Fox Searchlight has released the first trailer for the coming of age comedy/drama The Way, Way Back.  The film marks the directorial debut of The Descendants co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash and centers on a 14-year-old boy (Liam James) who spends his summer vacation bonding with the manager of a water park (Sam Rockwell) while staying with his mother (Toni Collette) and her overbearing boyfriend (Steve Carell).  The Adventureland-esque pic looks to be a nice little summer film with a healthy mix of comedy and drama, and there’s a refreshing lack of cynicism in this trailer.  Rockwell and Allison Janney are always swell, and the two are most definitely the comedic highlights here.  Matt caught the film at Sundance and was rather mixed in his review, but I find this debut trailer to be promising.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Zoe Levin, AnnaSophia Robb, and Amanda Peet.  The Way, Way Back opens on July 5th in limited release.

In their directorial debut, The Way, Way Back, writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash show they’re incredibly adept at humor.  They know how to tell a good joke, push the envelope without being mean-spirited, and find the right actors to deliver the comedy.  Unfortunately, a film has to put story and characters before comedy, and the film fails where it matters most.  Faxon and Rash put a painfully bland character at the center of their movie, and then try to convince us that anyone would help the uninteresting protagonist.  Surrounded by one-dimensional characters and a predictable plot, The Way, Way Back can tell a joke, but has difficulty doing anything else.

Danny Pudi, Jim Rash, and Joel McHale introduce the first extended clip from season 4 of Community, and you laugh, because it is three funny men who have learned how to play off each other well over the last few years.  Then they get to the clip, a Hunger Games spoof that thanks to an unfortunate midseason premiere is probably several months past timely.  A scheduling mishap led to overbooking the popular class History of Ice Cream, so the dean leads the students to the extravagant “Hunger Deans” to fight it out for a spot in the class.

It feels sterile (“Hunger Deans” is not funny, right?), but I can’t deny my prejudice about anything new in a post-Dan Harmon Community.  I will try to keep an open mind when Community returns on February 7, because I really am dying to see if one of my favorite shows can still be great, or if the creator’s departure will bury it.  Watch the clip after the break.

At long last, Community has a premiere date.  The Dan Harmon-less fourth season of the whip smart comedy series was initially set to premiere this month on Fridays, then NBC announced that they were holding the show for an unspecified premiere date sometime in the future.  Many assumed that the network was saving the series as a replacement in the event that one of their new comedy shows got cancelled, but when Animal Practice was given the axe NBC gave the timeslot to Whitney instead.

The cast put together a sort of fan-appreciation video in the wake of the delay news, and now finally some good news has surfaced as star Yvette Nicole Brown announced on Twitter that the fourth season will premiere on Thursday, February 7th at 8pm.  Hit the jump for more. [Update: NBC has confirmed the date with the release of their full midseason schedule, which is included after the jump and announces a break for Revolution, a move for Smash, and more.]

Community fans have become experts in the virtue of patience.  We’ve been jerked around so many times regarding when/where/if one of the smartest and funniest shows on TV will actually be on TV that we’re no longer shocked when NBC asks us to “trust them” and wait “a little bit longer” to see new episodes.  The upcoming Dan Harmon-less fourth season of Community was initially slated to begin on October 19th (ie. today), but NBC recently reneged on that decision in favor of holding Community and Whitney as replacements for when their new comedy series go belly-up.  Animal Practice was cancelled yesterday, but NBC naturally decided to replace it with Whitney instead of Community.

The wonderful ensemble cast knows how much the show means to their fans, so they’ve put together a great little video in which Troy and Abed try to explain why the show’s fourth season doesn’t have a premiere date.  The clip is filled with in-jokes and fan appreciation galore.  Seriously, this cast is the best.  Hit the jump to take a look.  Season four of Community premieres someday. [Update: We've updated the article with a clip from the season premiere.]

NBC continues to kick Community to the curb.  The studio announced today that it would be bumping the season four return of the fan-favorite show from their expected Friday, October 19th date to an unspecified future date.  Sophomore comedy series, Whitney, will also be moving to Fridays, but that show’s debut date is up in the air as well.  NBC cited the need for more time to make a marketing push in the case of each series.

I can’t imagine that Community needs to be marketed any more, with the off-season fireworks of creator/showrunner Dan Harmon being let go; the fourth season will be run by Moses Port and David Guarascio.  I also can’t imagine a scenario in which marketing will get me to watch Whitney.  In the meantime, NBC will air re-runs of the first season of Grimm from 8-9pm on Fridays, which will lead into new episodes of the supernatural procedural.  Hit the jump to see who will be returning to Community if and when it returns.

