'Community' Watch: "History 101"

Community without Dan Harmon still has plenty of sex appeal.

The relationship I have with Community is different from any other sitcom I've had the pleasure of watching. There have been others that I've found funnier (Arrested Development), been totally obsessed with (The Office), that I was with from the beginning even when seemingly no one else was watching (Party Down), or that I even think have a better cast (Parks and Recreation), but there's always been something unique about Community.

 Part of it is simply a a combo of all the above. The darkest timeline in "Remedial Chaos Theory" is the funniest 90 seconds of TV I've ever seen. I may never match my obsession for season 2 of The Office but with Community I haven't been limited to one season in particular, but rather devour all the DVD commentaries & other extras & reading multiple recaps of each episode. That first season of Community I had few, if any people, besides my brother to discuss the show with before finally talking friends into watching it* or finding others who were already streets ahead. & while I'd give Parks brilliant cast** the edge there's not a weak spot in the Community cast.***

*It's possible I've done more facebook posts on "Community" than all other shows combined, I've certainly posted more clips, & that's saying something. 

**This is where I have to remind anyone not watching"Parks" to get their shit together. 

***I've had problems with Pierce &, especially, Chang but that's had much more to do with the writing than Chevy Chase of Ken Jeong's performances. 

Beyond that it's a show that in many ways seems tailor made for me, & other TV/movie geeks, with the many pop culture references, the various theme episodes, & Abed himself whose use of television knowledge to better understand real life is not altogether different than my own thinking. So when Sony announced they had let Den Harmon, the mad genius behind the show, go after last season there were some big questions about the future of this show that I, & a few million others, loved so much.