So Community has been rescued from the jowls of cancellation for the third time. Great! But this time it's different, in that the show has left the dissatisfied feathers of its peacock parent (known to some as simply 'NBC') for the open arms of Yahoo!, a website I'm sure many of us thought was as relevant as AOL. But a good thing is a good thing, and from early reports it seems that Community has found a healthier, happier home in the online domain.
Joel McHale gave an interview recently where he explained that the key difference between NBC and Yahoo! is that the latter is actually excited to produce, promote, and generally participate in the making of the show. It shouldn't come as a surprise, in that while Community has always had an astonishingly loyal fan base it never even cracked the ratings list of TV's Top 100 - which, for cable executives, translates into a worthless pile of crap. Without the support of fans of both the show and Dan Harmon, its showrunner with a uniquely appealing public persona, it's hard to imagine Community being more than a one-season wonder to be found at the bargin bin of ASDA, among shows like Flashforward and Firefly (sorry). However, the fans have spoken, Community's back - but how has the transition actually affected the show?
Well, for a start it's longer, at 29 minutes per episode as opposed to 25. That's good. The cast has had another re-shuffle, with Yvette Nicole Brown departing to take care of her ill father. With only four of the original seven study group members remaining (along with Dean Pelton and Chang, obviously) can the dynamic of the show survive? Of course it can, it's Community. Two new cast members have been drafted in to fill the void: Paget Brewster, as a member of administrative staff, and Keith David, as an eccentric inventor who enrols at the college.
The former is the subject of the first episode, which is keenly involved in finding its feet in new territory. It's a new year at Greendale, and while the 'Save Greendale Committee' has been successful in refurbishing the college it still hasn't done enough - as is demonstrated when the roof collapses from too many Frisbees. Enter Francesca 'Frankie' Dart (Brewster), who threatens to upset the wacky shenanigans of the study group by being, you know, a sane, rational person who doesn't belong in a sitcom. The group resists, setting up an underground speakeasy from the 50s to drink and live out a fantasy, and through the power of montage succeed in turning the campus into a zone of insane merriment.
Of course, it doesn't take a genius to see that living an insane lifestyle is really dangerous, so when a Ladders seminar goes wrong the group realises that Frankie might have a place among them after all. For while Community is often a show about crazy people doing crazy things in funny situations, I've actually liked it best when it's been grounded in reality. As much as I enjoyed the previous season, I really wanted to see more storylines about, say, Jeff being a teacher, rather than the (admittedly excellent) homages to Zodiac and G.I. Joe. And with the announcement that a concept episode won't crop up until Episode 8, it's clear that this season looks to be more grounded, which I think is rather wonderful. Part of this may come from the fact that Community doesn't need to do novel things anymore to attract viewership. At NBC it was "Look, we're doing Apollo 13! Now we're doing Pulp Fiction! Please watch us!" But now the series can breathe and, most importantly, be itself.
This doesn't mean it won't be very funny, though. While Episode 1 is a good set-up, Episode 2 is where things really comes to life. The two storylines, where Dean Pelton buys a virtual reality machine and where Britta discovers that her parents have been trying to contact her again through her friends, both generate big laughs, particularly in the former's send up of 90s era computer graphics (you'll see what I mean - there's a great reference to Disclosure). Yet their conclusion is rather sweet as well, and drives home the message that while change can be scary it can also be superficial, and that everything we value can, essentially, stay the same - a message which really does apply to the show. Harmon has stated that Community can go on for at least three more seasons, and I think that's true; it's certainly outgrown its promise of #sixseasonsandamovie. And while I think some fans might be dissatisfied by everything 'new' about the show, for me, it's still the same old Community.
