KJ Pettis 

Community follows seven students (Jeff, Britta, Abed, Troy, Annie, Shirley, and Pierce) enrolled at Greendale Community College. They’re brought together by a fake study group put together by Jeff. Despite their vastly different personalities, everyone unexpectedly becomes friends, and they continue to study together whenever they aren’t involved in various comedic situations. 

From 2009 to 2015, the show’s niche style of humor struggled to connect with audiences as much as other NBC shows did—the final season didn’t even air on the network. It was canceled but later picked up by Yahoo! Screen. 

However, after being added to Netflix in 2020, it developed a cult following. With this newfound traction, a movie was announced in 2022, fulfilling the show’s “six seasons and a movie” running gag. Community offers a pleasurable and entertaining experience, featuring unique characters, imaginative meta-humor, and incisive social commentary.  

While I enjoy all of the main characters, my favorites are Jeff and Troy. Jeff Winger, the egotistical, yet charismatic “leader” of the group, always does the bare minimum to succeed, even if that means cheating. Having been disbarred from his law firm for having a fake college degree, he decides to enroll at Greendale. Troy Barnes, played by the renowned Donald Glover, joins the study group as an arrogant jock who was the star quarterback at his high school. After befriending Abed, though, his ego dissipates as he learns to embrace his more naive and vulnerable traits.  

As I mentioned earlier, Community employs a great deal of meta-humor and social commentary. The former doesn’t always land for me, though. I think sometimes they try too hard to subvert expectations and deviate from a trope. It’s usually creative enough to work, though, like in “Remedial Chaos Theory”, when Jeff unintentionally creates six different timelines by rolling a die.  

One reviewer enjoys that the episode “makes room for all of these little moments and beats while still sticking to a ridiculous framework that includes seven separate timelines, each filled to the brim with wonderful in-jokes and callbacks to other timelines and distinct tonal baselines.” 

“Remedial Chaos Theory” received critical acclaim for its innovation, with many considering it not only one of the best episodes of the series, but one of the greatest sitcom episodes of all time (Rolling Stone Australia ranked it No. 15 in “The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time”).  

One of the best examples of the show exploring social commentary is the episode “Intro to Political Science.” Jeff and Annie are among the students running in the school election. While Annie has actual aspirations to improve Greendale, Jeff is running for menial reasons. Though he doesn’t win, he initially persuades everyone just by saying things they want to hear. This episode draws similarities to our most recent presidential election, despite premiering fifteen years ago. Donald Trump’s status as a wealthy businessman bought him a lot of votes, akin to Jeff. Society disregarded his ineffective policies and limited political experience just because he said “the right things”. There were other, more qualified candidates running against him, but unfortunately, they didn’t have the same overall influence. 

Often, when entertainment explores societal issues, audiences feel like the message is overstated or “on the nose”. However,  “The Hilltopper” newspaper (from Morris Hills High School in New Jersey) believes that Community is the exception. The article says that “the show rarely sacrifices humor for emotion or vice versa. It features a well-rounded, lovable character with Asperger’s [Abed], but never leans towards preachy, and treats its diverse cast as normal rather than expecting a pat on the back for featuring any people of color at all (looking at you, Disney).” 

If you haven’t already, I recommend checking Community out. It’s more than deserving of the popularity it’s gained, and I hope it increases with the upcoming movie. The humor isn’t for everyone, so you might not enjoy it as much as I do. But I think the social commentary and characters can resonate with even the most hesitant viewer. You’ll never know unless you give it a shot.  

Headline image from Wallpaper House.