Community (TV series)

Community (TV series). *Community* is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for its first five seasons before concluding its run on Yahoo! Screen. Created by Dan Harmon, the series is celebrated for its meta-humor, genre-bending parody episodes, and deeply character-driven stories set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional community college. It developed a dedicated cult following and has been praised for its innovative approach to the television comedy format.

Premise and setting

The series primarily takes place at the fictional Greendale Community College in the Colorado suburbs, a poorly funded institution with a bizarre staff and student body. After his law degree is discovered to be invalid, disgraced lawyer Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) enrolls at Greendale to obtain a legitimate bachelor's degree. He forms a Spanish study group as a pretext to spend time with a fellow student, which inadvertently brings together a diverse and mismatched cohort. This core group, which becomes a found family, navigates the absurdities of community college life, engaging in everything from epic paintball wars to elaborate heist parodies and explorations of multiple alternate timelines. The setting allowed the show to experiment with high-concept episodes that paid homage to genres like documentary filmmaking, zombie apocalypse films, and stop motion animation.

Cast and characters

The ensemble cast revolves around the seven members of the study group. Joel McHale portrays the slick, self-serving Jeff Winger, while Gillian Jacobs plays the emotionally needy and manipulative Britta Perry. Danny Pudi earned acclaim for his role as the pop-culture-obsessed Abed Nadir, whose meta-awareness often drives the show's most inventive plots. Yvette Nicole Brown portrays the devoutly Christian and kind-hearted Shirley Bennett, and Alison Brie plays the over-achieving but insecure Annie Edison. Donald Glover brought his unique comedic timing to the role of the former high school football star Troy Barnes, and Chevy Chase played the bigoted, out-of-touch millionaire Pierce Hawthorne. Notable recurring and supporting characters include the unhinged Spanish professor Ben Chang (Ken Jeong), the cynical dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash), and the maintenance worker Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks). Cast changes occurred in later seasons, with the departures of Donald Glover and Chevy Chase, and additions like John Oliver as Professor Ian Duncan and Paget Brewster as Frankie Dart.

Production and development

Dan Harmon developed the series based loosely on his own experiences attending Glendale Community College. Sony Pictures Television produced the show, with Russ Krasnoff and Gary Foster serving as executive producers alongside Harmon. The series was known for its tumultuous production history, including Harmon's very public firing after the third season and subsequent re-hiring for the fifth. This period saw the brief involvement of showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio. The show's distinctive voice was heavily influenced by Harmon's "story circle" writing philosophy and a writers' room that included future notable creators like Chris McKenna and Megan Ganz. After NBC canceled the series following its fifth season, a fan campaign helped secure a sixth and final season on the streaming platform Yahoo! Screen.

Episodes and seasons

The series comprises 110 episodes across six seasons, with the first three seasons airing on NBC as part of its prestigious "Must See TV" Thursday night lineup. Landmark episodes include the paintball epic "Modern Warfare" (season one), the clip show parody "Paradigms of Human Memory" (season two), and the alternate reality episode "Remedial Chaos Theory" (season three), the latter often cited as one of the greatest television episodes of all time. Later seasons continued the tradition with concept episodes like the puppet-themed "Intro to Recycled Cinema" (season five) and the series finale "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television" (season six). The show's run was marked by several scheduling shifts and reduced episode orders, particularly in its later years on NBC.

Reception and legacy

While never a major ratings success, *Community* received critical acclaim, earning a Peabody Award in 2010 and nominations for Primetime Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series. Its passionate fanbase, often referred to as "Human Beings" after a Greendale Community College mascot, championed the show with the rallying cry "#SixSeasonsAndAMovie," referencing a line from the show. The series has had a lasting impact on television comedy, influencing a wave of meta-fictional and genre-savvy shows. Its alumni, particularly Donald Glover and Alison Brie, have gone on to significant success in projects like *Atlanta* and *GLOW*. The promised movie, long a subject of speculation, was officially announced to be in development with Peacock in 2022, with Dan Harmon and Andrew Guest attached to produce.