The New "Community" Status Quo

So it's been three weeks and three new episodes since "Community" finally returned to our screens, and I think that's enough to start drawing some conclusions. The show has lost its creator and primary creative force, Dan Harmon, and a good chunk of its writing staff. However, the replacement folks have elected not to overhaul the show, but pretend that nothing has changed. So far, they're doing a pretty good job of maintaining the style and the tone of the first three seasons of "Community," but there's clearly something different about season four. I don't think this is necessarily a bad difference, but there is a difference.

On the surface, things look the same. We've still got lots of in-jokes and meta humor. Last night's episode made ample use of "Inspector Spacetime," the "Doctor Who" spoof that Troy and Abed are fans of. Efforts have been made to preserve the character development. Britta's still the worst therapist in training ever, she and Troy have gotten together romantically, Pierce is still prone to bouts of evil behavior, and Jeff is working on being nicer, more altruistic Jeff. Shirley still never gets enough time or attention. However, there's something not quite right about Annie, and the Dean and Chang have only had minor appearances so far in spite of fairly hefty roles last season. And dare I even mention Starburns, Leonard, Magnitude, Vicky, Garrett, and Fat Neil? Where is everybody?

That said, the new episodes are fine. The premiere seemed a little frantic, pushing the zany, meta, reference humor a little too hard, but I really liked the Halloween episode, better than last year's, even. Last night's "Inspector Spacetime" convention episode had some weak spots, but it's not like "Community" didn't have its weaker episodes, especially back in the first season. I think the real difference is the change in attitude. When we left the show at the end of season three, it was going strong with a full head of steam. I didn't like the third season as much as the second. I thought that some of the developments were a little too unlikely, and some of the meta humor was getting self-indulgent. However, there was a boldness and a confidence about even the weakest half-hours such that I never questioned the commitment of the writers to their ideas. It's that confidence that helped them pull off some of the big highlights of that season, including the pillow and blanket fort war, and the video game episode.

The new episodes by contrast are tentative, made by people who are afraid of making a wrong move, of not giving the audience what they expect from "Community." The trouble with that attitude is that "Community" has built its reputation on giving the audience what it doesn't expect. The new episodes have made a good effort at providing the kind of crazy concepts that we've seen on the show in the past. However, the nerdy convention and the enrollment "Hunger Games" and the haunted house all feel kind of familiar, and they're clearly a step back from the more experimental, boundary-pushing stuff that was going on by the end of the third season. I often wanted "Community" to reign in the weirder shenanigans a bit and get back to community college life, but this feels like the show regressing rather than toning things down.

The other big issue is that the so much of "Community" is based on the character interactions and relationships that have been built up over the last three seasons, and suddenly some of those relationships aren’t quite where we left them. Annie was maturing nicely and seemed to have put her crush on Jeff behind her, and now she's indulging in secret fantasies about him. Meanwhile, Jeff's softening up a little too fast, and the Troy and Britta relationship seems to have skipped a few steps ahead. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing in the long run, but it's different, and it's going to take some adjusting to. Fortunately the Troy and Abed bromance still seems to be in good shape, and Jeff and Britta's banterful antagonism is right about where it should be. Given time, I'm sure I'll adjust to the rest.

But are we going to get that time? I'm certainly going to keep watching "Community," but in this form it's not quite as satisfying as it used to be, and the fanbase may get restless. The competition certainly isn't letting up either. Big Bang" isn't the most consistent show, but when it hits, like it did last night, it hits pretty hard. I've juggled these two sitcoms for years, trying to decide which to give priority to. "Community" usually came out on top, but after its recent setbacks, the race is getting much, much closer.
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