Since it was first created, Community has never gotten the respect it deserves. Consistently one of the most cleverly written shows on television, Community blends countless obscure references with out-of-the-box plotlines to keep the viewer entertained and intrigued week after week. I do not mean to put down fellow primetime comedies such as The Office and Big Bang Theory but, although funny, they are extremely formulaic. Every episode features the same one or two dimensional characters following the same basic skeleton of a story line. A situation is introduced at the beginning of an episode, and the audience can pretty much predict how each character will react, and what they will say. Take for example, The Office. You can expect Jim to mess with Dwight in some way, Stanley and Kevin to throw in a one liner about hating their job and misunderstanding a situation respectively, and Pam to have a 'unexpected' connection to one of the characters in the show, recently depicted by her new found friendship with Nellie. Although, admittedly, I enjoy these shows and will often laugh at the jokes within, I have a very skin deep appreciation for the writing as a whole. Community, on the other hand, displays layers upon layers of depth. The writers are constantly rewarding their die hard fans by adding little 'easter eggs' and callbacks to previous episodes.
The most praiseworthy aspect of the show is by far their willingness to take risks. Contrary to the strict pattern-following of so many other sitcoms out there today, Community is forever willing to break the mold and dedicate full episodes to a completely different format, leading to some of the most entertaining and memorable moments in all of television. Arguably the most popular episode of the series thus far, entitled Modern Warfare, perfectly encapsulates their style of chance taking that has become somewhat of a signature for Community. From the very beginning of the episode, the audience is fully enclosed in a war-zone, one that just so happens to be riddled with paintball guns. The regular cast members take on the roles of war movie heroes and villains. There are countless references to action movies including The Matrix, Rambo, and Scarface, as the multi-talented cast displays their acting chops while consistently maintaining an air of deep rooted humor, giving the episode endless replay value. Other noteworthy episodes include Contemporary American Poultry, a well-written parody of mafia movies, namely The Goodfellas, as well as Pillows and Blankets, a Civil War episode pitting best friends Troy and Abed, against each other as an epic battle breaks out between Pillowtown, a large pillow fort, and Blanketsburg, a fort made of blankets. The episode is shot like a Ken Burn's documentary as the narration and dialogue is sprinkled with clever references and allusions. More outrageous formats include a Christmas episode done almost entirely in claymation and another episode stylized to look like a retro 8-bit video game. In addition, Community doesn't rely on easy ploys like laugh tracks or the new 'documentary' style of camera work adopted by shows like The Office or Modern Family. In fact, the writers even poke fun at the 'documentary' style shows by explaining how easy it is to combine dramatic and comedic plot lines with this type of format, summed up by the punchline "fish in a barrel."
Unfortunately, Community's cleverness might be a bit to advanced for its own good. The show simply doesn't bring in the big numbers that NBC smash hits 30 Rock and The Office do. Part of this problem can definitely be attributed to the shows time slot. They have consistently gotten beaten by Big Bang Theory on Thursdays at 8:00pm. The issue isn't all Community, however. When NBC power house 30 Rock was put against Big Bang Theory, their ratings took a big hit as well. So perhaps Big Bang Theory is the bigger reason behind the poor numbers, but nevertheless, NBC seems to have a problem with Community. They have pulled the show out of the NBC line up time and time again, fired the show creator and main driving force behind the creativity, Dan Harmon, and pushed the show to Friday nights, a near death sentence time slot for a show with such a young fan base. As if this wasn't bad enough, the show's air date, originally scheduled for October 19th, continues to be pushed back. Fans eagerly await the return of the show, however it seems like 'good' numbers are a near impossibility considering the circumstances. I believe that Community will one day receive the appreciation it deserves, perhaps following in the footsteps of cult favorite Arrested Development, which was also under-appreciated while on the air and has since gained a huge following, resulting in new seasons and a movie deal.
For those of you who have missed out on following the show, I will give you a little taste of some clever moments that have occurred thus far. One of the more subtle easter eggs is one that has stretched over the first three seasons. A cast member says the name 'Beetlejuice' once in each season and on the third time, you can see Beetlejuice walk by in the background. This, of course, is an allusion to the movie in which saying the name three times causes the dead man to appear. Also, check out this promo for the pushed-back season 4. The cast pokes fun at the delay by describing October 19th as a state of mind rather than an actual date. An additional subtle reference within the promo include the dean stating that he allowed Annie's Boobs to have its own show. This is a reference to the monkey from Community, named 'Annie's Boobs,' being the very same monkey in the new, now cancelled show, Animal Practice.
(Beetlejuice Easter Egg)
(Season 4 Promo)
