Harmon basedCommunity on his experiences attendingGlendale Community College. Each episode was written in accordance with Harmon's "story circle" template, a method designed to create effective and structured storytelling. Harmon was theshowrunner for the first three seasons but was fired before the fourth and replaced by David Guarascio and Moses Port. After weaker reviews, Harmon was rehired for the fifth season, after which NBC canceled the series. Yahoo! Screen revived the show forCommunity's sixth and final season.
Jeff Winger isdisbarred and suspended from his law firm when it is discovered that he lied about having abachelor's degree fromColumbia University. To earn a legitimate degree, he enrolls at Greendale Community College inColorado. He quickly becomes attracted to his classmate, social activistBritta Perry, and pretends to run astudy group in order to spend time with her. Britta invites classmateAbed Nadir, a socially awkward and pop culture obsessed student, who in turn brings other classmates along: religious single motherShirley Bennett; naïve over-achieverAnnie Edison; former high school football starTroy Barnes; and bigoted, elderly millionairePierce Hawthorne. Despite their differences, the group's members soon become close friends. They are often roped into helping the college's flamboyant dean,Craig Pelton, in his schemes to make the school seem more respectable, as well as having to deal with the antics of their mentally unstable teacher (and eventual classmate and friend)Ben Chang.
Season 1 follows Jeff's creation of the study group and its subsequent misadventures. Season 2 sees Chang forced to enroll as a student and attempt to join the study group despite secretly planning revenge against it, while Pelton is forced to fight for Greendale's sense of pride against the dean of a rival school City College, eventually culminating in a desperate paintball battle. Season 3 focuses on Chang's villainous plot to take over the school, as well as Troy's struggle with whether or not to attend the cult-like air conditioning repair school. Season 4 shows the study group in its senior year, with all the characters (especially Abed) struggling with what may be their final moments together, and Chang recovering from "Changnesia" (a fake amnesia which Chang uses as a coverup). Season 5 sees Pierce's death and Troy leaving in the middle of the season, while the other characters return to Greendale after graduation to save the school, leading Jeff to take a job there as a teacher. Season 6 ends the series with the characters reflecting on the last six years while new staff member Frankie Dart arrives at the dysfunctional school to make it more respectable, forcing the group to question how much Greendale can be cleaned up while still remaining Greendale.
The show features anensemble cast of characters, focusing on the members of a study group and a recurring group of faculty of Greendale Community College, including the school's dean.
Joel McHale asJeff Winger, a former lawyer who enrolls at Greendale after being suspended by thestate bar for falsely claiming to have abachelor's degree fromColumbia University. Jeff is a sarcastic, outspoken, overconfidentlothario who often manipulates people to get what he wants. He first created the study group in an attempt to get with Britta, a girl in his Spanish class, through the ruse of being a Spanish tutor who could help Britta pass the course. As he becomes closer to his new study group, his old habits and views change. Most of the group (except Britta, who sees through his facade) tends to idolize Jeff for his charisma (particularly in the first season), and often seek advice from him. Although he initially fits into his role as the group'sstraight man, appearing indifferent to their concerns before grudgingly helping them, Jeff becomes more willing to make personal sacrifices for his friends over time and slowly reveals that he has a great deal of care and reverence for his study group.
Gillian Jacobs asBritta Perry, ananarchist,atheist, andactivist who traveled around the world after dropping out of high school. Britta tries to be proactive, intelligent, and mature, but often comes off as pretentious and hypocritical. She has a tendency to lack direction and make things go wrong. Despite not being as worldly or well-informed an activist as she thinks, Britta has a genuine desire to help others, and she cares deeply for her friends.
