DVD/TV Series Review: Community: Season 6

 

The sixth season of Community would be the show's last. The season was short, just thirteen episodes, and was saved by Yahoo after being canceled by NBC. There was more cast upheaval with Yvette Nicole Brown leaving the show (after Donald Glover and Chevy Chase's previous exits). Jonathan Banks, who was great in the prior season as Professor Hickey left the show to do Better Call Saul, and was definitely missed. The additions to the cast were Padget Brewster, who is a (mostly) straight-laced accountant brought in to keep the Dean from sending the school into bankruptcy, and Kieth David who plays the new IT guy for the school.

For those who get the DVD set, there are definitely not as many extras as the prior season releases got. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes, but there is a gag reel, deleted scenes, a trivia game featuring members of the cast and crew, and a behind-the-scenes featurette titled Six Seasons And A Finale.

Overall, the season is good, but not as good as it was in prior seasons, especially the first couple of seasons. I think the number of main cast members who left the show really hurt it, but the remaining cast members did do a good job. Because the show went from an over-the-air broadcast to streaming there is some swearing and more adult jokes than the show had while on NBC. And, the show had long abandoned the concept of the group being actual students. That said, if you were a fan of the prior seasons and hung in to get to the sixth season, this one is still worth checking out.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community: Season 5

 

Season five saw a lot more turnover, both behind the scenes and on camera for the show. Behind the scenes, series creator Dan Harmon returned after being fired, and the resulting mess of a fourth season. The show also saw the departure of Chevy Chase (who appeared as a hologram in the first episode and then was written out from there) and Donald Glover, who appeared on just a handful of episodes. The show was a blend of what it was in the first couple of seasons and what it had become. The zany, offbeat, episodes still occurred, including one where the cast were turned into animated characters and brought into a 1980s G.I. Joe episode (that included many of the original voice actors from the cartoon), a hot lava episode that was another school-wide competition, and another Dungeons and Dragons themed episode. But, it also did return somewhat to a focus on the school aspect and had people actually taking classes, and Jeff, who had graduated the year before, taking up teaching. It also brought back John Oliver as Professor Duncan for a few episodes (who was great in seasons one and two when he appeared) and brought in Jonathan Banks (from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) as a criminology professor.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include commentary tracks on every episode, a forty-minute feature on the writing process, a seventeen-minute feature on the G.I. Joe episode, and a short gag reel. So, a lot of good content for those who like the bonus material.

Overall, the show returns to its quality form over the dud that was season four. While I would have liked it to go even more in the direction of being in actual classes and then the study group, the show does balance the wackiness that has become a hallmark with things that do not require a ton of suspension of disbelief. Losing Glover, and even to some extent Chase, was a blow, but there are a lot of good guest stars this season that helped make up for that including LeVar Burton, Padget Brewster, David Cross, Ben Folds, Gina Gershon, Vince Gilligan, Walton Goggins, B.J. Novak, and Robert Patrick, among others. So, if you have hung with the show, even if you did not like the fourth season as much, this is a good rebound season, even if it is a bit short.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community: Season 4

 

The fourth season of Community was a mess behind the scenes with series creator Dan Harmon being fired and Chevy Chase mostly (and then finally) leaving the show over the creative direction of his character Pierce. That craziness definitely bled onto what would make it to air and the show just did not feel the same. By this point, the show has pretty much dropped all pretense about the classes the group is taking being the focus and is basically about the quirkiness of the characters and the situations they find themselves in. That is not to say that there are not funny moments, but it is a different show in season four than it was in season one.

For those who get the DVD set, for extras, there are commentary tracks on each episode which usually include the writer of the episode and one or two cast members. Donald Glover and Chevy Chase were the only members of the cast to not participate in at least one commentary track. Then there are deleted scenes, a gag reel, and some episode-specific making-of featurettes. So, if you like extras there is a lot there.

Overall, the season was okay but not as good as it had been in prior years. I think the acting was very good, but the writing was definitely not as strong as it had been, which definitely affected what made it to air. There was a strong recurring and guest cast this season including Malcolm McDowell, Jason Alexander, Sara Bareilles, Jack Black, Adam Devine, Giancarlo Esposito, Brie Larson, Tricia Helfer, Luke Perry, and Jeannie Garth, among others. I do think the season is worth watching, and thankfully the show does bounce back after this season, but just be aware that it is definitely the weak point of the series.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community Season Three

 

The third season of Community was a turning point for the show. The series was plagued by low ratings and the on-set behavior of Chevy Chase, which would lead to series creator Dan Harmon being pushed out for a time. I think because the show was in danger of cancelation, they decided to kind of say screw it, we are going to pack in as many weird "novelty" episodes as possible, that really steer away from the actual concept of the study group at school and explored the quirkiness of the show's characters. So, there are episodes that have alternate timelines, a Law and Order spoof episode, an episode where the characters are inside a video game, and an episode in which the Subway sandwich shop takes human form. There is a plot that runs through multiple episodes in which Chang tries to get control of Greendale, and the season finale really feels like a series finale because it was definitely not clear that the show would be picked up for a fourth season (which it ultimately was).

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include commentary tracks on every episode, most of which include Harmon and various members of the cast and crew. Then there are three different gag reels, one on each disc, deleted scenes, a making-of feature on the Christmas episode, and a documentary about the documentary-themed episode, "This is War: Pillows vs. Blankets". So, a good amount of material, but we do not get the entertaining cast evaluations (because of the Harmon-Chase fallout most likely) and the Dj Porter remix of the season.

