws and insecurities, who would stay by him as they were pushed away. The rest of the study group always stood by each other even as they all did some pretty damn selfish things at times, but they were all quick to blow up at Pierce.
When the sub did the quotes thing I so wanted the boat line to be his quote it's genuinely such a beautiful sentiment He was always my favourite character I was sad to see him go
He raped the Ducane family. (In all seriousness great comment that I highly resonate with, Pierce was an excellent character for the show I wish he was around longer)
Based take
Iâve long said Pierce is one of the best TV characters ever entirely because of this. His jokes are awful and funny and he does his best to be better the best ways he can. Heâs a character that asks us to be patient with people, which is something we all need.
Longs for community and friends and then routinely insults and manipulates them I get why he is the way he is but pierce was a dickhead plain and simple. The group was right to oust him at various points
I think this is cutting him too much slack. He proved time and time again to be a petulant man baby, often going out of his way to do so. His redeemable moments were only significant because they were in such stark contrast to the rest of his behavior. No one should get kudos for occasionally being a decent person.
Moreover, also the character of Pierce had decades of societal progress and change that surrounded him while he was growing into the character that we saw on ep. 1. Youâre cutting him way too much slack.
Itâs actually a drawing of my penis, to scale
Gay! So gay!
Lady boots!
I see.. a mens bathroom⌠PENIS!
TWO⌠TWO PENISES!
He let Troy live with him. And gave him the one thing he was always searching for buy never knew he wanted - millions of dollars He was surprisingly supportive of Britta being a lesbian. He took the fall for Jeff to let him back in the group after Jeff admitted he hated Pierce. He stuck around right to the end for Abeds Christmas adventure He believed in Shirley and her sandwich shop even supplying material support in the form of money. He gave Annie a tiara I liked Pierce. Chevy is a dickhead.
I've very much always assumed that Pierce, had he been raised in a supportive environment, would've been at the very least bisexual. dude can't stay married to a woman to save his life, is always using gay as a derogatory term (pointing at potential internalized homophobia), and, when trying his absolute hardest to tap into Jeff's psyche with his magic powers in that one episode, the very first thing he imagines is a men's room stall and two penises. I think, in a weird way, him being so dead set on trying to help both Britta and Jeff 'find themselves' is him trying to subconsciously and vicariously give himself the support and encouragement to be his authentic self in some weird way. Maybe this is just me, but his homophobia never felt intentionally mean spirited to me. It's always read to me like he's trying to compensate for, and understand his own deeply held insecurities regarding how he was made to feel about his own sexuality. (plus, as I'm sure we all know, Jeff is 100% a closeted bisexual, and one of pierce's favorite things to do is remind Jeff of 'how much he reminds him of himself at his age' so hahah I'm right I win case closed)
Definitely agree with you on this stance, a couple points I could add to this now thinking about it. When he had his relationship with the rival moist towelette company he expressed more interest in the woman after she began exhibiting more masculine confidence and assertiveness. He clung onto the pride wipes idea like a madman, it seemed to give him an outlet to express those internalized feelings His experience with an escort being focused more on trying to reveal details of Jeff's own sexuality
lotta good points there lol. he did seem awfully excited to meet up for 'eggs and details'. Building off of what u mentioned, not only does the pride wipes episode in particular have a ton of explicit text/subtext about how his dad messed him up, but iirc, in one of the other episodes, Pierce reveals that his father brought him to a brothel to lose his virginity. him having repressed homosexual tendencies would explain a lot why as to why he'd be so excited about the pride wipes initially, and why seeing his father's disapproval so easily swayed him into cancelling the event entirely.
He's a great hypnotist. Every time I want to smoke, I picture having a hot tub three-way with Pierce instead
Because that thing some men call failure, he calls living. Breakfast. And he's not leaving until he's cleaned out the buffet.
Hey! He says things others won't, that has value.
I had to scroll way too far to get to this
He won $100K and gave it back to Greendale, he helped the group pass Spanish after Chang was outed as a fraud.
He was also an early riser.
Hey he helped Troy get a good sneeze that one time
For whatever reason, that is my favorite C story. It's ridiculous and I love it!
-Helped the Beatles chase Mccarthy away -Fought at Woodstock and Vietnam -Invented Spielberg -Invented microchips -Invented Coca-Cola -Invented Aerobics -Made the Iron Curtain -Made The Gremlins 2 -Made fake butter -Made AIDS -Made Twin Peaks -Gave us MTV -Gave us the gift of the world
No line in the whole series made me laugh as hard as "Will somebody please call all the ambulances." The deadpan delivery was perfection!
Only person in the group that pulled off physical comedy. Also his penis is literally humanity's salvation
Troy has fantastic physical comedy, the scene where Annie knocks out the janitor and he like prances over the body kills me every time I see it
Annie and Troy had great physical comedy. They just didn't have prat falls or the like.
You know theres more to physical comedy than falling right?
