Community Season 1 Analysis

What does it take for us to give a show that redefines the comedy genre with a meta-humor and relationship-based story the six seasons and a movie it deserves? Community achieves beautiful storytelling and light hearted humor but it still suffered a downward spiral of ratings causing them to need to use Yahoo Screen to share season six with die-hard fans. This show is streets ahead and I'm going to prove it.

The Pilot sets up the Greendale Seven to find each other for support to pass Spanish in college. They’ve all been given a reason on why they’ve chosen to study at Greendale and this establishes the point of the show which is found family. Jeff is shown to be a jerk which slowly progresses him as a character although he always maintains his ego and overconfidence which makes him appear charming and charismatic. Annie makes herself clear as a passionate hard worker while the control freak side of her appears later in the series. Shirley is seen as guilt-tripping and manipulative though she is sad as she just got a divorce. Pierce is seen as the bigot he is. Britta shows off her witty side that unfortunately dies down as the series moves on. Abed is the same lovable goof ball although he definitely doesn’t know how to manage his autism. Troy is seen as a dumb jock and his character isn’t really explored in this season. The pilot provides the slight dysfunctionality of the group but how they really do need each other in this cold world.

The next few episodes were about small character growth and setting up the humor, although some important developments were made. For the character growth, Introduction to Film beautifully conveys Abed's pain. At the same time, all of his loved ones fight about him following his passion for film, so he shoots a documentary about how the good intentions of Britta, Jeff and his dad just cause him to feel, on the contrary - neglected. This builds up to the climax of him standing up to his father, and sets up a relationship where everyone is ready to nurture Abed. He has autism and struggles with it throughout the series but masks it through his love for film. Football, Feminism and You brings the humor and moral setup. In the B-story, Shirley teaches Britta why women go to the bathroom together: to support each other in a private space. The mascot created by the dean and Pierce in this episode represents how you lose focus when you try to avoid every possible stereotype in modern day speech.

Comparative Religion establishes that each member of the group comes from a different religion: Annie being Jewish, Abed Muslim, Shirley Christian, Troy a Jehovah’s Witness, Pierce in a cult that he believes is connected to Buddhism, Britta an atheist and Jeff agnostic. Jeff shows Shirley what it truly means to respect all religions and beliefs. This is an important lesson for viewers in our modern day world to respect others and their religion.

The episodes which really develop Jeff’s immature and rude behavior into a caring person are vital to the series’ progression. Introduction to Statistics has Jeff again fix his priorities, this may feel repetitive but personally I feel like this episode is a turning point for Jeff where he really leans into how much he cares for the group although he still has more growing up to do. Interpretive Dance builds off of Jeff’s development providing him the opportunity to confront his avoidance of commitment and making it official with professor Slater by signing the HR document of their relationship. The Politics of Human Sexuality is the episode where Jeff matures - at least when it comes to women - due to meeting Pierce’s date. The plotline is added to in Basic Genealogy as Jeff tells Pierce the truth about Pierce’s step-daughter. In the C-plot with Britta and Troy, we learn why elders may not know everything and the difference between respect and worship.

Certain episodes in this season introduces a development for Jeff to control his ego like Debate 109 explores Jeff and Annie as an item for the first time but just to test the waters. It also teaches Jeff that charisma is not going to get him everywhere without substance in his arguments. Personally this episode is where the show takes off especially in humor. Beginner Pottery is about Jeff but the character who really shines in this episode is Pierce, who he teaches Jeff about failure along with how to face adversity using both determination and persistence. This episode also humbles Jeff and his ego. It’s quite refreshing to see this, because in all the other episodes his charisma helps him. However, similar to Debate 109 - he needs to learn how to work without it.

The next few episodes have some character and relationship building but a bit less story. Investigative Journalism is the episode where Jack Black guest stars as Buddy, a character who wants to join the study group but frustrates everyone about it. However, when they give him a chance to join their group which ties in to the point of the show which is found family. In Romantic Expressionism Pierce's speech can be taken as a criticism on how over-cynical humor is just mean-spirited and stops being funny. The Art of Discourse is the first time Pierce gives an ingenuine apology to someone for his terrible actions although they will eventually get confronted.

The best episodes of Community utilize the style of parody for criticism and humor. Contemporary American Poultry is an episode that sets the standard for the quality and humor of Community. This essay would not work without talking about this episode. It pokes fun at mafia films but also teaches Abed that power doesn’t buy you love and there's always a limit to how far you should take things. This episode has Abed narrate as it’s his story which is a great detail as the writers are aware that not every episode will be all about Jeff and the humor and style really carries the episode. Modern Warfare is a classic episode of Community. It’s one of the highest rated episodes as it plays into the show's strengths of being overdramatic to add humor into a lighthearted story. Jeff and Britta finally show feelings for each other and relieve the romantic tension that they’ve had for the whole series. This episode also shows how much Jeff has grown throughout the series by giving Shirley the priority registration without a second thought as she needed it the most.

English as a Second Language addresses how the show is going to progress as inevitably the study group will be done with Spanish. This is done through Annie having an insecurity of how they’ll still maintain a friendship so she tries to jeopardize their Spanish grades so they retake it. She does receive consequences and seems to have caused Chang great pain by getting him fired; however, she tries to make it right and they all pass in the end, deciding to study anthropology. Annie’s feelings are not dismissed in this episode but her actions are considered too far which is the perfect response. This episode also marks a descent for Chang’s character as his life gets comically worse and worse.

Now we’ve reached the season finale: Pascal’s Triangle Revisited. In this episode, following Communication studies, Jeff has to choose between Britta and Slater. They both publicly profess their love for him, causing him to feel overwhelmed. Throughout the series there have been minor plots between Abed and Troy for comedy and they’ve become best friends. In this episode as a climax, Abed doesn’t want to live with Troy which hurts his feelings until he understands why; Abed doesn’t want them to fight about lifestyle when living together so Troy moves in with Pierce. The final scene has an overwhelmed Jeff vent about his feelings to Annie, the one girl he can just be comfortable with. After learning about how they’ve both changed for the better, they kiss.

In conclusion, Community is a brilliant show with each episode of season one having a moral - except in The Science of Illusion - for each character to learn and change. All of the characters interact beautifully and build meaningful relationships that we become invested in. The future of this series entails a lot of bigger payoffs for these characters and more randomness which really ties in the humor.