Danny Pudi asAbed Nadir, a film student of Palestinian and Polish descent, with an encyclopedic knowledge of TV shows and movies. Abed struggles to interact with others viaconventional means due to hisautism, so he often chooses to interpret the group's everyday activities by comparing them to film and TVclichés. Despite being out of touch with reality at times, Abed is a keen observer of human behavior and often the wisest member of the group. These eccentricities allow him to pick up on flaws the other characters have and tend to bluntly point them out, eventually resulting in the characters learning from his insights. Harmon based the character on Abed Gheith, whom he met throughChannel 101.[4]
Yvette Nicole Brown asShirley Bennett (seasons 1–5; guest season 6), a divorced mother and vocalChristian going to school to start a brownie business. Shirley is a kind-hearted person with strong morals, but can be overbearing and often resorts to using guilt to get what she wants or to control her friends' behaviors. Though usually soft-spoken, Shirley has a quick temper, a characteristic that manifests when she is advocating for herself or her friends. It is often implied that Shirley's Christian beliefs, which she tends to impose on most non-Christians around her, are a means of coping with her anger issues and repressing the stress she deals with in raising her family while also in school.
Alison Brie asAnnie Edison, the youngest of the group, a compulsive overachiever, relentlessly organized and comparatively innocent. Annie was extremely unpopular in high school and formerly addicted toAdderall, which has caused her to be veryanxious and desperate to prove herself to others. Though normally kind-hearted, she can quickly turn obsessive or lose her temper when she fails to achieve her goals or is denied something she strongly cares about. Her friendship with the study group, as well as her living situation with Troy and Abed, slowly allows her to become more laid-back and genial.
Donald Glover asTroy Barnes (seasons 1–5), a former high school star quarterback who lost his scholarship to a top-tier university when he dislocated both shoulders doing a keg flip, which he did on purpose in order to escape pressures of his stardom and popularity. Troy begins the series trying to appear cool, acting like a stereotypical football player, but he eventually feels comfortable in embracing hisnerdy and carefree side, particularly thanks to his becoming best friends with Abed. Troy struggles with the idea of growing up, often looking to Jeff and Pierce for guidance. Still, he often shows signs of being capable of leadership and bringing the group together.
Ken Jeong asBen Chang, an unstable Spanish teacher at Greendale. Chang often takes extreme action against his students, often yelling at them for the slightest infraction or using his superior status to taunt them. He has alternately been a friend and foe of the study group, his ultimate desire being to fit in with them and become a part of the study group, though his behavior makes them desperate not to include him. After Annie gets him fired at the end of season 1, Chang alternates between a variety of roles, becoming a student in season 2, a security guard in season 3, as Kevin who is suffering from "Changnesia" (a fake disease similar toamnesia) during season 4, a math teacher underwork release in season 5, and a member of the Save Greendale Committee in season 6.
Chevy Chase asPierce Hawthorne (seasons 1–4; guest season 5), a millionaire and CEO of the Hawthorne Wipes moist towelette company who enrolled at Greendale a decade prior to the start of the series for the sake of keeping his mind active. More than anyone else within the study group, Pierce is often at odds with the rest of the group because of his arrogance, lack of empathy, and casual ignorance of politically correct behavior, all of which largely stem from his old age and his emotionally abusive father. This includes believing Britta is a closeted lesbian, lusting over Shirley, and casual racism. He also tends to envy the other group members, particularly Jeff's relative youthful attractiveness and Abed's close friendship with Troy. Despite his often unsociable and selfish nature, Pierce desperately wants to fit in with the group and occasionally offers great insight and advice, showing that he does care greatly for each of the group members.
Jim Rash asCraig Pelton (seasons 3–6; recurring seasons 1–2), thedean of Greendale, who desperately wants his school to be more like a real university and goes to extreme lengths to try to make it fun, wacky, and politically correct, while making various questionable business decisions regarding his school. A man of unclearsexual orientation, he frequently attempts to flirt with Jeff and is an increasingly avidcross-dresser. In season 6, he identifies himself as gay, though he views it as an insufficient label. The study group is by far the Dean's favorite group of students, and he is constantly making up excuses to come talk to them, often by walking into their study room unannounced while wearing a costume, to tell them about events going on in the school.
