Community (Season 6)

By: Robert Murphy

It's not entirely out of the question for a show to worry about whether or not it will be back for another season the following year but one show perhaps takes the cake for not only worrying about that fact but making large jokes at that expense. Community ended it's fifth season with a touching goodbye which left the school still standing and somehow still a school but did not seem to be coming back any time soon. The internet had something to say about that though as the sixth season aired it's thirteen episode season on Yahoo Screen. Whether this was a good or a bad thing remained to be seen so as a long time fan I was determined to give the show the benefit of the doubt as I've always done and see just what tricks lay in store. 

The formula for our main cast stays pretty much the same as it always has over the past couple of years. It is now the sixth year or "season" as Abed (Danny Pudi) will often refer to it as and somehow the group is all still here but that is in order to save the school from finally imploding on itself. Jeff (Joel McHale) is still teaching law or barely teaching I should say, one of his desk drawers actually being an ice box for his scotch is evidence of how much he is trying to teach. Britta (Gillian Jacobs) has fallen on tough times and is now homeless but still fighting the good fight against everything having to do with the government. And then finally you have the always hardworking Annie (Alison Brie) who starts the first episode happily excited in completing the last item on the save Greendale agenda. This joy however is offset when decades of brightly colored frisbees come crashing down around each and every one of them. It's in this moment that you realize it is a good thing that the formula hasn't changed and that things will remain much in the same ridiculous fashion that they always have been. 

A big fear for me with the transition into online streaming was whether or not things would be inherently different but this doesn't seem to be the case. The only noticeable difference as the show makes this transition is perhaps in it's budget as items throughout the show appear to be slightly downgraded from it's NBC days. This doesn't stop the show from being handled with the same level of care and returning to it's original ways all those years ago when it first aired.

New characters are nothing new to the series, the addition of Jonathon Banks as the Intro to Criminology teacher and new member of the group proved to be a real winner in my eyes. Community hoped to continue this trend with the addition of two new members now that more people than ever have gone and left the show for their various reason. First we have Frankie Dart (Paget Brewster) who is a big pencil pusher type that joins the group now that it is no longer about studying and more about saving Greendale from getting shut down. She knows all the ins and outs to help them in a bigger fashion but she doesn't click with the group at first as she acts much like Abed with a robotic sense of human interaction. It also doesn't help that she comes in and takes charge of most everything leading to a classic Community theme of turning the whole school into some sort of era time piece, this time it was a 1920's speakeasy. Frankie gives a very adult approach to everything that goes on at the school which is where her humor lies, while everyone else including Jeff should be acting more adult they often goof off and cause things like a giant paintball game that destroys the school, an episode and event which I was happy to see return.

We then have our other new member who does the impossible and tricks Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) into buying an outdated three dimensional program for the school. The show continues to stay at the forefront when it comes to it's pop culture references like this one but it would seem that this 3D system is more like something out of a bad 90's film than the ground breaking stuff that is happening today. The man responsible for this is Elroy (Keith David) and he that one character that had the get rich quick scheme and was suppose to be rocketed into fame and fortune but is now living out of an R/V selling these terrible systems. He sort of becomes the Pierce (Chevy Chase) of the group who is lost in some other time period with his mannerisms and ideas but somehow he fits in with the group. Elroy is perhaps my favorite new character as I really liked the idea of an older guy trying to fit in with a younger group of people, it works in an odd sort of dynamic and certainly creates some good one off jokes that Community does so well.

The shows brand of pop culture humor and unique ways of branding things were one of it's best points way back when and I feel this is where this new season want to return to. You don't have Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed together with their childlike imaginations to inspire a huge school wide transformation and yet through years of being around Troy and Abed the group picked up this little ability and sends the school back to the 1920's as I said earlier. You then have moments in the episode "Advanced Safety Features) where Britta's boyfriend returns once again after he was expelled for trying to sell exclusive products to students and the school in the first season. The entire episode is one big plug for Honda and their new line of vehicles but at the same time it doesn't feel like a plug, you're bringing the audience in on the joke and it works wonderfully. You then have episodes like "Modern Espionage" and "Intro to Recycled Cinema" where they make reference to James Bond and the other being about making a crummy space movie staring Chang (Ken Jeong), clearly poking fun at Star Wars. "Modern Espionage" being my favorite for their recreation of the famous elevator scene in Captain America: Winter Soldier and the Dean somehow taking out a group of muscle headed maintenance men.

I am not entirely sure what the future holds for Community as the final episode makes obvious reference to Abed's quote of a good show making six seasons and a movie but the entire episode makes me question that ability as the crew says another heartfelt goodbye to one another. This season however was a return to form an classic show moments with huge paintball fights, school wide transformations and references to pop culture and modern trends. While not every episode hit for me, it's hard to find any show that would, but everything felt like a return to form for the show and now we must wait to see if that movie is just around the corner.

Good:

- A classic return to form for Community

- Original characters like Jeff, Abed and Annie are still doing what they do best

- New characters Frankie and Elroy are great additions

Bad:

- A few hit or miss episodes

- Some downgraded prop design and effects with the transition to Yahoo

Scully Rating: 8.7 out of 10