NBC’s Community will feature a holiday family reunion of sorts when Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) comes face to face with his father during the show’s upcoming Thanksgiving episode.  In the episode titled “Cooperative Escapism in Familial Relations,” fans will finally be introduced to William Winger, the estranged father whom Jeff hasn’t seen since he was a child.  Playing the elder Winger is none other than James Brolin (Marcus Welby, M.D.).  Community season four premieres at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19.  Hit the jump for more on season four and a set photo of McHale and Brolin.

Rather than dump your hard-earned money into private school tuition, why not cut a check to go to Greendale Community College instead? The cast of NBC’s Community is getting ready to air season four this fall and they’d love for you to visit them!  All it takes is a winning charitable donation that benefits the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, and you and a friend will be heading to Greendale and going home with a signed script and photos! Hit the jump to find out how to win!

The Greendale Seven are about to be schooled by Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) when he joins the cast of Community this fall.  McDowell is set to star in two episodes as a history professor (I hope they find a way to work A Clockwork Orange in).  THR reports that his character will be named Professor Cornwallis.  McDowell is the latest addition to the faculty, as British comedian Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids) recently joined as well.  Look for Community’s return to NBC in its new time slot, Friday nights at 8:30pm starting October 19th.

When last we talked about NBC’s cult comedy series, Community, we were at Comic-Con, rejoicing that the entire cast would be returning, but lamenting the absence of creator and show-runner, Dan Harmon.  While we wait to see if new overseers David Guarascio and Moses Port can keep the old Community magic, season four will see an infusion of overseas humor with the addition of British comedian, Matt Lucas (Bridesmaids). Lucas, perhaps best known for British comedy series Little Britain, will star as Greendale Community College’s newest faculty member.  Hit the jump for more details on his character as well as a look at a great fan-made Inspector Spacetime poster.

It looks like Community’s Greendale Seven will all be returning for a fourth season (yes, even Chevy Chase’s Pierce Hawthorne).  Reports have Sony Pictures Television picking up the options on all the actors from the NBC comedy and critical darling.  Although there was some speculation earlier this year as to whether or not Chase would be back (due to some behind-the-scenes issues), he’s on the list of castmembers who will be returning this fall.  Of course, we all know that creator and former showrunner Dan Harmon won’t be returning, after being let go earlier this year.  In his stead will be Moses Port and David Guarascio. Deadline confirms that Joel McHale, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong will also return.

Fresh off of winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants, writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (who plays the dean on NBC’s Community) have just begun production on their directorial debut.  Based off their original screenplay, The Way, Way Back centers on a teenage boy on summer vacation (Liam James) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a local water-park manager (Sam Rockwell) while coming to grips with some family issues.  The impressive cast includes Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney and Annasophia Robb, and now it appears that Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, and Amanda Peet are signing on as well.  Hit the jump for more.

Despite 30 Rock often cracking wise about how NBC is barely a network anymore, the broadcaster lead the Critics’ Choice Awards nominations with 14 recognitions (although 30 Rock, unfortunately, received none). NBC’s low-rated but much beloved jewel Community picked up six nominations on its own, including five for acting (Joel McHale, Jim Rash, Alison Brie, Gillian Jacobs, and Danny Pudi), solidifying its place in the canon of widely under-appreciated series with deeply rooted critical and cult followings.

Hit the jump for the full list of nominees, along with who got snubbed.

A couple of heavy hitters in casting news today.  Here are the headlines at a glance:

• John Cusack may join Elijah Wood in the indie thriller, Grand Piano.
• Jude Law will star in the title role of Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemingway.
• Liam James joins Steve Carell and Toni Collette in indie drama, The Way, Way Back.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

That “six seasons and a movie” mantra that I’ve been chanting for the past week must have counted for something (you’re welcome, Internet).  It’s just been reported that NBC has renewed the brilliantly funny comedy Community for a fourth season.  We reported earlier today on the network’s renewals for Parenthood, The Office, and a final season of 30 Rock, but the lack of news about Community was troubling.  Fans can now breathe much easier with the promise that everyone’s favorite study group will be back on our TV screens this fall.  Following an abrupt, network-imposed hiatus, the series returned to strong ratings and has been drawing significant audiences week after week.  Hit the jump for more.