I have to admit as a very big fan of the show, I was a bit worried about the start of the fourth season. After Dan Harmon (show creator and show runner) was fired by NBC, and writer Chris McKenna, Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and producer Garrett Donovan left, I thought the show might feel a bit different. The fourth season premier "History 101" was directed by Community director veteran Tristram Shapeero and Community veteran writer Andy Bobrow, and while they implemented some new filming techniques, this episode definitely felt like the classic Community I have fallen in love with. The usual cast was in full effect, Jim Rash was utilized to his full potential as the Dean, and there was a great cliffhanger ending with the very absent Senior Chang (Ken Jeong). Actually, the only part of the episode I didn't much care for was the tag at the end of the episode which has become one of my favorite parts of the show.
I will obviously continue watching the season (and updating to review every episode as they air) to see if it keeps up the Community feeling I have come to expect in this significantly shortened 12 or 13 episode season. With this strong season opener, I have faith that this season won't disappoint. Although I do feel it's almost blasphemous to watch it after the unfair firing of the genius Dan Harmon. Dan Harmon said it best, "this show is supposed to pacify the masses" and I definitely feel pacified by this first episode. Yes it felt a little different, but the episode addressed the change in a clever and very Community-like kind of way. Six seasons and a movie!
* This DVD set comes with commentary on every episode, outtakes, deleted scenes, extended and alternate scenes, behind the scenes of "Intro to Felt Surragacy" and more*
"Paranormal Parentage" is the second episode of the season. Written by Megan Ganz who wrote a few episodes for the last two seasons of Community and directed by Tristram Shapeero, this episode revisits the idea of the gang in a haunted house that was introduced back in the clip episode in season 2 (Paradigm of Human Memory). It also brings back Pierce's brother Gilbert (Giancarlo Esposito from Breaking Bad) and develops Troy's and Britta's relationship a bit further. This episode is noticeably stronger than the season opener and also feels more like the last few seasons of Community. I always like the holiday episodes of Community and this Halloween episode is a classic. They delve a bit deeper into Jeff's daddy issues and Britta's progression as a therapist. There are some more references to Cougar Town, a cameo by the Norwegian troll (introduced in the season three episode "Remedial Chaos Theory", one of my all time favorite episodes) and Inspector Space Time. Although there is only a slight nod to Dean Pelton living next door to Jeff now, and no development of Ben Chang and his current state of Changnesia, the tag at the end of this episode definitely makes up for its very few short comings. This season is shaping up nicely already.
"Conventions of Space and Time" written by Maggie Bandur (writer of season 3 episode "Competitive Ecology") and directed by Michael Patrick Jann (Little Britain USA and Happy Endings) this episode sees the group go to an Inspector Space Time convention. The episode opener with Britta sneaking out of Troy's bedroom so as to keep Abed from finding out they're sleeping together, was awesome. Overall I thought the episode was great. We see Annie and Jeff's relationship develop a bit further as Annie day dreams and plays at being Mrs. Winger, meanwhile Jeff is confused as Inspector Space Time villain Thoraxis by guest star Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica). Abed's pen pal played by Matt Lucas (Little Britain and Bridesmaids) is another great cameo in this episode. Abed and Troy have their own little Inspector Space Time adventure which helps develop their friendship while also doing a good job of mirroring what I think would be a typical Inspector Space Time episode (Inspector while a genius alien, needs to be saved and kept grounded by his human companion/constable). There is still no further development of Senior Changs whereabouts or current state, the tag is great at the end of this episode with another great cameo by some original 90210 veterans. They play the American remake version of Inspector Space Time that Pierce and Shirley helped shape by being part of a test group at the convention. I have to say, I still think the season feels a bit different, it isn't bad. Maybe not quite as funny as other seasons, but I still get warm fuzzies from this show and it is still great and getting better every episode.
