NBC
After its arguably disastrous Season 4, Community is officially coming back this January. So far, we haven’t heard much, but the first actual trailer was released today with little fanfare on NBC’s website. While the show might not be trumpeting its return with huge fanfare, it isn’t sneaking back with its tail between its legs, either. This is an assured 60 seconds that effectively communicates exactly what it’s trying to, even though it’s a parody — which is precisely what was missing in Season 4. Check it out:
Very specific and near bizarre targets of satire (the use of “Beggin” is almost too on the nose)? Racial discomfort? Casual, tossed off mentions of alcoholism? Looks like the show is firmly back in the hands of Dan Harmon.
Harmon’s return was heralded as the potential for the critical acclaim of the first three seasons, where the show somehow managed to stretch its shoestring budget, cast made up primarily of unknowns, and place on cursed network NBC into a bona fide cult comedy hit. But is this trailer simply an exacting parody of the treacly return-to-home comedies, or does the convienience of Jeff simply becoming “Professor Winger” speak to a continued overreliance on narrative shortcuts?
The punchlines say smart parody, but the hard-to-spin lameness of simply sending Jeff right back to Greendale says… maybe a little of both. Harmon did have his work cut out for him, as he was inheriting a version of the show that completely struck out when it attempted Troy and Britta’s relationship, Chevy Chase’s Pierce, and Jeff’s graduation. Losing all three of those elements, looks like Harmon’s opted to jump back in and change the show into more of a workplace comedy, with Jeff firmly back as the lead. However, this setup could evaporate in the second episode of the season and the gang could be back around the study table in no time.
This trailer is far too short to address all of our concerns, especially the seeming overreliance on guest stars and the ratio of those guest stars to the gang, but it does seem to know what it’s doing. It almost feels like a repurposing of Season 1, though hopefully Jeff is out of permanant sarcastic jerk mode once and for all. And while it feels good to have the creator return as the showrunner, there’s no reason why Harmon should be immune to criticism. Actually, there’s exactly one reason why Harmon could be immune from critique — and that’s if he makes Community a better, funnier, show. We’ll see on January 2nd.
