Product Details

• Actors: Joel McHale
• Format: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony
• DVD Release Date: September 6, 2011
• Run Time: 504 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (170 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003L77G3I
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,171 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Community: The Complete Second Season" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Welcome to the second season of this ingenious and clever yet warm-hearted sitcom about sitcoms. On the surface, Community follows the misadventures of a study group at a mediocre community college, but it's really a loopy satire of TV comedy, taking every opportunity to deconstruct the absurd rules and accepted structures that shape almost every sitcom ever made--while, without missing a beat, making brilliant use of those rules and structures to create wonderfully likable characters and tell delightfully funny stories. It's hard to imagine how something this sneaky and multilayered got through the soul-sucking committees of network television. In season two, the members of the adorable misfit study group struggle to fight off their former Spanish teacher, Señor Chang (Ken Jeong), who desperately wants to be part of the group even though they're now studying anthropology. But a greater danger lies within: Pierce (Chevy Chase), the socially obtuse moist-towelette magnate whose mix of paranoia and jealousy turns him against his friends, transforming him into the outright villain of the season. Meanwhile, the gang grapple with the sexual politics of charity, outer-space flight simulation, religious-epic filmmaking, mean girls, booze, Dungeons and Dragons, zombies, Balkan genocide, stop-motion Christmas specials, and a sequel to the first season's paintball episode that is almost as brilliant as the original. The entire cast (Chase, Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, and Yvette Nicole Brown) is in top form, the guest appearances (ranging from Betty White to Josh Holloway from Lost) are smartly used, and the abundant DVD extras are all excellent. Community: The Complete Second Season is a pleasure from start to finish. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Welcome back for a wild new year at Greendale Community College, as the study group faces their toughest tests yet… Why would bachelor-for-life Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) pop the big question to Britta (Gillian Jacobs)? What incites innocent Annie (Alison Brie) to chloroform a janitor? Hey, Pierce (Chevy Chase)! Is your mom really still alive in a lava lamp? Will Abed (Danny Pudi) miss his Pulp Fiction birthday for a chance to give Jeff his own version of My Dinner With Andre? What makes Troy (Donald Glover) boldly go for LeVar Burton? Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is expecting – but who’s the daddy? Is it her ex-hubby (guest star Malcolm-Jamal Warner)? Or ex-Spanish teacher, Senior Chang (Ken Jeong)? Finally, is that really Betty White rapping with Troy and Abed? All these answers (and much more) are found in the hilarious, guest star-filled sophomore season of the breakthrough comedy hit.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 72 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another amazing season May 13, 2011

By S. Barnard

Format:DVD

So, the sophomore year of Community wrapped up last night in a grand fashion, and I'm delighted to say that it lived up to the high expectations I set after the first season. Sure, there were a couple of episodes I didn't like (the "ABED" episode, which seemed really out of character, or at least as much as Abed can be out of character, was the biggest offender) but with so many episodes in a season it's an absolute miracle and testament to the genius of the people involved that 90% of them are pure gold.

This year sees the study group grow and evolve even more, bonding over events as disparate as a Dungeons & Dragons game, going to a bar for Troy's 21st birthday, or finding a missing pen. The cast is still in top form, with Donald Glover (Troy) and Danny Pudi (Abed) being especially memorable. Chevy Chase (Pierce) has his moments to shine this season as well, breaking out beyond "Cliche Old Man" in a few episodes. Britta has changed from the hipster of the majority of season 1 into a dorky loser who seems to think she's a hipster (turn it into a snake!), which I think fits much better into the group. Jeff already provides enough smugness for everyone.

My favorite episodes this season were probably Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design, Critical Film Studies, Paradigms of Human Memory, Cooperative Calligraphy, and Mixology Certification. There are so many others that are great, but for me those were the cream of the crop. One thing about this show is that while people almost never agree on the best episodes, everyone can always agree that the show is awesome, and I think that speaks for itself.

It's my second favorite show on network TV, only barely edged out by Parks and Recreation, for the sole reason that while I admire the craftsmanship of Community, P&R just makes me laugh more. This is by no means a slight against Community, as it's extremely funny, but I find it to be more of a "chuckling to myself" show. However, it should be noted that I almost never laugh at TV shows or movies while watching them by myself, so for Community to even get those chuckles and occasional real laughs is quite a feat, and proves how great and quick-witted the writing is. I often rewind a few seconds to catch something I almost missed.

