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Now that the exam period is over and the last pieces of
coursework are handed in, it is perhaps time to have a short period of rest and
relaxation to ease us into the second semester.
Over the past few weeks it is likely that many of you have experienced the
night-before panic when you realise that you haven’t learned anything
and think, ‘Why on earth did I bother coming to university, anyway?’ Therefore, now that all the hard work is over
why not reward yourself by trying out Community, an underrated yet
brilliant American sitcom?
The basic premise of Community is that a group of
misfits at various stages in life try to get through Greendale Community
College, quite possibly the worst college ever.
The protagonist, Jeff, is an arrogant lawyer who faked his degree and
has very little motivation other than to try to sleep with the first attractive
woman he sees on his first day. In his
efforts to do so he inadvertently forms a study group of diverse characters who
will become as close to him as family.
Admittedly, when put like this it does sound incredibly mediocre and not
unlike any other generic sitcom, but give it the first few episodes to find its
feet and Community starts to reveal its true and utterly unique
identity.
While Jeff is the lead, the most important character is a
teenager with Asperger’s syndrome named Abed.
He processes the world around him through his pop culture knowledge and
even seems aware that he is living in a television show. As a result, every episode of Community breaks
down the typical tropes of the sitcom genre and completely reinvents the form
every week, all the while packing in more meta-humour and pop culture jokes
than Family Guy, The Simpsons and South Park put
together. Because of Abed we are also
given some of the show’s best episodes, including one which explores parallel
universes and a Christmas episode which is in stop-motion animation and takes
place entirely inside his own head.
While these are highlights, Community is just as imaginative and
clever when it is completely grounded in reality, and has just as much heart as
it does smug ingenuity.
Other characters include an unstable Spanish teacher who
happens to be Asian, played with brilliant insanity by The Hangover’s
Ken Jeong, a racist, sexist and generally awful pensioner in the form of the
legendary Chevy Chase, and a monkey named after another character’s breasts,
not to mention tens of amazing minor characters who could all have their own
sitcoms. There are also appearances by a
number of special guest stars including Jack Black, John Goodman and Owen
Wilson.
The closest comparison to Community is the
short-lived British sitcom Spaced, so needless to say those who will
enjoy it the most are film geeks and pop culture nerds. It may therefore be an acquired taste,
especially as it can be very surreal and self-aware. This has turned out to be all too true, as
despite hoards of loyal fans the show has been struggling in America since it
began in 2009, and it is uncertain whether it will have a future. It has had even less luck here in the UK,
where the first series played on Viva with no sign of whether it will return. Nevertheless, as one of the smartest and
funniest shows currently around it is desperately worth your support and
attention. If it sounds like your cup of
tea do whatever you can to get hold of the DVD, and maybe, just maybe, we can
save Community.
Update: Since I first wrote this it has been confirmed that Community will air in the UK on Sony Entertainment Television starting April 10th at 10:30pm, and prospects for a fourth season are looking better than before. Fingers crossed!
Update #2: A fourth season was confirmed, to my jubilation. Until the news came out that Dan Harmon, the creator and life and soul of Community, had been fired. This is awful, horrible news which may inspire a blog post in the near future.
Discuss: will you still watch Community without Harmon? Do you think it still has the potential to be great without him? Or would you rather Community stopped on a high note rather than continued, possibly as a soulless and generic version of it's former glory? Or am I just a bitter cynic who needs to get out more and stop fretting about television? You decide.
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