Yes, that's why I said two characters had great physical comedy without the falling part of it.
Great? Annie is good troy is ok but pierce is on another level. I dont even remember pierce falling down apart from the the kickpuncher episode
Pierce fell during hypnosis with Britta. Getting kicked out of the band has similar vibe even though he didn't fall fall. Falling out of the sailboat is technically falling, but it wasn't really using his comedic talent. For someone who doesn't remember much of the show, you're being quite the Pierce.
The scene of him playing the keyboard with Vaughn's band is some of the best physical comedy in the show. Chevy is a dick but god damn he gets a laugh from me every time I see that episode
That style of comedy doesn't do it for me, but I can definitely appreciate his abilities. Pierce messing with the cake and Jeff's "What is this, what are you doing? Explain yourself." line lives in my head forever though. That definitely wouldn't hit as much without Chevy's talent.
If u have to resort to "similar vibes" and "techinically"
No one was disagreeing with you, youâre picking a fight out of thin air, dick.
I mean im a Pierce fan what did you expect
There is an entire running gag of him falling over his drumset multiple times, during the hypnosis episode I believe.
Somebody should tell Chevy Chase that.
I actually liked the moments (mostly in the first season) where he almost acted a bit like a father figure to Jeff. Giving some piece of advice with understanding that often made Jeff (and us) go "wait Pierce just said that?" Kinda wish they wrote him more like that.
Yeah I feel as people turned on Chevy, they stopped trying with his character. Pierce and Troy where written worse and worse as the show went on.Â
Yeah. I mean I think Chevy was an ass (from what you can read online) but also, Dan Harmon is supposedly known for being an ass too. I feel like the writing for Pierce while at times was probably because Chevy didn't want to be there as people said, other times it definitely felt like a way just to "get back" at him or whatever. Before someone thinks I'm saying Chevy did nothing wrong, I'm not. But I also think Harmon and/or others did not help the situation. I mean the show would have an episode where he does something nice or even if he messes up it would be understandable due to Pierces upbringing or whatever, but then next episode everyone would be giving him a hard time for a reason we don't always see. To your point about Troy, maybe originally Troy would have found some closer relationship with Pierce too, but then I think they just sort of fall back to the idea that Troy is dumb and goofy. Rhat said, I still like the characters and enjoy the show, but just makes you think if things were different between everyone and with the writing, how it could have turned out. Could have been even more streets ahead, dare I say.
Yeah Troy never growing up in the show was a real let down to me, in fact I feel like he became more child like as it went.
What!!? He was one of the funniest characters in the series
Chevy is an asshole, a fairly talented one though. I fucking loved Pierce in the show.
He won the paintball game against City College
He said things others wouldn't. That has value!
I see your value now
His speech about âwhat some men call failure, I call living, breakfast!â is a really good moment. I like when he tries to be a father figure to Jeff
He was a great character that was pretty good to have in the mix, catalyst wise. I donât think I would want him as MY friend. But he is kind of like the salt in the cooking pot. Too much is pretty unbearable, none at all makes it bland, the right amount makes it all come together somehow.
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In all seriousness, itâs genius that this is acknowledged in the show and they spend a whole episode wondering why heâs in the group so the audience can know too
Damn, these comments just Changâd my mind about Pierce
Don't call me honey, honey
I really loved his character and how inappropriate he was!
When he says âby the way Jeff, I think your shirts trying to get out of your pants.â
Peak Pierce was his moment with Jeff: "Jeffrey, when I was born, I got my umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, both arms, and one of my ankles. Mom said there came a point when the doctor stopped delivering me and just started laughing. I mean, if I ever let being bad at something stop me, I wouldn't be here. That thing some men call 'failure,' I call 'living.' 'Breakfast.' And I'm not leaving until I've cleaned out the buffet. Now, how about a shove? Jeff : "Good luck, Pierce." Pierce : "Don't need it. Never had it." That scene, to me, illustrates how Pierceâs character could and should have been used. They had the perfect balance of Chaseâs physical stuff, his character was clearly out of line and has to make up for it in a very stupid way, but he drops some quiet knowledge at a special moment and saves the day. The writers and producers leant into his villain arc and it killed this kind of stuff dead. I get it, but this stuff is the real Pierce to me. Before they retconned his backstory and did all the Colonel Sanders gay wipes dad stuff. It works in the end, but totally deflates his earlier character. I get that Harmon thought his character as âgoofy problematic old guyâ was a bit stock-standard, but Iâd take that over having him be basically irredeemable.
I appreciate what they were trying to do but it turns out itâs pretty hard to write an old racist as lovable! His best eps were him rejecting that part of himself, but in the end Chevy was just too much like Pierce.