If you like comedy and TV shows, and don't watch Community, you're missing out. Buy the first season, buy this second season, and buy them both on blu-ray when they're out. I don't care if you don't have a blu-ray player, we need to show support for thoughtfully-made, quality television.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best comedy on TV... again. June 21, 2011

By T. Barnes

Format:DVD

During its freshman season, NBC's perennially underrated and low-watched sitcom Community- the story of a group of 'misfits' (for lack of a better term) that formed a community college study group- was unequivocally the best comedy on TV and perhaps the best since the late, great 'Arrested Development'. Seamlessly combining pop culture references and parodies with honest sentimentality and character humor, Community never went overboard with its references (see: Family Guy) and made for 25 episodes of smart, hilarious television that never talked down to its audience or went for cheap and unfunny gags. Now, in its second season, it is again the best comedy on TV.

Ramping up its unique brand of humor for 24 more episodes, Community not only equaled its first season but surpassed it with such genre-bending and ultimately great episodes as "Critical Film Studies" (The 'Pulp Fiction' parody that actually turned out to be so much more), "Mixology Certification" (The '21st birthday' episode that expertly highlighted the 'sorrows of drinking', but without sounding so melodramatic and PSAlike), "Cooperative Calligraphy" (A 'bottle episode' that summed up completely how the show's humor wasn't limited to simple 'parodies' and was a showcase in character-derived humor that circled around, of all things, a missing pen) and "Paradigms of Human Memory" (A fake clip show that might have been the outright funniest episode of anything in 2010-11), themselves just a sampling of the wealth of fantastic episodes in season 2. (See: 'Epidemiology', 'Accounting for Lawyers', the 2-part finale 'A Fist Full of Paintballs' and 'For A Few Paintballs More', 'Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas', 'Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design' and half a dozen more sensational episodes.)

The performances from the cast are nothing less than stellar, as lead man Joel McHale, Danny Pudi and Alison Brie all deserve at least Emmy nods (if not wins) for their performances as Jeff, Abed and Annie respectively. The same thing, however, could be said of the entire cast, as the ensemble bounce off each other in tremendous fashion; I could see any one of them as deserving of an Emmy nod (albeit not realistically; Community seems to be the kind of show that will get love from the critics but nothing from the Emmys).

The amazing second season of Community (while still only pulling 1.8s in the demo on up weeks) managed to keep things fresh and original and shine the brightest in a stellar year of TV comedy; indeed, despite such other high-quality shows as 'Parks and Recreation', 'Louie', 'Cougar Town' and 'Archer', Community was streets ahead of its competitors. In summation, I apologize for all the superlatives because, well, Community IS the best comedy since Arrested Development.

Grade: 5/5

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you don't like this show, you're just streets behind June 22, 2011

By Michael T. Dunning

Format:DVD

Any review for either season of Community should really just be: You need to watch this show. I'm going to say more about it anyway.

The first season had some awesomely "weird" episodes, but the second season really raised the bar with its weird-in-the-best-way-possible episodes.

I'll use "Physical Education" as an example of a weird episode from season one: Jeff doesn't want to play pool in tiny, 80s style gym shorts. Hilarity ensues. The description of the Jeff story in "PE" is basically that simple. However, everything comes together so well. What starts out as a conflict with a tiny amount of pride at stake (Jeff has plenty of pride to lose) ends up in this bizarre stand-off and hilarious resolution. Not only is it funny, but the episode actually develops Jeff's character, bringing him away from his original "too cool" mentality and more in line with the rest of the group.

Season two has episodes that make "PE" look as normal as an episode of The Cosby Show. What other sitcom has canonical zombie and stop motion animation episodes? How awesome was the clip show with a bunch of bizarre snippets from stories we never saw? Trampoline Eden. Chloroform Annie. An Office-like episode with LeVar Burton. The list of "I can't believe they're doing this" moments could go on. I can't remember an episode from season two that I didn't smile all the way through.

One of the complaints about season two, especially early on, was that there were too many high concept parodies/homages and not enough episodes about the group. I think that everything evened out in the end. Some of the parody/homage episodes, I think, function as both commentary on the source and as developmental episodes for the Community characters ("Critical Film Studies," "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons").

If you're still undecided about Community (though I think the audience is the audience at this point), you really should check out season one. Even though this is a sitcom, and each episode can be funny on its own, most of us love this show because we love the characters. It isn't even that I care about them because they're vehicles for humor. I care about them as much as I care about my favorite characters in literary works and "serious" TV drama. This show tells good stories. They just happen to be humorous.

If you're one of the people who still thinks season one was much better than season two, I'd encourage you to watch season two again. Personally, I think that season two was slightly better than the brilliant season one. I feel that season two was a little less even, but I think it had more moments of brilliance in terms of both characterization and humor.

Back to my original, and only real point: You need to watch this show. Let's at least get this thing through season four.

Edit: One of my sentences didn't make any sense at all. Also, I clarified (I think) a few of my thoughts.