Community

Starring: Joel McHale (110 episodes), Gillian Jacobs (110 episodes), Danny Pudi (110 episodes), Alison Brie (110 episodes), Ken Jeong (109 episodes), Yvette Nicole Brown (99 episodes), Jim Rash (96 episodes), Donald Glover (89 episodes), Chevy Chase (85 episodes), Richard Erdman (53 episodes), Erik Charles Nielsen (43 episodes), Dino Stamatopoulos (39 episodes), Danielle Kaplowitz (23 episodes), John Oliver (19 episodes), Charley Koontz (16 episodes), Luke Youngblood (15 episodes), Paget Brewster (14 episodes), Keith David (13 episodes), Jonathan Banks (11 episodes), Craig Cackowski (10 episodes), David Neher (9 episodes), Brady Novak (9 episodes), Dominik Musiol (8 episodes), Jeremy Scott Johnson (8 episodes), John Goodman (6 episodes), Jerry Minor (6 episodes), Bill Parks (6 episodes), Lauren Stamile (5 episodes), Darsan Solomon (5 episodes), Jordan Black (5 episodes), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (4 episodes), Eric Christian Olsen (4 episodes), J.P. Manoux (4 episodes), Dan Bakkedahl (4 episodes), Leslie Simms (4 episodes), John Michael Higgins (3 episodes), Kevin Corrigan (3 episodes), Rob Corrdry (3 episodes), Iqbal Theba (3 episodes), Michael Kenneth Williams (3 episodes), Brie Larson (3 episodes), Irene Choi (3 episodes), Matt Jones (3 episodes), Betty White (2 episodes), LeVar Burton (2 episodes), Lesley Ann Warren (2 episodes), Anthony Michael Hall (2 episodes), Andy Dick (2 episodes), Giancarlo Esposito (2 episodes), Joe Lo Truglio (2 episodes), Malcolm McDowell (2 episodes), Patton Oswalt (2 episodes), Randall Park (2 episodes), Nathan Fillion (2 episodes), Jack Black (1 episode), Drew Carey (1 episode), Hilary Duff (1 episode), Lee Majors (1 episode), George Takei (1 episode), Eliza Coupe (1 episode), Josh Holloway (1 episode), Stephen Tobolowsky (1 episode), David Cross (1 episode), Chris Elliott (1 episode), Walter Goggins (1 episode), Jay Chandraskhar (1 episode), Seth Green (1 episode), Steve Guttenberg (1 episode), Luis Guzman (1 episode), Nick Kroll (1 episode), John Hodgman (1 episode), Michael Ironside (1 episode), French Stewart (1 episode), Jason Alexander (1 episode), James Brolin (1 episode), Fred Willard (1 episode), Billy Zane (1 episode), Tony Hale (1 episode), Paul F. Tompkins (1 episode), Adam DeVine (1 episode), Sophie B. Hawkins (1 episode), Tricia Helfer (1 episode), Vince Gilligan (1 episode), Lisa Loeb (1 episode), Sara Bareilles (1 episode), Natasha Leggero (1 episode), Ben Folds (1 episode), Katharine McPhee (1 episode), Robert Patrick (1 episode), Owen Wilson (1 episode), Jeff Garlin (1 episode), Busy Philipps (1 episode), Jennie Garth (1 episode), Luke Perry (1 episode), Zach Braff (1 episode), Gina Gershon (1 episode), B.J. Novak (1 episode), Amber Tamblyn (1 episode)
Directed by: Tristram Shapeero (24 episodes), Joe Russo (21 episodes), Anthony Russo (14 episodes), Rob Schrab (10 episodes), Jay Chandrasekhar (9 episodes), Adam Davidson (8 episodes), Justin Lin (3 episodes), Nat Faxon (2 episodes), Jim Rash (2 episodes), Seth Gordon (1 episode), Duke Johnson (1 episode), Bobcat Goldthwait (1 episode)
Rating: TV-PG
Genre: Comedy
2009-2015

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

Summary: The members of a study group at Greendale Community College struggle to get back on their feet after suffering failures in more ambitious efforts.