Danny Pudi, Gillian Jacobs, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie and Joel McHale atSan Diego Comic-Con 2012
Dan Harmon emphasized the importance of the cast to making the premise of the comedy work. "Casting was 95 percent of putting the show together," he said in an interview.[5] He had worked with several of the cast members previously. ActorChevy Chase had long been a favorite of Harmon. Though initially not partial to sitcoms, Chase was persuaded by the quality of the show's writing to take the job.[5] Harmon saw similarities between Chase and the character he plays on the show. Though Chase has often been ridiculed for his career choices, Harmon believed this role could be redeeming: "What makes Chevy and Pierce heroic is this refusal to stop."[6] Harmon had to warn Chase against playing a "wise-ass" the way he often does in his roles, since the character of Pierce is a rather pathetic figure who is normally the butt of the joke himself.[6]
McHale, known from theE! comedy talk showThe Soup, was also impressed by Harmon's writing. He commented, "Dan's script was so head and shoulders above everything else that I was reading."[7] McHale appealed to Harmon because of his likability, which allowed the character to possess certain unsympathetic traits without turning the viewer against him.[6] To play Annie, Harmon wanted someone resemblingTracy Flick,Reese Witherspoon's character in the 1999 movieElection. Originally the producers were looking for a Latina or Asian Tracy Flick, but they castAlison Brie, known for her role as Trudy Campbell onMad Men.[6]
Harmon based the premise ofCommunity on his own experiences. In an attempt to save his relationship with his then-girlfriend, he enrolled inGlendale Community College northeast ofLos Angeles, where they would take Spanish together.[5] Harmon got involved in a study group and, somewhat against his own instincts, became close friends with the members, with whom he had very little in common. "I was in this group with these knuckleheads and I started really liking them," he explained, "even though they had nothing to do with the film industry and I had nothing to gain from them and nothing to offer them."[6] With this background, Harmon wrote the show with a main character largely based on himself. He had, like Jeff, been arrogant and emotionally distant to the extreme before he realized the value of understanding other people.[6]
About the creative process behind the writing, Harmon said that he had to write the show as if it were a movie, not a sitcom. Essentially, the process was no different from the earlier works he had done, except for the length and the target demographic.[6]
The show is known for its frequent use of thematic episodes every season, which use clichés and television tropes as single-episode concepts that play withsuspension of disbelief while maintaining plot continuity.[10][11] One notable thematic episode is Season 3's "Remedial Chaos Theory", in which the cast explore seven different parallel realities of the same night, with one key variation being a roll of a single six-sided die in a game ofYahtzee that Jeff uses to dismiss a member of the group to go get a pizza (the seventh variant is that the die was not rolled at all).[12] Frequent episode themes areschool-year holidays (Halloween andChristmas being the most frequent),paintball,[13] and various forms of animation.[14][15][16]
Filming the show involved a lot of improvisation, particularly from Chase. Of Chase, Harmon said that he "tends to come up with lines that you can actually end scenes with sometimes".[17] He has also called McHale and Glover adept improvisers.[7] Apart from a few exterior scenes shot atLos Angeles City College, the show was filmed at theParamount Studios lot inHollywood,California, during seasons one through five. For season six, the series moved to theCBS Studio Center, and featured exterior scenes from Los Angeles City College for the first time since season two.[18] The series used thesingle-camera technique.[19]
Most episodes feature titles designed to sound like the names of college courses such as "Introduction to Film", "Anthropology 101" and "Cooperative Calligraphy".[20]
The complete series was released on DVD in region 1 on November 15, 2016. Special features include all the features from the first six seasons.[21] On June 6, 2018, it was announced thatCommunity: The Complete Series would be released by Mill Creek Entertainment on high-definitionBlu-ray on October 23, 2018.[22]
The first season ofCommunity premiered on September 17, 2009, in the 9:30 pm ET Thursday time slot, and ended on May 20, 2010. After three episodes, the show was moved to 8:00 pm ET.
