Welcome to a new Sitcom Tuesday! This week, I’m continuing my look at Community (2009-2014, NBC; 2015, Yahoo!), which is currently available on DVD/Blu-Ray and streaming!
Community stars JOEL McHALE as Jeff, GILLIAN JACOBS as Britta, DANNY PUDI as Abed, YVETTE NICOLE BROWN as Shirley, ALISON BRIE as Annie, KEN JEONG as Chang, and JIM RASH as Dean Pelton. With DONALD GLOVER and JONATHAN BANKS.
Season Five tweaks Community‘s situation to justify its continued existence. Not only does Jeff return to Greendale as a teacher, he also helps convince his former study group — minus the departed Pierce — to re-enroll. And from there they continue to gather as part of a Student-Teacher committee. It’s a logical bit of self-preservation, and the show treats it like a fresh start — especially because it comes from someone eager to clean the slate: Dan Harmon. The show’s beloved creator returned after a disappointing fourth year from which he was publicly excluded, and I admit, his presence is even more obvious than his absence. Episodes are back to looking like movies, with less traditional sitcom ideas. There are more committed genre parodies and metatheatrical underpinnings, along with a better command on how to support those conceptual gimmicks with character stakes. It’s, simply, an improvement, for the show feels more like itself again. However, that improvement only goes so far, for this is a show dependent on having fresh things to spoof. And by this point in the run, it doesn’t offer much that’s novel and therefore creatively satisfying. Meanwhile, the core regulars — particularly Jeff — have already completed their main emotional arcs, so their helpfulness in story is limited. What’s more, the ensemble is just weaker overall; Professor Hickey (Jonathan Banks) is a comedically diluted stand-in for Pierce, and the departure of Troy after only five weeks further reduces the elements of the situation that are at the show’s narrative disposal. Accordingly, there’s nothing great by way of character either — with the show’s ability to affirm its gimmicks via them not as strong as before because both sides of the equation, the quality of these ideas and the configuration of the cast, have eroded. In that regard, Five is a continuation of the trends we were already observing prior to Harmon’s leave, only accelerated by these unideal losses. And while this year is better than Four for how it reflects Community‘s situation in style, narratively and with character, it’s not meaningfully better. As an idea-driven show, it just can’t be.
01) Episode 86: “Introduction To Teaching” (Aired: 01/02/14)
Jeff adjusts to teaching, especially with Annie as his student.
Written by Andy Bobrow | Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar
Season Five’s first two episodes serve, per the title of the premiere, as a “Repilot,” tweaking and re-presenting the situation so that the series can literally continue. That first half hour has more to do — i.e., getting Jeff back to Greendale as a professor and the rest of the cast (everyone but Pierce) back as students. So, this follow-up (which originally aired immediately after) is able to have more fun, comedically exploring the idea of what Jeff is like as a teacher, with support from Annie. Okay, yes, this is all only to earn the final Student-Teacher group that justifies their further gathering — which also allows more appearances by Hickey as a milder “old guy” replacement for Pierce. But Harmon and crew are deft at reestablishing Community‘s world, with the type of meta media-on-media jokes (see: the “is Nicholas Cage a good or bad actor?” class) that are unique to the show and thus ideal at affirming its projection of self.
02) Episode 87: “Basic Intergluteal Numismatics” (Aired: 01/09/14)
Jeff and Annie try to track down the campus’ notorious Ass Crack Bandit.
Written by Erik Sommers | Directed by Tristram Shapeero
Now that Dan Harmon’s back, Community is once again asserting its interest in genre parodies — the kind that reinforce its media-on-media meta, a trademark part of its comic identity. This installment is notable because of how it indulges everything from the sheer aesthetic to tangible narrative tropes of TV crime dramas — enabling a classic bit of genre lampooning that harkens back to this series’ best years, when it was at the peak of its powers. Now, no, I don’t think this is one of the show’s finest in that subcategory — I’d like more of a character foundation, personally — but I would say that this is one of Season Five’s funniest, boasting the Ass Crack Bandit, a naturally amusing notion that plays beautifully when taken so uber-seriously.
