Written By Harris Kassim
Few weeks ago in March, it was reported that Community is available on Netflix streaming platform starting April 1st, and I can’t be more thrilled and ecstatic regarding their decision. Community has been one of those underperformed series that has a huge cult-following after all the drama that the series got into; From production disputes, prominent actors leaving the show and somehow it also involves a streaming platform from Yahoo! (remember your email ten years ago?). Let’s take a walk into the history of Community and what holds for the future of this beloved cancelled series.
Initially I discovered this show by accident about 8 years ago, because I’m a huge fan of Childish Gambino (also known as Donald Glover) as he’s one of the main cast. Since then, there is no other series that have the similar dynamic in terms of characters and storytelling as good as Community did. The series made its debut in 2009 during the peak popularity of NBC’s most beloved series The Office, and Parks & Recreations. Being a show about a group of late twenties misfits in a community college setting is surely questionable at first, but that’s what makes the series so different from the other ones. It has a fresh take on humor about actual people in real life that rarely gets talk about in the media.
The ‘community’ or The Greendale Seven (as what they called themselves) consists of a fraud lawyer, a low-esteemed feminist, a divorced mother, a jock in disguised, an anxious narcissistic, a Muslim with asperger and an lonely but rich old white man. By that statement you might think that I’m joking, but it’s hundred percent. The way these characters have their own unique personalities is what makes them compatible as a group. Then there’s also side characters that also get their own shine once in a while such as the dean of the college, an Asian Spanish teacher, and a monkey. Yes, a monkey and his name is ‘Annie’s Boob’. You’ll get it once you watch the show.
Another thing that put Community above every other sitcom is the conceptualization of the episodes. Each of the seasons has an overarching plot that leads on its finales and that’s normal. But in the midst of it all, Community provides some of the best homages or parody of movies and television shows out there such as Law and Order, Star Wars and Zodiac, just to name a few. One of the characters, Abed likes to be ‘meta’ and treats his daily life like he’s in a movie which allows them to make these kinds of special episodes. The show was so innovative at the time with this approach but it didn’t get as much appreciation as it deserved Most notable concept episodes in my opinion are “App Development and Condiments”, “Contemporary American Poultry”, “Basic Lupine Urology” and “Critical Film Studies”.
So what went wrong? Why does almost nobody ever heardhear of this show but never get tired of The Office? Well, Community has a very rough journey in television ever since its debut. Plus, the setting of being in a community college is definitely fresh, but apparently not as relatable as working in an office with Michael Scott as their boss. Not-so-fun fact, Community was struggling with being in the midst of cancellation during the end of its third season. When it got renewed for the fourth one, Dan Harmon, the creator of the series got fired as the showrunner, and that’s when it all went downhill.
Season 4 has been known as the least favorite season of Community among die-hard fans. It was famously coined as “The Gas Leak Season”. With the inconsistency in character traits, to the most absurd plot that makes no sense for them to be in; It burnt the beloved series to the ground and finally, cancelled.
But surprise, surprise! The cast and the fans of the show never lost hope and the show finally got renewed with the returning of Dan Harmon as their showrunner. Season 5 is where things are starting to go back on track as the episodes are far much better in quality compared to the previous one. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, two of its actors decided to leave the show. Donald Glover and Chevy Chase left, which took a turn for the show into a different path.
By the sixth season, it feels like it’s not the same show that you watched back in the first season. The final season was picked up by Yahoo Screen, which is now a defunct streaming platform. Most of them are not even students anymore, new characters are starting to be a part of the group and in some way, it feels off. Despite all of that, some of the episodes are decent, they still remain as a community, helping each other throughout their crazy journey. The series finale is probably the most bittersweet episode they ever made and a memorable one for sure.
Now that the show is available on Netflix (finally!), let’s hope that it will receive the amount of gratitude that it deserved from the new audience. There were talks that maybe in the near future, Community might get a movie made, which was being hyped for years ever since the first few seasons. Community is definitely the most genius and inventive television shows ever, and you cannot miss this one. #SixSeasonsAndAMovie
