“Community”: The Meta-est Sitcom Ever

where to watch: Hulu AND Netflix

when to watch: when you want a hilarious and extremely smart sitcom

you should note: the 4th season is generally agreed to be the worst as that is the season creator Dan Harmon left for

tl;dr: 7 misfits in a “study group” + a crazy “teacher” + an eccentric Dean at a community college = hilarity

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Community is a TV lover’s dream. More than any other show or movie I have ever seen, it is a show about entertainment, about TV shows and movies and tropes. Every episode has tens of pop culture references. It is quite possibly the most meta show I have ever seen. And I love it. There are episodes that make fun of mockumentary style comedies, westerns, musicals, action movies—basically every genre ever. It’s a sitcom that’s a parody of sitcoms. It’s brilliant and so funny. I can’t get over how effectively Community balances the funniest, cleverest one-liner jokes with entirely outrageous shenanigans.

If you haven’t watched this show yet, now is the perfect time. If you have, rewatch it! 

background 

If you are unfamiliar with the show, it first aired on NBC from 2009-2014. Its sixth season was picked up by Yahoo (Yahoo tried to have a streaming service??). It follows a group misfits at a community college. There’s Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), a disbarred lawyer, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) a Christian mother with a baking obsession, Britta (Gillian Jacobs) a high school dropout/wannabe activist, Annie (Alison Brie), an overachieving goody-two shoes, Troy (Donald Glover), a high school quarterback who lost his college scholarship to an injury, Pierce (Chevy Chase), a bigoted old guy, and  Abed (Danny Pudi), an aspiring filmmaker obsessed with pop culture. 

This unlikely group is randomly thrust together and forms a “Study Group” that we almost never see study. Instead, they get involved in all kinds of schemes and hijinks, sometimes caused by one of the group, but as often because of another crazy idea from Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and his ridiculous costumes. Oh, also Ken Jeong plays Chang. Chang is indescribable; he is an enigma. You cannot understand Chang unless you watch the show.

This show is star-studded (Donald Glover’s TV debut! Alison Brie, who I am obsessed with! John Oliver as a psych professor!). It’s fun. It’s so funny. It’s easy to love. 

in conclusion

Let me leave you with one exchange, a joke from early in season 1, which solidified my love for this show.

In Episode 6 of Season 1, Jeff says to Abed, “It makes the group uncomfortable when you talk about us like we’re characters in a show you’re watching.” Abed responds, “Well, that’s sort of my gimmick. But we did lean on it pretty hard last week. I can lay low for an episode.”

I mean, COME ON!!

Let me leave you with one exchange, a joke from early in season 1, which solidified my love for this show.