Have Cheetah,Will View #257 – “Community- The Complete Series” (2018)

Its 8:33 pm

Last week the cheetah and I were doing something or another when we saw the UPS truck. Now normally this is a cause for excitement as we are sometimes blessed with some goodies but since we weren’t expecting any,it was indeed a curious cheetah that greeted the UPS fellow who had dropped off a package.

To our surprise,it was our second package from our new friends at Mills Creek Entertainment,we had forgotten that we requested some more goodies. They had been having some logistical issues and we thought we had fallen through the crack.
But nope…..our new pal “H” had come through and now we were looking at a TV series we had never watched when it was on NBC and then Yahoo! for it final season

“Community” takes place at Greendale Community College a fictional city in Colorado  and brings a wide array of people from all walks of life who join a study group.
While the main focus is on disbarred lawyer Jeff Winger,who lied about getting his law degree from Columbia,Community is at heart a ensemble cast.

Ensemble shows often rise or fall based on cast chemistry and the main reason why “Community” was such a hit show,there aren’t any “weak” links. I have to say that was a bit surprising in the case of Joel McHale because I had never seen him act before,I knew he had done a topical satire show on E! called “Talk Soup” while entertaining,basically was a simple show hosted by a comic. Not exactly rocket science here. But it turns out that McHale has done a lot more then I was aware of and was indeed the right pick for Winger.

Since veteran funny man Chevy Chase was the “big name”,I thought while the focus would start with McHale,Chase would soon come and dominate the show,getting all the choice lines and laughs. It’s to show creator Dan Harmon’s credit that he kept a tight rein over the writing staff and focused on the shared spotlight,it made the show that much funnier.

Because the cheetah and I had never watched the show during its run,seeing for the first was a real hoot because of all the faces we had seen doing other shows…Community definitely helped launch quite a few faces into the next level. Donald Glover has become a A-List star with his turn as Lando Calrissian in “Solo”,Alison Brie has gone to star in the critically acclaimed “GLOW” on Netflix. I first saw Danny Pudi in “Knights of Badassdom” which was directed by Joe Lynch and has become a beloved cult film.  He has gone on to do guest spots in “Captain America: Winter Soldier” and “Star Trek:Beyond”.

Unfortunately Chevy Chase and Dan Harmon had a major falling out which Chase being dropped by the show after the 4th season.
I enjoyed the take each actor brought their character,Community had a lot of heart to it and the characters had their flaws,not everything about them was likable which only made them more human,adding chunks of drama always enriches a comedy if it is done right.

What really sort of sucked for us about the show was the limited episodes,the first three seasons had 71 episodes which is pretty standard for a network like NBC,but the last 3 seasons were on 13 episodes each and they didn’t carry as much punch as the first three years. Because the show grew along with the characters instead of being a stand alone episodic series,as a viewer,I felt a bit cheated by the short seasons.

But Mill Creek has done a excellent job in its BluRay release of the series,all six seasons are included along with over three hours of extra features plus commentary on almost every episode which is one of the best things about box set releases,hearing how cast and crew approach a certain role or plot and sharing it with the audience is really insightful and Mill Creek delivers the goods.
The cheetah and I enjoyed watching “Community” quite a bit and you can buy your copy at the Mill Creek Entertainment Amazon page.

Please feel free to drop a comment on which episode was your favorite!