"Alternative History of the German Invasion" written by Community newcomer Ben Wexler (Still Standing) and directed by Steven Tsuchida (directed the Community Episode 'Origins of Vampire Mythology' from season 3) finally brings back Chang. The German bullies (minus Nick Kroll) from the episode 'Foosball and Nocturnal Vigilantism' are back and in the same class with the gang, about role reversal in the scribing of history (taught by the legendary Malcolm McDowell). Abed is actually friends with one of the German students via online gaming, while the others find themselves in a battle over the study room, told like a war film. The Dean sets out to convince the school board that Chang's current state of "Changnesia" is a rouse. There is also some great appearances I have been waiting to see this season from Community regulars like Leonard, Vicki, Garrett and Todd. Turns out that the school views the study group as the "Germans" of this battle over the study room by trying to get the Germans kicked out of the study room, and are touted as being Nazis. Mainly because the gang has hogged the study room for the last 3 seasons/school years. There are some great flashbacks to episodes from past seasons I thought were great. The study group redeems themselves and gives a little back to Greendale. A solid episode, very entertaining. The tag for this episode is easily the best of the season with the Troy and Abed Podcast. They played the song that Abed hummed while telling his spooky tale during the season 3 Halloween episode "Horror Fiction In Seven Spooky Steps". I laughed hard at this small nod to nerdy viewers like myself.
"Cooperative Escapism In Familial Relations" written by Steve Basilone (Happy Endings) directed by Tristram Shapeero has the gang celebrating Thanksgiving. While there is no Ben "Kevin" Chang in this episode (Ken Jeong must be absent this season because he was filming the Hangover Part 3 or something), there is a nice bit with Dean Pelton wearing Jeff's signature blue button down shirt and cowboy hat that I found funny. The episode focuses on Abed, Troy, Annie and Pierce attending Shirley's Thanksgiving, and there was a notable absence from Malcolm Jamal Warner who has played Shirley's husband. Abed does a Shawshank Redemption-esque voice over as the group tries to find away to escape Shirley's crazy extended family, most of which aren't seen. Meanwhile Jeff and Britta finally meet Jeff's dad (James Brolin) and his half-brother (Adam Devine from the brilliant and hilarious Workaholics) and try to not address the issues Jeff clearly has with his dad abandoning him as a child. I'll admit this episode was not that funny, I did like the references, I loved the cameos and thought the tag at the end was kinda cool, albeit not that funny, even though they used Abed's jazz song again. This season has played some episodes out of order of their production code and that probably has a lot to do with the roller coaster effect of a "good" episode and a just "ok" episode. I like what has been done so far this season with character development and story arcs, and I've loved the cameos and pop culture references. But I will admit, I find myself missing the Dan Harmon final touches to the punchline of jokes that he would sometimes stretch a whole episode or even a whole season. Dan Harmon knows what makes a good show, and he is a brilliant writer. I still have high hopes for this show, it may take the rest of the season for the new show runners to find their footing, and they will never be Dan Harmon but they're off to a good start. I also find myself in need of a really great Jeff Winger monologue that Dan always wrote so well. This show is still great, especially if you stay tuned and watch Parks And Rec or The Office which play after Community and are terribly unfunny. How Community isn't more popular is beyond me, it's easily one of the best shows on basic cable.
"Advanced Documentary Filmmaking" written by Hunter Covington (My Name Is Earl) and directed by Jay Chandrasekhar (Broken Lizards, Super Troopers, Beerfest, and the Community episode "The First Chang Dynasty", among others) this episode sees the gang finally deal with the Ben/Kevin Chang's Changnesia. This episode was also played out of production order which is nothing new for this show, it happens every season. For this season however, the episodes being played out of order seem to have made an odd rhythm for the seasons consistency and continuity. This episode is pretty straight forward, there is finally some decent screen time with both the Dean and Ben/Kevin Chang. I like the episodes that Jay directs, he's been a director for a while and between him and Tristram, they really are the best Community directors aside from Joe and Anthony Russo (I wish them good luck with their feature film juggernaut Captain America 2: Winter Soldier) and have a good, tight, fluid style. This episode feels like it could have been part of the third season with its pacing, Ken Jeong does a stellar job in this episode, Britta and Shirley get a bit of decent screen time together. I think one of the biggest and most noticeable problems with this season is the underwhelming amount of screen time that Troy, Abed, and Annie have gotten. They get about as much screen time as Dean Pelton in season 2. This episode was good, it didn't really make me laugh, but I was def entertained and I am curious to see what scheme Chang is plotting.
"Economics of Marine Biology" written by Tim Siccardo (Community season 3 'Course Listing Unavailable') and directed by Tricia Brock (Gossip Girl, The Walking Dead), has the gang split up as Annie and Britta help the Dean try and recruit a millionaire (The Whale) to enroll at Greendale so he'll keep pumping money into the school. Troy and Shirley take each other on in P.E."E". class as coaches in training, being taught by another cameo from the Upright Citizens Brigade (Ian Roberts). And Jeff and Pierce bond while having a man date with false pretenses. We finally get to see Magnitude who has his signature saying "Pop Pop" stolen by the millionaire brat the dean is trying to impress, it's weird to hear Magnitude say things other than "pop pop". Abed is noticeably absent from most of the episode, as well as Chang who doesn't make an appearance until the end of the episode. Abed takes up leading the Greendale group the "Delta Cubes", and the episode seems like it had a bit of fat trimmed from it. A bit sloppy, some funny moments, pretty decent overall. It seemed slightly more Community-ish than the last episode. The tag was pretty decent too.
