Community

Jeff Winger was a brilliant lawyer, until someone revealed he had no diploma. Now he has to join a community college to get one. At least, this lame situation has its perks. A cute blonde named Britta, for example. But the young lady isn’t so easily seduced by this smooth talker. Jeff has the idea of creating a study group and inviting her to join. What he hadn’t counted on was 5 other people joining the group. Abed, autistic and one of a kind, who wants to become a film director; Troy, a wounded sportsman searching for a vocation; Annie, secretly in love with him, who wants to help everyone; Shirley, a forty-something mother who wants to start her own business, and Pierce, a bored, libidinous, racist old businessman. To say that these seven have nothing in common is an understatement. Yet they’re all in the same boat, and little by little, they become a group of friends. Better still, a community!

Lame is the new fashion !

From the outset, the series assumes its quirky side and allows itself all kinds of delirium, from the most crude to the most subtle. Granted, going to a community college is less sexy than going to one of the Ivy league. Glendale (the college) has very few resources, which means mediocre teachers (excellent Ken Jeong and John Oliver!), dilapidated premises, and lousy activities. But his crazy dean (Jim Rash, genius) is undaunted and does his best to give the students a unique experience. Indeed, between paintball fights, creepy Halloween parties and everyday hassles, life at Greendale is memorable.

What makes this sitcom unique

Like Abed, the series is eccentric, extremely creative, zany, funny, always a little offbeat and very clever. The dialogue is well-crafted and the characters are all endearing. What’s more, each episode (some in cartoon form) is a tribute to a film or other series. It starts, of course, with the Dead Poets Society. Then there are a host of references, from romantic comedies or horror movies to Star Wars.

We can be a little lost by the changes in characters over the seasons. Pearce isn’t a big loss, but Troy and Shirley are, even if their replacements are interesting. But Chang and the Dean gain in importance over time, which is well deserved and offsets these movements.

6 seasons, 110 episodes (20 mn), 2009-2015, on NBC then Amazon Prime

Created by Dan Harmon, WITH : Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry, Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir, Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett, Alison Brie as Annie Edison, Donald Glover as Troy Barnes, Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne, Jim Rash as Craig Pelton, Ken Jeong as Ben Chang, John Oliver as Ian Duncan, Jonathan Banks as Buzz Hickey, Dino Stamatopoulos as Alex “Star-Burns”, Erik Charles Nielsen as Garrett Lambert, Richard Erdman as Leonard Briggs, Paget Brewster as Frankie Dart, Keith David as Elroy Patashnik

Guest stars : Nathan Fillon, Billy Zane, Brie Larson, LeVar Burton, Malcolm McDowell, James Brolin, Tricia Helfer, John Goodman, Luis Guzman, George Takei…