Here is the most refreshing, original, and funny comedy that nobody is watching. In jeopardy of being cancelled since its first season back in 2009, the irregular ratings made investing in Community feel like a gamble.
Contending against a network that cut their seasons short, postponed premieres, and lacked an adequate publicity campaign, the writing team never shied away from producing a show whose crowning feature is a tendency to eat up comedy tropes like a meta wood chipper, and reconstruct them into some of the funniest lines on TV: a mythology of pop culture references, a Dungeons & Dragons themed episode, and the heart-warming Troy and Abed bromance.
Alongside this is a cast that boasts impeccable comic timing, ranging from Britta Perry, the anarchist cat owner with unresolved political issues and a hatred for police that is only mitigated by her remarkable love for cats, to Shirley Bennett, a God-fearing divorcée, who joins community college in order to get a business degree so she can sell baked goods on the net. Couple this with a team of writers so in touch with their fan base, it almost seems impossible: frequently answering forum questions, tweeting and re-tweeting fans, and promoting original content made by fans about the show, Community’s creative team is intent on delivering to its loyal base.
It takes just a few episodes to get hooked, and it won’t be long until you’ve adopted the characters’ handshake as your own, you’re singing songs from their (heavily ironically) Glee themed episode and you think ‘Chang’ and ‘Dean’ are acceptable substitutes for words.
Confused? You shouldn’t be – if all this sounds like something you’d enjoy (or even if not, really) it’s not a matter of where you’ll become a fan, constable, but when.