Community

When I was in high school, I (like many people that age) had built up a whole lot of expectations on what college would be. Those expectations were wrong. I didn’t have good grades. I didn’t find the love of my life while there. I didn’t undergo this big aesthetic change. And while I was there, I fell in love with a show. A show that was a weirdly copasetic experience for me in my darker moments. The success of a show like Community is not in its brilliant plot, or snappy direction. It’s not in the meta commentary that it gives. It is not even found in any one specific character. Rather, it is found in the characters that inhabit the world. That is always the best part of the show. I didn’t watch the last two seasons of The Office or Game of Thrones because of the riveting plot. I watched them because I had spend multiple years watching along with these characters, and many other people as well. That being said, I have in my advanced age of 25, developed a more nuanced view of what happens when a show goes into decline. You see, Community went through the same thing. And now, a brief history of the production of Dan Harmons creation, Community (2009-2015), all of which I accumulated from wikipedia.

Dan Harmon enrolled in Glendale Community College, in an attempt to get back with his girlfriend, and instead became close friends with the people in his study group, whom he had nothing in common with. He offered nothing to them, nor they to him, and yet they were friends. Sound familiar? Harmon is on record as saying that casting the show was 95% of what would determine the success of the show. So let’s take a brief decision at those choices. Joel McHale would play the character who would provide our POV in the pilot. He played the character of Jeff Winger, a disbarred lawyer who needs to acquire a bachelors degree to get back to his life. He is not here to have friends. Next up is Gillian Jacobs. She plays the character of Britta Perry. A college dropout and stoner who is easily the most political and according to the characters, the most annoying (not the actors-that comes later). Yvette Nicole Brown plays Shirley. A Christian woman, who is recently divorced and taking care of her two sons. Allison Brie’s character is Annie Edison. She is easily the most academically driven of the group, however, she the reason that she’s at a community college rather than on a scholarship at a university is because she had to go to rehab in her last semester of high school due to becoming addicted to pain killers. Her peers referred to her as Little Annie Adderall. I must now make a disclaimer: the next three characters are some of may favorites in all of TV, and provide some of the greatest comedic moments in TV history in their tenure on the campus of Greendale Community College. The first of the trinity is that of Abed Nadir, portrayed wonderfully by Dani Pudi. Abed is a film student who lives his life as though he is a supporting character in a TV show. It is about as weird as it sounds and I love every second that he is on screen. These next two characters are the most tragic in the show. Pierce Hawthorne who is played by Chevy Chase. Pierce is the most honest to himself character, which mean that he basically is willing to say whatever it is that comes into his head, which is often either racist or sexist. Usually funny, but often wildly offensive. Finally we have Donald Glovers, Troy Barnes. He and Abed make TV duo that is in my opinion, unmatched with Abed being the cartoonish one, quick to leap into any adventure, with Troy being the more realistic, albeit malleable to follow Abed wherever he wants to go.

Okay. Now that all of that is out of the way I want to talk about what happens briefly over the course of the first three seasons. They are perfect. I am totally objective, and I have watched a lot of TV, so you can take this recommendation as a guarantee. The first three seasons rock. However, at the end of the season, Dan Harmon was fired from the show. Season 4 immediately had pressure that the other seasons did not have. The godfather was gone. The production was horrible. The cast commonly refers to this season as “the gas leak season.” Due to critically much lower reviews, bad ratings, and dissension among the cast and crew (almost all surrounding Chevy Chase and accusations of blatant racism), the show was placed on an indefinite hiatus. The character of Pierce would be literally killed off of the show in the 2nd episode of season 5. However, the damage was already done. This is where the show would change forever. Not for the worse, but the last two seasons are clearly different. Dan Harmon was rehired, but the show he would be running would be very different from what he had done before. Donald Glover would make his series exit just five episodes into the new season, and the show was adding new faces at a rate that made me as a view, uncomfortable. Here is my point. As the literal show, and cast and crew of the show aged, it became more honest and self aware. Were there reasons for these characters leaving? Of course. But the show adapted, and in the finale, we see Jeff Winger watch as the rest of his friends all transition away from Greendale, but him (now a professor) staying, and he clings to them and the hope that they provided to him. It is all about the title in the finale. Perhaps the best part of any story is the ending (if done well). In life, it is somewhat the same. Having now left a community that loved me, and that I love, I can confirm its severity. It is sad, cathartic, chaotic, and adventurous.

Honestly, if you ever decide to watch this show, or have and quit when Troy leaves, keep on. The ending is beautiful.