03) Episode 88: “Cooperative Polygraphy” (Aired: 01/16/14)
The group must undergo polygraph tests as a condition of Pierce’s will.
Written by Alex Rubens | Directed by Tristram Shapeero
My choice for this season’s Most Valuable Episode (MVE), “Cooperative Polygraphy” is a de facto sequel to Season Two’s classic “Cooperative Calligraphy.” It’s another bottle show that mostly concerns the main characters on their main set, the study room. And this design, as we know, is great because the unity of time, place, and action forces an emphasis on the regulars and their interactions, with little room for distraction. That’s wonderful for Community because it gives us a chance to appreciate just how distinct and well-defined they all are. And although there are meta in-show and out-show references here that serve to remind of the series’ idea-based focus, it’s all in support and reflection of the show’s situation — so much so that this becomes a stand-out entry. Of course, the whole story is narratively purposeful also — helping smooth over the transition from the Pierce era and setting up Troy’s departure. But that extra dramatic weight comes from the characters and their relationships, and with that guide, it’s a tribute to them. The sort of tribute they don’t get very often — at least, not in an outing that also feels like a conceptually good sample of the series’ ethos. (Walton Goggins guests.)
04) Episode 89: “Geothermal Escapism” (Aired: 01/23/14)
Abed organizes a school-wide “The Floor Is Lava” game in honor of Troy’s last day.
Written by Tim Saccardo | Directed by Joe Russo
Troy’s last appearance is a variation on the series’ recurring Paintball match, only this time the game is “The Floor Is Lava” — a setup that reveals how Season Five is struggling to come up with fresh ideas that enable the show’s stylistic intentions. However, it’s also a distinction that’s big enough to let this idea be appreciated on its own, which is not the case with Five’s other less creative retreads (see below). It also helps that this plot is supported, like the above, by the emotional weight of Troy’s exit, which isn’t what we want as a development unto itself, but nevertheless provides natural character-rooted support that plants all the hijinks inside the situation, attaching to the elements that, regardless of their narrative primacy, are essential.
05) Episode 92: “App Development And Condiments” (Aired: 03/06/14)
Jeff and Shirley face off when the school adopts a new app where users rate each other.
Written by Jordan Blum & Parker Deay | Directed by Rob Schrab
One of my personal favorites, this underrated excursion boasts a fresh and funny idea that allows for the series’ trademark sense of parody. Here, the show pays homage to the dystopian sci-fi genre (with explicit allusions to Logan’s Run and Zardoz) in a story where the entire school becomes obsessed with a fictional app that lets users rate each other. This creates a whole new power structure that, surprise, is socially corruptive. There’s a lot of media-on-media fun in that setup alone. But what’s really great is how it’s supported by the characters — specifically, a rivalry between Jeff and Shirley, who both amass power in this new world. It creatively provides more emotional insight into them as characters. And helps ground the lampoon inside the situation, reminding us of what Community used to be able to do more often.
Other notable entries that merit mention include: “Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons” and “G.I. Jeff” [a.k.a. “Government Issue Jeff”], two so-so conceptual episodes that recycle prior gimmicks but don’t iterate on them in ways that are uniquely valuable for the characters. I’ll also take this space to cite the solid and aforementioned premiere, “Repilot,” and the year’s finale, “Basic Sandwich,” a story-heavy affair that tries to provide some emotional closure in case this was the series’ end (it was, but only on NBC); it just still lacks the kind of true character stakes seen at the end of Season Three (and, eventually, Six).
*** The MVE Award for the Best Episode from Season Five of Community goes to…
“Cooperative Polygraphy”
Come back next week for Season Six! And stay tuned tomorrow for a new Wildcard!