Community Series Blog: Re-Pilot and Introduction to Teaching

If you are a loyal fan of American sitcom Community, you are no doubt aware of the recent troubles and tribulations that have plagued one of the brightest and most inventive sitcoms on television.

Behind-the-scene problems saw creator Dan Harmon leave season four (or the ‘gas leak’ year, as it would be come to be known) in less than worthy hands.

While the fourth season is not the disaster many hail it to be, it lacked the conviction, focus and confidence of the previous Harmon-led instalments. For a time, the Community faithful were finding it hard to explain why they should stick with it.

But the telly gods heard our prayers, with the prodigal Harmon returning for season five to breath new life into the Community legacy.

If the title of episode one is anything to by, we are in for a very different and exciting new year at Greendale Community College.

Premiering with two episodes, Harmon quite clearly opens with a letter of intent. This season starts darkly – the garish colours that had begun to dominate the show’s aesthetic are very much played down at the start of this year.

We are in for a very different and exciting new year at Greendale Community College

Jeff Winger returns to Greendale with the intention of launching a lawsuit after again failing to kick-start his career as a lawyer. However, he soon finds that his previous classmates are in equally troubled situations, pitting them all in similar situations to how we found them at the series start back in 2009.

Our characters – Annie, Britta, Shirley, Troy and Abed – find themselves re-enrolling into Greendale, while Jeff rethinks his intentions by becoming a teacher at the college.

The opening episode – ‘Re-Pilot’ – is littered with the wit that gave the first three seasons such a distinct personality, whilst also demonstrating that we are watching a much more grounded show.

The new set up does not feel forced and does something quite incredible – it allows us to think that Community has a future once again. The ‘re-pilot’ has given Community a reason to live again, justifying exactly why and how ‘Six Seasons and a Movie’ could, just maybe, become a reality.

The second episode of the hour-long premiere reinforces the tone of the opening episode, whilst also allowing our characters to have fun being themselves again. A comedic highlight comes with Abed struggling to accept the notion that Nicholas Cage is neither good nor bad as part of a new, and strictly ‘Greendalian’, course.

There is also a very welcome new cast addition in the form of Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks as a fellow Greendale teacher, who shows Winger the ropes of the Greendale faculty.

‘Introduction to Teaching’ also begins to lay the seeds for the eventual departure of Donald Glover’s Troy, with the writers forming a stronger link between Abed and Shirley to replace the former’s intrinsic bond with Troy. It will be incredibly sad to see Glover leave the show, but at least the writers do seem actively concerned with making the transition as smooth as they can.

Season five is set to have a relatively brief 13 episode run, but if the first two episodes are anything to go by, we are in for another Community-based treat. What a way to start the new year!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-3kFjFbSSE