"Herstory Of Dance" written by Jack Kukoda (Onion News writer) and directed by Tristram Shapeero (Community) opens with the Dean informing the group of the upcoming Sadie Hawkins dance. Britta of course has to "Britta" this scenario by setting up a competing Sophie B. Hawkins dance also to take place in the cafeteria. Abed is set up by Shirley and Annie with dates for both dances and ends up using this as an opportunity to live out a classic sitcom trope by jumping back and forth from date to date. While constantly changing out fits between dates, he meets Rachel (Brie Larson) who is working the coat room. Abed and Rachel make an instant connection, even though it takes Abed the duration of the episode to figure that out. Pierce comes to Britta's aid and helps her not "Britta" her dance the way Jeff and the Dean assume she will. I loved this episode, I think this is the best episode of the season so far, it had the most "Community" like feel, pacing, writing, character arcs and jokes. This gives me high hopes for the rest of the season, just an all around brilliant episode.
"Intro to Felt Surrogacy" written by Gene Hong (Friends With Benefits) and directed by Community veteran Tristram Shapeero, opens with the gang in the study room in complete silence. Why is everyone quiet and awkward towards each other? We don't know, but the Dean and his bag of hand puppets are going to find out. In the vein of "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" and "Digital Estate Planning" (claymation and 8 bit episodes respectively) this episode is primarily a puppet episode. There are some cool cameos by Sara Bareills whose song "Gravity" they used in season 2, and Jason Alexander (Seinfeld). The puppets looked great, the songs were well done also. There were some cool references to Lost, and some funny jokes. Chevy Chase is not in the episode at all, just his voice for his puppet which was most likely recorded before he was fired/quit, so I am curios if he will be in the next episode. To get over their awkward phase, the group realizes after a drug induced night together that they all shared secrets they were ashamed of (none of which any could remember) so now that Shirley has told hers aloud in the study group, they must all divulge their shameful secrets to one another. The tag at the end of the episode was great too because they used my favorite song, Abed's jazz song.
"Intro To Knots" written by Andy Bobrow (Community veteran writer) and Directed by Tristram Shapeero (Community Veteran director) is this seasons Christmas episode. The gang is failing history so Annie takes charge and invites professor Cornwallis (Malcolm McDowell) to their Christmas party at Jeff's apartment. The whole gang is there (minus Chevy again) including Kevin/Ben. Jeff finds out that they didn't actually get an F on their paper but a C- and that Annie is attempting to claim her spot as valedictorian and needs an A to do so. Only she has some competition from Shirley to become this years valedictorian. After discovering this, Jeff bad mouths the professor who over hears Jeff and changes their grade to an F. Best line of the season so far goes to Annie, "He's F-ing us?". Kevin/Ben ties up professor Cornwallis and things really get interesting. Abed settles in as John McClane (Bruce Willi's character in Die Hard, arguably the best Christmas movie ever) and watches as Professor Cornwallis attempts to break the group by offering an A grade to whomever unties him. Kevin/Ben makes a secret phone call and it is revealed he is attempting to get the group expelled from Greendale. This episode was great, the dialogue seemed very Harmon-y, it was witty and clever and meta. I'm getting sad that this season is almost over. Just three episodes left it looks like.
"Basic Human Anatomy" written by Dean Pelton himself Jim Rash (The Descendants, The Way, Way Back) and directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller (Modern Family, Happy Endings) opens with the gang (Chevy included) realizing that they have their last group project, as well as Troy and Britta's anniversary. As well as Abed and Troy's anniversary of watching Freaky Friday, when they end up actually switching bodies just like in said movie while holding a copy of Freaky Friday, and like Vice Versa, and 13 Going On 30. This throws a kink into Troy and Britta's anniversary dinner, meanwhile Annie and Shirley are in competition for valedictorian. Danny Pudi and Donald Glover do a great job of playing each other as Abed and Troy in this episode. Dean Pelton tries to recreate this magic with Jeff to no avail, even though the Dean pretends it worked anyhow. Britta thinks Troy maybe pretending to be Abed to avoid their anniversary. While Abed/Troy is out to dinner with Britta at the Mexican restaurant Senor Kevin's, the waiter recognizes Abed and starts an argument about Die Hard being a terrible movie to finish an argument they once had, which helps Britta realize that maybe the two really did switch bodies. Meanwhile Dean does a great impersonation of Jeff, hilarious. Shirley and Annie realize they are possibly going to lose valedictorian to Leonard, of all people. Jeff and Troy/Abed are on the hunt for the copy of Freaky Friday so that Troy and Abed can switch bodies back. There is a big revelation about Troy and Britta's relationship that is revealed which I won't spoil here. The tag for this episode was one of the best of the season so far.
