Community: The Complete First Season DVD Review

Posted by Michael Weyer on 09.27.2010

With its great cast, quick dialouge, insane situations and hysterical pop culture sendups, this comedy hit is one of the funniest shows on television today.

Community the Complete First Season
Sony Entertainment
535 Minutes


　

The last year has seen the revival of the television comedy. The traditional studio sitcom is around with The Big Bang Theory and others but the real hits have been the non-laugh track shows, the ones that really push the envelope while providing some great laughs. NBC really led this with The Office and 30 Rock while ABC has provided new fare like the Emmy-winning Modern Family. While a bit overlooked, Community more than fits in among the top comedy shows on television. It started off as a quirky little series but has blossomed into an off-the-wall hysterical delight with one of the best ensembles on the air and sharp writing that provides you with so many laughs and doesn’t try to be more than just a funny show.
　

The Series

Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) was once a hotshot attorney until someone in the California bar realized his degree from Columbia University was actually from a university in the country of Columbia. His law degree suspended and his finances low due to his high-living life, Jeff is forced to enroll in Greendale Community College to get a real degree. He’s soon smitten by pretty Britta (Gillian Jacobs) and tries to get close to her by creating a fake study group for their Spanish class. But she outsmarts him by forming a real group: Abed (Danny Pudi), a quirky pop-culture nut who acts like he’s on a TV show; Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), a recently divorced mom; Annie (Allison Brie), the very high-strung super-student; Troy (Donald Glover), a dim-witted former jock; and Pierce (Chevy Chase), a rich entrepreneur. Together, they handle the Spanish class of the rather wild Senor Chang (Ken Jeong) while the college dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) tries to improve the small school.



From the start, you may think this will just be a quirky little comedy about an off-beat band bonding together. But as the season goes on, the show embraces an incredibly off-the-wall style that produces some wild laughs. The show plays with the clichés of television as the characters seem to be “types” but recognize it and how TV can add onto the stereotypes. (“You think I’m just some stereotype loud black lady? I’d smack you one if I didn’t love Jesus.”) Yet for all its insane writing and wild antics, the series has a lot of heart to it as we get to enjoy these characters and their interactions seem so fresh and real despite how crazy things get. The writing is incredibly sharp and better is how the actors fire off the lines rapid-fire so on DVD you can rewind to take them all in.

No subject is taboo enough for this show, often pushing the boundaries of network taste. A running theme is race as Pierce actually spends the whole season convinced that Shirley and Troy are related because they’re both black and Abed has to be a terrorist. There’s also plenty of stuff about religion as the Christmas episode has Shirley horrified to learn she’s the only Christian in the group and trying to “help” the others (Annie: “You invited me to a ‘pool party’ that turned out to be a baptism!”). There are also the sexual overtones, especially with the tension between Britta and Jeff that plays throughout the season with Pierce throwing in his quirky mentalities. There is also some truly wild bits like how Troy and Annie went to a conservative high school whose fight song contained outdated references to John Kerry and Al Gore; Jeff and an insane phys ed coach engaging in naked pool playing; Britta getting a “switch” for Troy’s grandmother to humor her, not expecting the elderly lady to beat her with it; Abed trying to engage in the full college experience from pranks to joining a fraternity; Jeff battling a wheelchair-bound debate club member who has his own cheerleaders; Britta “inspiring” Shirley and Annie to stage a protest for a cause they don’t even understand and so much more.

Even better is how the series does some spectacular skewering of pop culture. Abed is always bringing up movie and TV references to illustrate things with the gang, much to their annoyance. But at the mid-way point of the season, the series starts to really take on movie influences with fun. There’s the constant comparisons between Jeff and Ryan Seacrest, the shots at Glee and Brie (who co-stars on Mad Men) being subjected to some Don Draper-like moves. One episode does a spin on Good Will Hunting with Troy finding his calling as a janitor; another has Abed becoming king of the college by controlling the chicken fingers at the cafeteria, narrated like Goodfellas (complete with music from that movie); and the pottery professor warns his students not to do any recreations of Ghost. “So help me, God, if I hear one bar of the Righteous Brothers…” That’s not to mention the Halloween episode with Shirley dressing as Harry Potter but everyone thinks she’s Urkel, Pierce as the Beastmaster and Abed doing a hilarious Batman impression. The best is undoubtedly the hysterical “Modern Warfare” episode where a paintball game gets out of control, wonderfully skewering action movies from John Woo to Die Hard in brilliant fashion.