NBC initially ordered 13 episodes, but in October 2009, it was announced that the show had been picked up for a full 22-episode season.[23][24][25][26] In January 2010, NBC ordered an additional three episodes for the first season, extending it to 25.[27] The first season was released in region 1 on September 21, 2010, in a four-disc set. The set includes all 25 episodes plus bonus features, including commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; extended versions of the "Pilot" and "Communication Studies" episodes; outtakes; "Season One Cast Evaluations" featurette; "Season One Highlight Reel" featurette; "Creative Compromises" featurette; "Advanced Criminal Law" alternative scenes; and three mini episodes.[28]
On March 5, 2010, NBC renewedCommunity for a 22-episode second season.[29][30] It would premiere on September 23, 2010, and would conclude on May 12, 2011.[31] NBC ordered 2 additional episodes for the second season on November 3, 2010, bringing it to a total of 24 episodes.[32] The second season was released in region 1 on September 6, 2011. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; outtakes; animatics for "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" and making-of featurettes covering that episode as well as "A Fistful of Paintballs" and "For a Few Paintballs More".[33]
The series was renewed for a third season on March 17, 2011.[34][35] Filming for the season began on July 25, 2011.[36]Jim Rash, who portrays Dean Pelton, was promoted to a series regular after having a recurring role throughout the first two seasons.[37]Michael K. Williams was cast as the study group's new biology professor, who is described as a deeply intense character.[38]John Goodman appears as a recurring character throughout the season as Vice Dean Laybourne, the head of Greendale's air conditioning repair school, and is a foe for Dean Pelton.[39]
Community premiered itsthird season on September 22, 2011. On November 14, 2011, NBC announced that they were removingCommunity from their mid-season schedule, replacing it with the returning series30 Rock.[40] Fans of the series began a campaign to get the show back on the air usingTwitter,Tumblr, andFacebook, makinghashtags such as #SaveCommunity, #SixSeasonsAndAMovie, and #OccupyNBC trending topics.[41] NBC responded to the backlash by announcing that the network was still planning to film and air the remainder of the 22 planned episodes after the undetermined hiatus, and that the fate of the series would be determined after the planned episodes air.[40]
On December 7, 2011,CollegeHumor released a video titled "Save Greendale (with the cast ofCommunity)" using the cast ofCommunity in-character to promote the series and the school in a PSA-styled video.[42] On December 22, 2011, fans of the series created aflash mob outside of NBC'sRockefeller Center headquarters inNew York City toOccupy NBC. The flash mob dressed in Christmas gear, wearing"darkest timeline"goatees, and singing "O' Christmas Troy" from the first season's episode "Comparative Religion" and chanting "Go Greendale, go Greendale, go".[43] On January 6, 2012, NBC entertainment chairmanRobert Greenblatt announced thatCommunity was not canceled, though he did not mention a return date.[44] On February 21, 2012, creator Dan Harmon announced via Twitter that the third season would resume on March 15, 2012, in its regular timeslot of Thursdays at 8:00 pm.[45]
The third season was released in region 1 on August 14, 2012. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; deleted scenes; "This is War: Pillows vs. Blankets mockumentary" featurette; and "A Glee-fulCommunity Christmas" featurette.[46]
Season 4 showrunners David Guarascio (left) and Moses Port (right) at a San Diego Comic-Con panel forCommunity in July 2012.
