*Our guest columnist this month is Seth Redgrave who resides in the Batcave with a love for Queen, Community, Randomness, among other things, and is likely from the prime timeline.
This is no false alarm. The darkest timeline is real, and we’re in the middle of it.
When the news broke out that NBC were pulling Community off of it’s mid-season lineup for an unknown period of time, fans everywhere let out a long, piercing shriek of panic. Any show that is unexpectedly pulled from it’s schedule is in risk of cancellation. Reasons for the sudden “benching” were pretty apparent; low ratings. Yes, despite the show’s smart writing, clever humor, and loyal — and I mean loyal — fanbase, it is in fact not a stellar ratings machine.
You know, the other chick from "That '70s Show" not named Mila Kunis?
Also not helping the show’s luck, is the return of 30 Rock, Tina Fey’s return to TV after having another baby, which is the show that will be replacing Community’s timeslot (30 Rock, not Tina Fey giving birth, although I’m sure that’s crossed their minds). To make matters even worse, NBC is not only keeping the powerdrill-to-the-temple levels of unfunny sitcom, Whitney, on their comedy lineup, but they are also premiering a new series based on Chelsea Handler’s book, Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, starring Laura Prepon as the title character.
We get that television, like every other form of media, is a business, replacing the weaker pieces to make room for something new that has a 50/50 chance of being a swimmer, or a sinker. Community could have all of the smartest writing in the world, but if it’s not drawing in the desired numbers, it’s future could be very bleak. Community fans though, dubbed “Communies” (“Communists” sounded a bit depressing), think otherwise, myself included. Fans took to the internet, more specifically in the form of Twitter hashtags and an online petition, to spread awareness. A lot of greatly written shows in the past have been unfairly axed for the same reasons Community is being benched. But not this time. Fans aren’t about to let this happen to something they adore again. So, what exactly is Community’s secret charm? What is it that makes the Communies so passionate about “just another smart comedy”? Well, allow me to explain that without hopefully going completely overboard. For starters, we’re privileged with having to stare at this:
Meet Alison Brie. You're welcome, world.
Satisfied? Good. So as I was saying, now that you’re aware of about a quarter of the show’s popularity, let’s take a quick dip into the plot of Community for those not familiar with the show. Sharp-tongued lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is forced to go to Greendale Community College (that’s not the ONLY reference to the title) after his lawyer license is suspended over a fake degree, the only way he can regain his license is to complete college and get a legit degree. He spots Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs), or “The Hot Blonde” as he put it, a high school drop-out and political activist (she’s much hotter then she sounds, believe me).
All according to plan . . .
Jeff decides he’s going to use his words and charm to get into her pants, only to realize that she’s not falling for his bulls***, so he forms a fake study group for Spanish to get closer to her as a Plan B. He informs her of said faux study group, and she accepts, hook, line, sinker. Right?
Well, no. As it turns out, a few other students heard of Jeff’s study group, all who are also in the same Spanish class as his. This causes his plan to backfire, losing him any possible alone time with Britta. Without getting too detailed, after the group are at eachother’s throats over Jeff’s instigation, he decides to give a speech (something Jeff will be known for doing throughout the series), hoping to calm them down and get back into good terms with Britta. At the end of his very motivational speech, he declares the study group a “community” (see!), and thus, the ride of absolute random madness begins.
Believe it or not, this is "normal" for them.
Meet the rest of the study group: Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), a socially awkward pop-culture junkie who relates anything and everything to TV and movies; Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), a former high school star quarterback jock with a secret geek side to him, who quickly embraces the latter and develops an immediate friendship with Abed; Annie Edison (Alison Brie), a strait-laced, compulsive perfectionist who was forced to drop out of high school after a pill addiction that led her to rehab; Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown), a divorced mother of three, she’s a proud and devoted Christian, mostly friendly and docile, but has a bit of a mean streak when pushed; and Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase), an over-middle-aged moist towelette tycoon with a lack of touch on the pulse of youth culture, and a habit of displaying sexist and racial stereotyping due to his “old school” up-bringing.
And by evolving, I mean from humans to...well, this.
The great cast of actors and characters is only what makes 50% of this show really stand out from the rest. Every bit of dialogue is cleverly done, whether juvenile or tongue-in-cheek. The amount of character and group dynamic development is astonishing. Every episode that goes by, you see the study group become closer as friends and less as strangers trying to pass a Spanish test. Individual problems are presented, dealt with, and then resolved, usually by one of Jeff’s trademark speeches. Jeff himself becomes less of a sleazebag trying to rush and talk his way out of college and more of becoming a witty leader for his group of misfits. Every character slowly evolves for the better, while maintaining some of their original traits that made them stand out in the first place.
Can you put 2 and 2 together? If so, congratulations, you're awesome!
Which brings me to probably Community’s most strongest point; their concept episodes. Zombies, paintball warfare (twice), Christmas claymation, Dungeons & Dragons, and alternate timelines, just to name a few. These range from odes and tributes to parodies, while never needing to be mean-spirited. They’re over-the-top without being overdone or obnoxious. The concepts are familiar but original, which is very hard to pull off, and they knock it out every time. Even the littlest of references are sweet. I recall an episode where Malcolm-Jamal Warner, of The Cosby Show fame, guest starred in as Andre, Shirley’s ex-huband. There’s a point around the ending where he and Jeff have a conversation, and Jeff compliments the colorful and busy sweatshirt that Andre is wearing, to which Andre simply responds with “My dad gave it to me.”.
There’s some great guest stars too. John Goodman, Betty White, Anthony Michael Hall, and probably most Communies’ favorite, LeVar Burton, due to Donald Glover’s hilarious, facial expression that came about Troy’s almost catatonic state from the mere presence of his idol, LeVar Burton himself. The freakout that Troy goes through when LeVar tries to make him break his silence by singing the opening words to the Reading Rainbow theme song is one of the most hilarious moments in the entire series thus far. Troy himself is a stand-out character from the show. He’s exactly what every nostalgic 20-something year of today is, cool and semi-geeky. During one of his many famous emotional breakdowns, he expresses his dislike of the current Cookie Crisp mascot, because “the mascot wasn’t a wizard when I was a kid, it was a burglar!”. I can immediately relate to that, minus the tears of course. Troy, along with Abed, have become an immediate fan favorite duo. At the end of almost every episode, during the credits, they are always seen doing some of the most weirdest and funniest stuff together. Spanish raps, Bert and Ernie re-enactments, krumping, seeing how many pencils they can fit in their mouths, among countless of others. But their most famous, is their fake morning talk show “Troy & Abed in the Morning”.
NBC, if you're going to cancel Community, at least give this a shot.