"Heroic Origins" written by Steve Basilone (Happy Endings, Community episode 'Regional Holiday Musical'), Annie Mebane (Happy Endings, Community episode 'Introduction To Finality') and Maggie Bandur (Malcolm In The Middle, Community episode 'Competitive Ecology') and directed by Victor Nelli Jr. (Scrubs, Wilfred) opens with the study group all together (minus Chevy, again) while Abed shows them his Crazy Quilt Of Destiny. Comparing all the groups individual origin stories to something like the movie Unbreakable, Abed claims everyone in the group was destined to meet and go to Greendale. Meanwhile Kevin/Ben makes another phone call to a mysterious person (I won't spoil who it is but I guessed episodes ago and you might have as well) and after meeting with the Dean, Kevin/Ben gets the vital piece of information he needs to shut down Greendale for good. The many flashbacks in this episode were great, Troy back in high school acting how he did in the first few episodes of season 1, Annie looking nerdy with braces, Jeff as a lawyer, Britta being an activist, Shirley trying to spice up her marriage, and Abed trying to thwart people from seeing The Phantom Menace. We even see Abed's dad (Iqbal Theba) who we've not seen in many many episodes, we learn how Magnitude got his catchphrase (which I thought could have been executed a little better, but I still geeked out quite a bit) there's a pretty good cameo from Joe Lo Truglio and some more Phantom Menace bashing. I won't spoil any of the important bits, but there is some closure in this episode, some touching moments and some funny moments as well. I am getting sad that next week is the season finale and possibly the series finale.
"Advanced Introduction To Finality" written by Megan Ganz (writer of Community episode 'Cooperative Calligraphy' and many more) and directed by Tristram Shapeero (Community veteran director of episodes like 'Paradigms of Human Memory' and many more) opens with the gang in the study room (after another great scene with cameo by Joe Lo Truglio) as they Learn that Jeff will be graduating soon. I won't spoil what happens in this episode but it ties in nicely to the season 3 episode 'Remedial Chaos Theory' and finds a way to make paintball cool again. And if this turns out to be the last episode of this series all together, I will be ok with that as it ended on a strong note. I found it to be heartwarming (even though some characters like Chang, Britta and the Dean were a bit under used) and funny and have a nice sense of closure. If this truly is the end, I will be sad.
Community maybe be just a show to some people, or just another 30 minute gap of mindless television to take up time while they wait for something else on tv to come on. To me, Community is far more than that. I grew up with shows like Cheers and Wings and I get the sitcom format. But I think where Dan Harmon and the cast and crew of this show succeeded far more than any other 30 minute sitcom in history, was making fully realized characters that make you feel something, care for them and miss them when they're gone. I will miss this show when it's gone, just like I do after every season of Community comes to an end. This will be a show I will talk about, reference and try to get people to watch for years to come. This show is a cult classic, and like most cult classics, it's underappreciated in the time it is produced, but in the years to come, will get the respect it deserves. Here is to "six seasons and a movie" and the wonderful cast, crew, writers and directors of this show, as well as Dan Harmon, for creating something that will live on longer than the production of the show itself, for creating Community and all the memories of it that I will carry with me.
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Sold as New but was used & re-wrapped
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2022
Bought this as New, but it was clearly an opened, used product with was re-shrink wrapped and sold as new. Product is in good condition but has clear wear on the box edges. This is a purposeful misrepresentation and it's a scam to sell used product as new.
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2022
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A. Whitehead
The weakest season, but not a complete waste of time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 29, 2014Mr. D. L. Rees
MIRTH, MAYHEM & MISFIRES
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 10, 2015
Franziska
but all in all I didn't find this season half as bad as I expected it to be
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 8, 2015Samuel Williams
Community is one of the best ensemble sitcoms to exist
Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 18, 2016