On May 10, 2012,Community was renewed for a fourth season consisting of 13 episodes.[47] Series creator and executive producerDan Harmon was replaced asshowrunner for the series in the fourth season, as writers David Guarascio and Moses Port (co-creators of the short-livedAliens in America) took over as showrunners and executive producers. Sony Pictures Television, which produces the series with Universal Television, initially said that Harmon would serve as a consulting producer, but Harmon asserted that he was not informed of the deal and would not return in a position without any executive prerogatives.[48] The end of the third season also marked several other departures including executive producersNeil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, writer/producerChris McKenna and actor/writerDino Stamatopoulos. Frequent episode directors and executive producersAnthony and Joe Russo also left the show in order to directCaptain America: The Winter Soldier.[49][50]
In early October 2012, NBC delayed the premiere of the fourth season, which had been scheduled for October 19, 2012, without announcing a new date.[51] On October 30, 2012, NBC announced that the fourth season would premiere on February 7, 2013, returning to its original time slot of Thursdays at 8:00 pm.[52]
On November 21, 2012, after allegedly using a racial slur on set, it was announced thatChevy Chase left the show by mutual agreement between the actor and network. As a result of timing and the agreement made, Chase's character Pierce is absent for two episodes—he did not appear in the tenth episode (produced as ninth), "Intro to Knots", and the twelfth episode, "Heroic Origins".[53][54] He also appeared in avoice-only role in the episode "Intro to Felt Surrogacy", which was the final episode produced for the season, and as part of his agreement to leave the show, Chase was required to record all audio for the scenes where his character, alongside the other characters, appeared as a puppet.[55] The season finale, which was filmed out-of-sequence, as it was the eleventh episode produced, marked Chase's final on-screen appearance as a regular cast member.[56] He appeared in a cameo in the season 5 premiere.[57]
The fourth season was released in region 1 on August 6, 2013. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; deleted scenes; "Inspector Spacetime: Inspection" featurette, and Adventures in Advanced Puppetry featurette.[58]
Chris McKenna on aCommunity panel atWonderCon 2012
On May 10, 2013, the series was renewed for a fifth season.[59] On June 1, 2013, Harmon announced he would return as showrunner for season five, replacing season four showrunners Moses Port and David Guarascio, with former writerChris McKenna returning as executive producer.[60] On June 10, Sony Television confirmed the return of Harmon and McKenna for the fifth season.[61]Dino Stamatopoulos,Rob Schrab and theRusso brothers also returned.
Glover decided to not return as a full-time cast member for the fifth season, appearing only in the first five of the 13 episodes.[62] To make up for his absence and Chase's,Jonathan Banks was cast in the fifth season in August 2013 and appeared in 11 of the season's 13 episodes, portraying Buzz Hickey, a criminology professor.[63] Additionally,John Oliver, who playedProfessor Duncan in the first two seasons, reprised his role in season 5 for multiple episodes.[64]
On May 9, 2014, NBC announced that it had canceledCommunity.[65] For several years before its cancellation, fans adopted the slogan "six seasons and a movie", a line from the second season episode "Paradigms of Human Memory" regarding Abed's hopeful legacy of short-lived NBC seriesThe Cape.[66][67][68] Bids to continue the series were turned down by popular streaming providers like Netflix[69] and Hulu.[70]
The fifth season was released in region 1 on August 5, 2014. It features commentary on every episode by cast and crew members; gag reel; and two featurettes, "Re-Animating the '80s" and "Advanced Television Production: 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep".[71]
On June 30, 2014, the day the cast's contracts were due to expire,Yahoo! announced it had ordered a 13-episode sixth season to stream onYahoo! Screen, including the main cast along with executive producers Dan Harmon, Chris McKenna, Russ Krasnoff, and Gary Foster. Harmon said, "I am very pleased thatCommunity will be returning for its predestined sixth season on Yahoo ... I look forward to bringing our beloved NBC sitcom to a larger audience by moving it online."[72] However,Yvette Nicole Brown dropped out to care for her ailing father, although she made guest appearances in "Ladders" and "Emotional Consequences of Broadcast Television".[73]Paget Brewster was cast as consultant Francesca "Frankie" Dart andKeith David was cast as inventor Elroy Patashnik.[74] Filming began for season six on November 17, 2014, and on December 8, 2014, the series celebrated the milestone of 100 episodes.[75] Filming ended on March 27, 2015.[76]