Overall, the show is still very good this season. The most notable cast moves are that Rim Rash was promoted to a series regular, and John Goodman was brought in for a major recurring role. Sadly, John Oliver did not reprise his role, but the show did bring in actors such as Michael K. Williams, Luis Guzmán, Rob Corddry, Michael Ironside, Giancarlo Esposito, French Stewart, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner. The writing was clever, if not a bit weird, and the acting was very good. So, if you are a fan of the series, you will probably enjoy this season.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community Season Two

 

The second season of Community keeps the same format, overall, as the first. It has a weekly theme such as a new class, a death of a family member, celebrating a birthday, etc., and then inserts the wacky characters into those scenarios/stories. So, in some ways, it is a show about nothing, much like Seinfeld was, but it always keeps the running gag of Jeff (played by Joel McHale) needing to get a real undergrad degree in order to be reinstated as a lawyer, which to any lawyer makes absolutely no sense. But, ultimately, it works. There is also another paintball episode (that is actually split into two parts this season) which ultimately became one of the hallmarks of the show. The show balanced the large ensemble cast well and expanded role for Ken Jeong, and really took the focus away from it being the Jeff and Britta show, and really focused on all of the characters.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include commentary tracks on every episode which included the series creator Dan Harmon and members of the cast, directors, writers, etc. Then there were outtakes, deleted scenes, a featurette on the paintball episode, a couple of features on the Christmas episode, season two cast evaluations, and a musical remix of season one. So, a good amount of material for those who like the bonus features.

Overall, the show continues to be great. My only real complaint is that there was John Oliver's role in the show was still very small. He was a great recurring character that was used pretty sparingly (likely because of his Daily Show commitments). The main recurring characters this season were Jim Rash who played Dean Pelton, Malcolm Hamal Warner, Betty White, Andy Dick, and Kevin Corrigan. It also had a great spate of guest stars including LeVar Burton, Drew Carey, Rob Corddry, Hillary Duff, Anthony Michael Hall, Josh Holloway, Patton Oswalt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Paul F. Tompkins, and Matt Walsh. It was a great season for a show that, while it did carry on a lot of sitcom traditions, it was definitely not a carbon copy of anything else on TV, and rarely passed up an opportunity to make fun of itself. I definitely recommend it.

DVD/TV Series Review: Community Season One

 

Community is a sitcom that ran from 2009 to 2015. It starred Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a lawyer who was disbarred for obtaining a fraudulent law degree. He is forced to (for some reason) go back to community college to get an undergrad degree so he can restore his law degree. Of course, anyone with any knowledge of the legal profession knows that everything about that is totally preposterous, but in a goofy comedy, it works fine. Winger wants to get through school with the least amount of resistance possible, tries to find the easiest classes to take, and forms a study group with an interesting mix of students. The rest of the main cast included Allison Brie as Annie, a recent high-school graduate who was the classic over-achiever who popped Adderall, Danny Pudi as Abed, an aspiring film student who sees everything through a pop-culture movie or tv show lens, Gillian Jacobs as Britta, a mid-30s cynic trying to figure out what to do with her life, Donald Glover as Troy, an ex high-school football star who personifies the "dumb jock" persona, Yvette Nicole Brown as a middle-aged housewife going to school to put her life back together after a divorce, and Chevy Chase who plays Pierce, a rich, old racist who keeps enrolling in school for something to do. The recurring season one cast included Ken Jeong as Senor Chang, the Spanish teacher who could barely speak Spanish, Jim Rash as the very politically correct Dean of the school (who would become series regulars in subsequent seasons), and John Oliver and John Michael Higgins and professors at the school.

In the first season, the focus of the show was on character development and the school storylines, basically the weird mix of people you get at community college. The show hit home for me as I was, at the time, a lawyer going back to undergrad to get an engineering degree, and I started out by taking classes at a local community college, and there was definitely a weird mix of personalities around campus. The show is basically a story-of-the-week show that has some kind of theme either involving something in the lives of one or more of the characters, or something going on at the school. Toward the end of the season, we get the first of what would become a signature for the series, the paintball episode in which the winner of a school-wide game of paintball gets priority registration the next semester. Of course, the game gets totally out of hand, and the paintball episodes get crazier and crazier as the show went on.

For those who get the DVD set, the extras include audio commentary on every episode with series creator Dan Harmon and various members of the cast. There are also a couple of short mockumentary features, including cast evaluations in which Harmon evaluates the performance of each cast member. There are a few mini-episodes, deleted and alternate scenes, a season highlight reel, and an extended cut of the episode "Communication Studies". A lot of material for those who like watching the extras.

Overall, the show is very good. It is very well-written and well-acted, even if the main cast was made up of mostly unknown actors (aside from Chase; who if rumors about his on-set behavior are to be believed, thought he was better than everyone and treated everyone else like shit) and the guy who hosted "The Soup". While the main premise of the show is totally preposterous, the fact that much of the show was very tongue-in-cheek and did not take itself too seriously, it worked. While it did include some elements common to pretty much every sitcom, it was not a carbon copy of anything and had no problem making fun of pretty much any topic. So, if you have not seen the show and are trying to figure out if you should give it a chance, it is well worth watching.