The cast truly makes this show. McHale is best known for his weekly tearing of celebrities and pop culture on The Soup but he more than lives up to the star status of the show. He ably shows Jeff as an arrogant blowhard, convinced he’s slumming here at the college and at first manipulating the others. But he softens a bit as the season goes along, really caring for the rest of the gang and helping them with their problems. He and Jacobs have a great chemistry as she plays the tough Britta, whose eagerness to help can often make matters worse. Their obvious attraction plays out well through the season with some nice turns in late episodes that change things up. Brie also gives a nice flair as the quite intense Annie, whose overreactions are always fun and throws herself into some fun stuff (such as when she takes on a “bad cop” persona as a security guard, firing off pepper spray as she runs so races right into the cloud to blind herself). She has a huge crush on Troy since they were in school and tries to hide it as Glover does a good job playing the slightly thick-headed guy whose own ego issues get him into trouble. Pudi’s Abed is brilliantly done as a guy who operates on a different level than the rest of us and gets highlights like willing to wait 26 hours for an experiment which drives the professor nuts and it’s no surprise each episode ends with he and Glover doing a fun bit.

Chase is tailor-made for the role of Pierce, a guy who not only doesn’t understand what’s going on around him but has no idea how much of an insulting idiot he comes off as. A great example is when he insults Shirley and the gang urges him to apologize to her. They give him a note and flowers, send him to her…and then watch in horror as he walks right by her, sits next to another black woman and starts to apologize, honestly not able to tell them apart. Yet Chase makes the role so natural you can’t help but love it as he reminds you of the comedy master he is. Brown is at first nervous as Shirley but learns confidence as the series goes along which gives her more of an edge. Jeong is a riot as Chang, going nuts in his classes, making you wonder how he got this job (which is explained in a fun way later in the series) and stealing every scene he’s in. Finally, Rash is always great as the Dean, a man who goes so out of his way to make the college politically correct that it comes off insulting (such as how he wants their team to be “the Human Beings” with a mascot that's meant to represent all people but ends up looking like an alien). Together, they forge an fantastic chemistry that adds up to a brilliant comic ensemble.

The show is packed with so many wild moments from Britta and Jeff’s battle with insulting teenagers to Jack Black as a guy trying to push his way into the group and the finale with a huge twist on a romance that may seem wild until you realize how clues were dropped throughout the year. The writing improves as does the cast’s performances as they get into the show’s off-the-wall vibe and manage to find the surprising heart at the center of the insanity. It may not offer real life messages but for pure laughs, Community is a wonderful showcase for the rebirth of network comedy and a course in television well worth taking.



Rating: 8.5 out of 10.0
　

Video

1.78:1 widescreen, a pretty good transfer. The picture is sharp throughout and really comes to life for episodes like “Modern Warfare” which shines well and you have no problem with the textures of he show.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
　

Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with subtitles in English. As the show rests on its dialogue, it comes through quite well, no need to adjust volume and the speakers handle it well. The “Modern Warfare” ep really pushes the sound with the effects and the subtitles help you get any jokes you might have missed.

Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
　

Bonus Features

Unlike some comedies, this show’s set is packed with stuff. First off, there’s a 12-page “Kickpuncher” comic, based on the goofy movie the gang watches in one episode. The four discs fit well into the plastic case with the extras nicely spread out.