In a June 3, 2015, interview withTV Insider, Dan Harmon explained why season six would likely be the last of the series:
We've exploded into these successful shrapnel.Dr. Ken is nowDr. Ken.Alison has probably got her eye on movies.Gillian is working ona Netflix show. If there was some magical way of guaranteeing that everyone could come back all at once, let's do it. But it would be a lot easier to put together a movie project and get them all on board than to say, "Let's give it one more season!"[77]
Despite the show's "six seasons and a movie" mantra, Yahoo never formally marketed season six as its final season. On July 30, 2015, Joel McHale stated that Yahoo! "wanted to [make more seasons ofCommunity], but all of [the actors'] contracts were up after six years."[78] McHale later clarified his statement via Twitter, saying "Community is not canceled."[79] Yahoo released a statement: "We've seen tremendous value in our partnership with Sony and are continuing to discuss future opportunities forCommunity."[80] Harmon said he "could have said yes immediately" to season seven, but "given the actors' velocity and trajectory" decided in favor of "getting [the cast] back together for an awesome movie."[81] On January 4, 2016, Yahoo announced it had shut down its Yahoo Screen service, after a $42 million write-down, with its original programming being moved to Yahoo TV for continued public viewing.[82]
The sixth season was released on DVD in region 1 on March 8, 2016. Special features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the finale, trivia with the cast and crew, and a gag reel.[83]
In addition to the regular episodes, NBC produced a series ofwebisodes. Some focus on the daily life of Dean Pelton and others include a Spanish project, study breaks, and Abed copying his friends' lives and turning them into student films. These webisodes were featured on the front page of the Greendale Community College website on the AV Department page.[84]
On March 2, 2012, it was announced that three animated webisodes would air exclusively onHulu in lead up to the return of the series on March 15, 2012. TitledAbed's Master Key, the shorts were written by Dave Seger and Tom Kauffman ofChannel 101 and animated byAnimax Entertainment. In the webisodes, Abed becomes Dean Pelton's assistant and is given a master key to Greendale.[85]
Shortly afterCommunity was picked up for a sixth season in 2014, Zack Van Amburg ofSony Pictures Television confirmed that aCommunity film was in the early stages of development.[86] After the series wrapped, Harmon revealed that Yahoo! had initially wanted to make a movie immediately after the end of the sixth season, but at the time he was not ready to produce it.[87]
For the next several years, Harmon continued to express interest in creating aCommunity film and stated his efforts in making it happen.[88][89][90] During this period, cast membersDanny Pudi,Joel McHale,Alison Brie,Gillian Jacobs andDonald Glover would each express their own interest in the film as well.[91][92][93][94][95]Joe Russo was asked if he and his brotherAnthony would come back to do the movie. He stated, "We'd certainly be willing to do it. We love ourCommunity family. That cast, we're all still very close to all of them. It'd be schedule-depending for us. But I believe there will be aCommunity movie, especially now that it's doing well on streaming. Someone likeNetflix could step up and make the movie."[96]
Harmon confirmed in 2021 that he had begun work on the script, and that any logistical issues with creating aCommunity movie were mostly solved. He described the challenging part of the movie was more "philosophical", namely whether the movie would be approachable to a viewer unfamiliar with the television show.[97] Harmon said in August 2022 that a movie was "definitely going to happen" and could be expected in "between one and eight years". He said that the movie had an outline and that: "There's a product put together and pitched out in the world".[98]