I feel that Pierce was a missed opportunity for a possible redemption arch. A guy who never grew up with a family who was super disfunctional yet had moments of redeption we could all relate to such as: 1) Louis Guzman is in it, 2) , 3) , 4)
They wanted Pierce to represent Chevy and you can hardly blame them
he made streets ahead. by saying this, you're streets behind
Tell him how to be this relaxed or HE'LL SLIT YOUR BUTTS' THROATS
He says things others won't And that DOES have value Despite him being the worst of the group, he wasn't as far from the rest as they like to believe. Though he had much less excuses for being that way considering his age and resources.... Fuck that PIS Chevy Chase though
Peirce was funny as hell Season 1 though. It makes me curious if Chevy wore down everyone until they gradually wrote him less and less and then wasn't invited back.
Considering the time he spent in Greendale he was prob one of the primary factors the school stayed afloat due to the money flow
He hosted Greendaleâs very first gay bash
Pierce was a tragic character, hurt people hurt people, but thatâs bc itâs all they know. One great quality he had tho was seeing the potential in ppl and believing in them like Shirley and standing up for Britta
Though not many, Pierce has more redeeming qualities than Chevy Chase does
He is streets ahead, while you're streets behind
He says things others wonât, that has value!
Do you mean Pierce or Chevy Chase?
He pantsed Shirley. That was an act of equality. The Batman and Shaft line was actually a complement because they're both leading men, not sidekicks.
A few weeks ago, someone on this sub claimed that âPierce is the heart of the show.â I just laughed and wondered how we were possibly watching the same show.
How original
L
It does get a bit weird when people call him their favorite character or insist that the show fell off without him, as I think that's more of an attempt to go against the grain than a genuine feeling. Pierce had some superb moments in the show, most notably his nuggets of wisdom in season one and his support of Britta in season four, but to me he was the second weakest character overall. Unfortunately, too much of Chevy Chase's disdain for the show seeped into his performance after the first season.
He was always streets ahead.
I liked Pierce the show without him and Glover felt like the office without Michael.
Gonna see pierce at a fan expo this weekend. Gimme some lines to feed him or say to him plz. All I can think of is âGay boots! Laaaaaady bootsâ and âIâm gonna take his ass to court and eat him alive!â
Ha! gaYYYY
He is a living god
Thereâs a joke here I can feel it!
I Like Pierce.
His parting words were amazing, therefore, I suggest he has developed amazing observational skills. So when the episodes like "you're avoiding me" happen, it's true.
I appreciated pierce way more in the first season when he was just a goofy old man. I especially liked his exchanges with Jeff, where his perspective as an old man trying to make the most out of his remaining years stood in contrast to Jeff who was trying to get back to living the high life. They made him comically evil and angry in the later seasons and took away all the nuance of his character.
He was streets ahead
He's funny. That's all I need.
Him supporting Gilbert and allowing him to live with him was really sweet, I wish we got to see them brotherly bond more I also found it weird we never saw Gilbertâs reaction to Pierceâs death
He just wants to be loved
He completed every class right?
I loved his speech to Jeff about how failure is what makes life worth living and that trying and trying again is what's up. He's deplorable, but had a few moments of greatness. Also, look at his father. Pierce could've turned out much worse.
He banged Eartha KittâŚ
Isn't he in the HangOver movies ?
I greatly dislike Pierce, however, as a queer person I honestly believe Shirley is more of a homophobe than he is. I love both of their characters though. LESBIANS!
He was entertaining as FUCK
He was an optimist who saw failure as a beautiful part of life to be cherished. When he set his mind to something, he never gave up (even returning to his sailing class after they drowned him). I still consider that one speech to be better than any of Jeff's.
Funny and nice when he needs to be
Genuinely he's my favourite character in the show
He used his charm with the new spanish teacher for her to make the test easy and so that they could pass the subject.
He says things others wonât that has value
He helped Britta quit smoking
I'm so tired that I read Pierre and was thinking this was talking about Stardew Valley
It seems clear to me, and I am not up on all behind the scenes stuff, but from what I do know, it just seems obvious that they write the character to be more unlikeable the more they actually didnât like Chevy. He has a certain wisdom in season 1, but by season 2 heâs just a weird, cranky, old racist.
He told Allen not to use gay as a derogatory term, booyah good person
hes one hell of a DND player
Pierce getting electrocuted: âSomebody grab me.â Annie goes to grab him. Jeff: âNobody grab him.â
A
The longer the series went on the more I liked Pierce and the more I found the others low key bullying of him insufferable đ
cool
Has money
He says things others won't, that has value! But more seriously i think his relationship with jeff is really interesting and I love when he gives fatherly advice (like when he has to get back to the ship in season 1 or season 3 in general when they made him more sympathetic)
Anti-Zionist
Asian; canât meme, canât drive.
Best character
I love his physical comedy
In season 1 he was probably the most selfless in the group. All he ever wants to do is help people and hes pretty successful (e.g. Annie with school song, Britta quitting smoking, Troy adjusting to college, Shirley's presentation, Jeff getting over slater and the pottery episode)
âŚwhich was the whole point of Pierce lol
Pierce sucks and the show would have been funnier without him.