10 Reasons to Watch 'Community'

Ten years ago, the sitcom Community premiered on NBC. Chronicling the adventures of a community college study group, the production history of the show involved a showrunner change-up for the fourth season, a cancellation at the end of the fifth season, and a sixth season revival on the short-lived Yahoo! Screen. Despite all this and cast changes, the show made it to six seasons, bringing #SixSeasonsAndAMovie closer to completion. A movie would be very welcome, but for now, people can still watch the entire show. In honor of the tenth anniversary, below are ten reasons to watch (or rewatch) Community.

1. The Show is Very Meta

Community often references tropes of TV shows and films. The characters avert, subvert, and pay homage to various tropes as episodes commit to certain genres. If there's a documentary going on, the episode will be in documentary format. If the episode is a musical, the characters will be singing. The self-aware nature of the show is hilarious. I sometimes wish that I could live out situations that feel like shows and movies that I love, and Community understands that desire as it puts its characters in those situations.

2. Troy and Abed in the Morning!

The friendship between Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) and Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi) is very magical. Troy was a high school jock prior to attending Greendale Community College. But once he and Abed become such good friends, he realizes just how geeky he actually is. The two of them watch movies and TV shows together, spend time in the Dreamatorium, build blanket forts and pillow forts, and host their own "talk show" Troy and Abed in the Morning. Their commitment to playing pretend escalates in season 4 when they "switch bodies" with each other and start acting like each other and unpacking their own personal problems. The two have had struggles along the way, but their bromance is one that people would be lucky to have.

3. Will They or Won't They? (Or Lack Thereof)

Which ship to choose? Jeff and Britta? Troy and Annie? Troy and Britta? Jeff and Annie? Chang and Shirley? Over time, the pairings that one would think are natural may seem alien once other possible pairings are given attention. However, for the majority of the show, Community is not too reliant on who ends up with whom and who should be together. Some sitcoms rely on romantic relationships to the point where it can become what's known on TV Tropes as a Romantic Plot Tumor. But the pairings don't really matter that much in the grand scheme of things. The pairings that happen do contribute to the comedy of the show, but they do not really hog the focus as much as one might expect from a sitcom. This is very refreshing and makes Community an easier watch for those who are tired of being told that they should root for or against certain romantic relationships.

4. The Characters Transform Through Other Media

A Christmas episode? Let's make it stop-motion! An episode about opening up? Let's have the group as puppets! There's a family fortune to be won? Let's show the group as computer game characters! Jeff's in a coma? Let's have him in a G.I. Joe style cartoon! Every now and then, this show was not afraid to dabble in other forms of media. When you watch the characters in these types of episodes, you know who is whom. And their interactions remain hilarious. Even just the brief anime-style depiction of Jeff and Shirley playing foosball makes for a good laugh.

5. The Wordplay

This might be a niche thing to enjoy, but I like how Chang (Ken Jeong) and Dean Craig Pelton (Jim Rash) insert "Chang" and "Dean" into other words. From the clever "Changry" to the forced "Changnesia," there's a good range of Chang puns. And with the Dean, we get "dean-dong," "on the dean-low," and even "Craigular Joe." The puns are strong (or weak in an entertaining way) with this show!

6. There Are Other Timelines

The episode "Remedial Chaos Theory" shows potential outcomes resulting from the roll of a dice at a housewarming party. Depending on which study group member leaves the room to get the pizza, certain characters become happier or more miserable. In the darkest timeline, a gun goes off and the apartment catches fire. Needless to say, this episode is a must-watch. Other sitcoms have tried this sort of thing before. On February 13, 2001, the Frasier episode "Sliding Frasiers" showed two different timelines, each a different result of Frasier's attempt at speed-dating. On April 1, 2001, the Malcolm in the Middle episode "Bowling" showed viewers how a trip to the bowling alley would play out depending on which parent took the boys. (Strange how both of these episodes came out in 2001.) But Community depicting seven different outcomes was very ambitious. And the Darkest Timeline became a running gag. (Though one could argue that it overstayed its welcome by the season 4 finale.)

7. The Changing Cast Somehow Works

Throughout the first four seasons of the show, the "Greendale Seven" is pretty consistent. We've got Jeff, Britta, Annie, Troy, Abed, Shirley, and Pierce. Plus, we have Chang and the Dean as mainstays. But in season 5, things shook up when Chevy Chase and Donald Glover left (the latter in the middle of the season). Recurring character Professor Duncan (John Oliver) returned after a two-season absence and became a regular for this season. And Jonathan Banks portrayed Professor Buzz Hickey, bringing a new dynamic to the group. It wasn't quite the same, but it was decent. And then in season 6, those two were gone, and Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) "spun off." The new characters Frankie Dart (Paget Brewster) and Elroy Patashnik (Keith David) filled the void pretty well without feeling like replacements. The cast changed, but the changes were fine. In a way, it's a reflection of real life and how the friends who surround us may come and go. In a way, Community can help people cope with change.

8. Paintball Games

Paintball games became somewhat of a tradition. The first paintball episode was "Modern Warfare" toward the end of season 1. At the end of season 2, we got a two-parter: the Western-inspired "A Fistful of Paintballs," and the Star Wars-inspired "For a Few Paintballs More." The latter was so epic that it would have been tough to top. Understandably, season 3 only had a flashback to an off-screen noir-style paintball game. The season 4 finale "Advanced Introduction to Finality" was... well, disappointing because of how ridiculous the premise is. But the last paintball game, season 6's "Modern Espionage," went for a spy movie motif and ended the tradition on a high note.

9. Winger Speeches

Some sitcoms have a moral of the day, and Community is no exception. But the way that Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) delivers his speeches is very entertaining. He really wings it, and the characters have poked fun at how they sometimes need a Winger speech to have things resolved. And frankly, the audience needs it too. "Paradigms of Human Memory" probably has the best Winger Speech moment, as it splices together fragments of Winger Speeches from "episodes" that we never saw on the show.

10. "AWWW!"

Despite how cold the characters can sometimes be to each other, there are heartwarming moments. Though Britta's name is used as a term for messing things up, the group hears her out when she opens up about how she just wants to be fun like the rest. And despite how much of a jerk Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase) has been throughout the show, he tells Jeff that Britta needs a victory every once in a while. And season 2's "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" can make people tear up at the right moments. The group, at the end of the day, no matter who's in it, is a family. And the finale, "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television," lives up to the title, bringing an emotional end to the series. (Though we still want a movie.)

Conclusion

I'm sure people can think of many more reasons to watch Community, which is no surprise. It's a well-made show that deserves all the views that it can get. Ten years after its premiere, I still find myself laughing at Community episodes. If we ever get the movie, it will be icing on the cake.

#SixSeasonsAndAMovie