ThePeacock streaming service announced that it had ordered the film in September 2022, after a bidding war among distributors for the rights.[99][100] Harmon andAndrew Guest were announced as writers, with McHale, Pudi, Brie, Jacobs,Jim Rash andKen Jeong set to reprise their roles.[3] Harmon later stated thatYvette Nicole Brown would also return.[101] Glover confirmed his involvement in the film several months later.[102] On April 2, 2024, McHale confirmedChevy Chase would not participate.[103]
During an interview onJimmy Kimmel Live! in January 2023, McHale revealed that filming would begin in June of that year.[104] However, filming was delayed amid the2023 Hollywood labor disputes.[105] In June 2023, McHale stated that filming would be set to begin in summer 2024.[106] In February 2024, Glover confirmed the script was complete.[107] During a February 2024 interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, Glover was asked about his role in the movie and said: "Yeah, [Harmon] told me what he wanted, and I was like, 'This sounds great' ... It's a college reunion, but Abed is like this big director now, and basically this is his magnum opus. I'm like, 'This sounds fucking tight.'"[108] In April 2024, Brie revealed that the script was completed, and that she had read it.[109]
In March 2024, McHale indicated that shooting was "basically working around Donald's schedule", would begin production "this year" and he would be shocked if it did not.[110] In May 2024, Glover noted toDeadline that he received backlash from fans over speculation regarding his schedule preventing the production, clarifying that "maybe [it] was last year — maybe — but not this time".[111] McHale would later clarify in an interview in July 2024 withGQ that it was not in fact Glover's schedule that was delaying production, but his own, stating: "That was definitely not true. It was not Donald's schedule. We love Donald. You can fully blame my schedule." He also added a tentative shooting period for 2025.[112]
Community has appeared on a number of lists determining the greatest television shows of all time. InTV (The Book): Two Experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time, criticsAlan Sepinwall andMatt Zoller Seitz rankedCommunity 54th in their combined top 100 list, placing them in the section titled "Groundbreakers and Workhorses".[125] In 2012,Entertainment Weekly listed the show at #15 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years," with high praise: "The series' affinity for ambitious, high-concept story lines (e.g. few shows are willing to turn over an entire episode tostop-motion animation),meta humor, and constant pop culture allusions has helped it earn the kind of fervent fan following some of its higher-rated comedic competitors must envy."[126] In 2017,IGN placed it 51st in its top 100 ranking of TV shows, with writer Jonathon Dornbush describing it "as a meta love letter to the films and shows that inspired it and its creator, Dan Harmon."[127] In 2021, the BBC placedCommunity at 44th of 100 in its ranking of the greatest TV series of the 21st century.[128] In 2023,Variety rankedCommunity #100 on its list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time.[129]
The show's first season received mostly positive reviews, scoring 69 out of 100 based on 23 critics on Metacritic.[114] Season 1 scored 90% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with the site's critical consensus reading: "Snarky and fast-paced with a surprisingly tender undercurrent and an engaging cast,Community is one of the best new comedies of the season".[113] David Bushman (Curator, Television) of thePaley Center for Media calledCommunity the best new show of the fall season.[132] Jonah Krakow ofIGN gave the first season an 8.5 saying that "Community eventually ramped up and delivered some amazing stories in the second half of the season."[133]
The second season received high critical acclaim, scoring 86 out of 100 based on 4 critics on Metacritic.[116] Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 100%, with a critical consensus that reads: "Community unfurls into a marvel of meta-madness in its sophomore season, artfully deconstructing sitcom tropes while repeatedly knocking its own emotional beats out of the park".[115] Emily Nussbaum ofNew York Magazine and Heather Havrilesky ofSalon.com ratedCommunity as the best show of 2010.[134][135] InThe A.V. Club's list of the 25 best television series of 2010,Community ranked second, stating that the best episodes were "Modern Warfare", "Cooperative Calligraphy", and "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas".[136] IGN namedCommunity the best comedy series in both 2010 and 2011.[137][138]
Danny Pudi has received critical acclaim for his performance.