Review:
Tim: I don't know if there has ever been a more ambitious, insane, meta, original, zany, frustrating, hilarious show than "Community". Over its six seasons, this show put me through a roller coaster ride unlike any other. It's one of the most brilliantly written, hilarious, memorable shows of all time. The fact that we got six seasons of this show is a minor miracle- it's so different to everything else on television.

Every episode of "Community" was like you were unwrapping this mysterious present- there was no telling what might be inside. You could have a paintball episode that brilliantly riffs action movies, you could have a claymation episode, an animated episode, a video game episode, exploring alternative timelines (including the darkest timeline). You had episodes discussing all the crazy adventures of the past year, none of which the audience saw. You had episodes that were meta about being meta. You have episodes designed like a Civil War documentary. This series was incredibly ambitious. Yes, it's a show about a study group at a community college, but that doesn't even begin to cover the brilliant insanity of this show. It's almost impossible to describe it to someone who's never watched.

The main cast members will always have a special place in my heart. Joel McHale is wonderful as the charismatic, speech-prone Jeff Winger. He was absolutely perfectly cast. Gillian Jacobs was very funny as Britta Perry, although I do feel like her character was continually mishandled. She gamely worked through it all, though, and was a big part of the show. Danny Pudi was often the connection to the audience and he played the eccentric Abed so naturally. Alison Brie might have been the standout of the show as Annie Edison. She brought so much energy to the role. While she had a number of incredibly moments throughout the show, I most often think about all the subtle ways she contributed, episode-by-episode. She was excellent. Ken Jeong was humorous as Ben Chang, but he was another character who was mishandled at various points. The series survived the loss of original cast members Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, and Chevy Chase. While I was sad to see them go, it was fun seeing them while they lasted. I could go on and on about the dozens of guest stars over the years. Seriously, look at the cast list above- it features an insane amount of talent.

Now, the show could be meta and ape genres left and right, but at the end of the day, the series still needed to be funny. This is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen- the writing was superb. Whereas other sitcoms would pause after a joke and provide artificial laughter, this show would fly by truly hilarious lines. If you missed the joke, it was your fault. I love treating the audience as intelligent viewers. This did create the need to rewatch episodes to make sure you caught all the jokes. Some of the funniest moments I actually missed the first time and only caught on subsequent viewings. This is not a show that panders to the dimmest audience member. The jokes fly so quickly, it is sometimes a challenge to keep up. I loved that aspect. I often paused and rewound the show to laugh and laugh at one of the brilliantly written lines. This show is hilarious.

I already mentioned a number of the best episodes (the darkest timeline, six-seasons-and-a-movie, etc). However, I do need to call out Modern Warfare- the season 1 (and series) highlight. It's hands-down the best episode of the series and perhaps the greatest 30 minutes I have ever seen on television. It's a perfect parody of action movies and is engrossing and hilarious from start to finish. I love, love, love that episode.

Now, while I love "Community", I have to mention some of the flaws. For a show this ambitious, its shoot-for-the-moon philosophy generated so many brilliant moments. However, that ambitious approach didn't always pay off. There were many episodes that didn't connect and fell flat. This show did tend to be uneven. The low point has to be when NBC fired show creator Dan Harmon. The show greatly decreased in quality at that point. He did eventually return and tried to save the show (and made some very funny knocks on NBC). Eventually, NBC stupidly canceled the show, which caused it to move to Yahoo. I'm thankful for Yahoo for getting the show to its prophesied 6 seasons, but again, this movement did create an unevenness to the series. We also got several "series finales" because the show was so often on the bubble of cancellation. Still, for a show this unique and ahead of its time, I'll take the valleys to get to the peaks.

All in all, "Community" was a brilliant, entertaining, original series. It certainly feels like the series is over, although we haven't officially gotten a cancellation yet. Yahoo lost a ton of money, so it's probably dead, but I'd thought that numerous times before. Assuming the series is done, I can reflect on what a crazy fun ride it was (and look forward to the eventual movie!)

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Scrubs, How I Met Your Mother, Brooklyn Nine-Nine