The big one is that every episode boasts an audio commentary:

“Pilot” with Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo
“Spanish 101” with Harmon, McHale, Chevy Chase, Joe Russo
“Introduction to Film” with Harmon, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Donald Glover.
“Social Psychology” with Hamon, McHale, Yvette Nicole Brown and Anthony Russo.
“Advanced Criminal Law” with Harmon, McHale, Jacobs and Andrew Guest.
“Football, Feminism and You” with Harmon, McHale, Alison Brie, Glover and Joe Russo.
“Introduction to Statistics” with Harmon, McHale, Chase and Joe Russo.
“Home Economics” with Harmon, McHale, Danny Pudi and Lauren Pomerantz.
“Debate 109” with Harmon, McHale, Brie and Joe Russo.
“Environmental Science” with Harmon, Jacobs, Glover and Ken Jeong.
“The Politics of Human Sexuality” with Harmon, Brie, Glover and Hilary Winston.
“Comparative Religion” with Harmon, McHale, Brown and Adam Davidson.
“Investigate Journalism” with Harmon, McHale, Brie and Joe Russo.
“Interpretive Dance” with Harmon, Jacobs and Pudi.
“Romantic Expressionism” with Harmon, McHale, Brie, Glover, Joe Russo and Guest.
“Communication Studies” with Harmon, McHale, Jacobs, Pudi and Chris McKenna.
“Physical Education” with Harmon, McHale, Pudi and Anthony Russo.
“Basic Genealogy” with Harmon, McHale, Brown, Chase and Karey Dorenetto.
“Beginner Pottery” with Harmon, McHale, Brown and Hilary Winston.
“The Science of Illusion” with Harmon, Jacobs, Brown and Davidson.
“Contemporary American Pultry” with Harmon, McHale, Jacobs and Pudi.
“The Art of Discourse” with Harmon, Pudi, Glover, Davidson and McKenna.
“Modern Warfare” with Harmon, McHale, Jacobs and Emily Cutler.
“English as a Second Language” with Harmon, Brie, Glover and Jeong.
“Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” with Harmon, McHale, Glover, Joe Russo and Winston.

As you suspect, the commentaries are just as much fun as the episodes themselves as everyone has a great time discussing things. Harmon is on every one with McHale present for most and the rest of the gang have some nice discussions on things. They bring up working with a comic icon like Chase, who often acts like he’s an insufferable jerk in the talks but clearly liking the show and how he works it. Chang was supposed to be a minor character but Jeong’s performance convinced the writers to make it bigger. A fun thing is Harmon being told by some fans how unlikely it is Greendale has a booster club and he fired back “I’m sorry, I’m too busy working on my fictional TV show!” An intriguing comment is on how the Twitter generation is shifting comedies as writers can get fan reaction faster and work things in. “Modern Warfare” has a great track on how they worked hard to replicate the feeling of action movies and the planning that went into creating it all while props to the actors going along with the insanity. Overall, the tracks are well done and worth the price of the set to listen to.

Season One Cast Evaluations (11:42) has Harmon sitting down with the cast to “review” how they did and the impact of the show. It’s all tongue-in-cheek with his comments on how “the ratings were up when we followed The Office and folks left their sets on” and telling Jeong how the show dropped when he joined up. Brie claims she just like to be uptight “Annie” all the time while we see her doing a sexy magazine shoot and everyone annoyed at Chevy knowing all the lines like he’s showing them up. A funny bit that showcases the cast’s humor.

Creative Compromises is a feature of Harmon ranting about how the network compromised his vision of the series and shows the original version…which is just fart sounds added to things.

There are three mini-episodes which focus more of the gang around the table doing goofy antics and an extended cut of the episode “Communications Studies.” Each disc has a series of outtakes that show the improvisational style of shooting the cast does and cracking each other up along with alternate takes on scenes. There’s also a “Highlight Reel” that does a good job recapping the season but it’s on disc two so gives away some jokes/plot points from the rest of the year so save it for last. Overall, a great set of features that enhance an already great series.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.0

The 411: The great cast and amazingly sharp writing would be enough for a fun show. But combined with the off-the-wall situations and hysterical skewering of movies and TV shows and you've got one of the best comedies on TV today. The extras enhance things with commentaries giving insight to the show's creation and makes Community a set well worth visiting.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]