The TV show Community is one of the silliest, most absurd spectacles I have seen in a long time. This surreal comedy series has been a go-to mental refuge for me during the pandemic. I never watched it until that little virus spread all around the world and forced me to live inside my house for one million years. I am not sure I ever would have gotten around to it if it wasn't for COVID. For some reason, I put it in the same mental box as "Parks & Rec" and figured if I watched one, that was good enough.
I am so happy that I started to watch this super strange, very funny, and 100% not serious show!
Community focuses on a study group that forms around a Spanish 101 course, where a group of misfits gravitate toward each other, each with a random backstory that honestly doesn't matter. The cast is diverse and easily distinguishable from each other, but ultimately they are archetypes, or more accurately, caricatures. They have feelings and histories and relationships, but their main job is to get in bizarre situations and make us laugh. It is the ultimate situation comedy.
Each character essentially gets 1-3 main traits. For example, there is the Douchebag, a lawyer who lied about his education and now needs to complete his degree in order to get his job back. He is narcissistic and a liar but he Learns How To Care. Then there is the Hot Girl, who also tries to be a Do-Gooder, but is really a Poser. Key identities are swapped out when needed for a plotline because in the end, it is anything for a laugh.
I am grateful for this! Sometimes my brain feels stretched to the snapping point and I just want something mostly harmless and extremely goofy. Community is perfect. There are running gags, strange side characters, silly rivalries, hilarious terrible classes, love connections, conflicts, even a backwards old man who is anti-PC. None of it matters.
Community is an excellent example of a genre I like to think of as "cartoons with human actors."
Community is an excellent example of a genre I like to think of as "cartoons with human actors." Sure there are animated series that have complex and evolving characters, but then there are shows like The Simpsons where the characters are really just there for hilarious gags. We need silliness like this!
Perhaps the most interesting character is Abed, who is portrayed as most likely being on the Autism Spectrum. The show is sensitive and mature about the topic of his differences. In fact, Abed's unique personality and tendencies might be the only topic that is treated with sensitivity and maturity. It is fascinating to contrast these human-cartoon characters learning from and appreciating Abed while supporting him with the way these same characters managed to create a flag for their school that is a drawing of a butthole.
That one bit of sensitivity might be enough to get you to keep giving Community the benefit of the doubt. You can ride out the strangest episodes knowing that the writers and producers really care. Maybe they only care about being funny, but their dexterity around Abed's uniqueness shows their humanity.
So, go ahead, let the absurdity wash over you and just go with the flow! Don't think! Just laugh!