Acclaim for the show continued in the third season, scoring 82 out of 100 based on 4 critics on Metacritic.[118] It also topped the Metacritic User Poll in the category 'Best Television Show of 2011', receiving 3,478 points.[139] Rotten Tomatoes gave season 3 a 91% with a critical consensus that reads: "The Greendale study group take some of their boldest swings – though not all connect – in this freewheeling third season that nevertheless continuesCommunity's streak as the gold standard for fiendishly clever television".[117]Community placed on several critics top television lists; including ranked second byPaste,[140] fifth by bothHitFix[141] andThe Huffington Post,[142] first byHulu[143] and third onTV.com's Top 100 Everything of 2011.[144]
Reviews for the fourth season were generally positive, but less enthusiastic than the reception of the first three seasons. It scored 69 out of 100 based on 18 critics on Metacritic.[120] The season 4 rating on Rotten Tomatoes is 65%, and the critical consensus reads: "Despite some behind-the-scenes drama, the fourth season ofCommunity manages to retain the playful energy, potent humor, and kooky stories the show is famous for".[119] Verne Gay ofNewsday stated the show was "still defiantlyCommunity, still good and still uninterested in adding new viewers."[145] On the other hand,Hitfix'sAlan Sepinwall wrote, "It feels like [Moses] Port, [David] Guarascio and the other writers decided to reverse-engineer the [Dan] Harmon version ofCommunity, but couldn't quite manage without the missing ingredient of Harmon himself."[146] Mike Hale ofThe New York Times has stated that the series "has been dumbed down, its humor broadened past recognition, and the two episodes provided for review...have fewer laughs between them than a single good scene from the oldCommunity."[147]
The fifth season received critical acclaim, scoring an 80 out of 100 based on 15 reviews on Metacritic.[122] Rotten Tomatoes gave the season a 93%, with the critical consensus reading: "With Dan Harmon back as its show runner,Community returns with a familiar new energy and more fun, exciting adventures for the Greendale gang".[121] Many critics cited the return of series creator Dan Harmon as a strength. Verne Gay fromNewsday said of the season that it was "about as good aCommunity restart as anyone could have possibly hoped for."[148]
The sixth season continued to receive positive reviews, scoring a 78 out of 100 based on 12 reviews on Metacritic,[124] and scoring an 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being, "Despite cast and broadcast changes,Community manages to remain at the top of its quirky class."[123] Amy Amatangelo ofThe Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Everything fans loved aboutCommunity remains [...] the show has seamlessly transferred to an online venue."[149] TheLos Angeles Times' Robert Lloyd considered "something special" about the season, commenting that it "lives in consciousness of its own construction in a kind of existential but also dramatically meaningful way."[150]The New York Times's Mike Hale felt Harmon responsible "for turning countercultural whimsicality into affecting, fast-paced comedy" in the season.[151]Time's James Poniewozik felt it the same show in humor and quality, though he noted an absent "sense of mission regarding the characters. [...] Maybe it's enough forCommunity, free of the ratings pressures of NBC, to live its second life free to be weird and playful and experimental."[152]
At the2nd Critics' Choice Television Awards,Community received the most nominations and won Best Comedy Series.[173] Joel McHale was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, Jim Rash and Danny Pudi were nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs were nominated Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.[174]Community was also nominated forTCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy at the 2012 TCA Awards.[175]
Whilesitcoms are often underrepresented in the academic study of television,[176]Community is an exception.[dubious –discuss] More specifically, television critics and scholars often referenceCommunity when discussingsemiotics, the study of signs, due to its frequent use of self-reference in highlighting common film and television tropes as they appear within the series.[177][2][178][dubious –discuss]
Some critics have even claimed that the show itself is about semiotics. Mordicai Knode ofTor.com suggests the show is "about the tropes of every single genre, it is about the cinematic language and the shared culture we all bring piecemeal to the table when we sit down as audiences."[177]
Dan Harmon fills each episode with signs and references in order for the audience to deconstruct and construct their own meaning, even going so far as to break thefourth wall to give viewers a wink and a nod to the show's complexity. Fans ofCommunity require a "certain level of rhetorical and interpretive skills"[179] to pick up on these semiotic layers of the series:
"The most important knowledge a viewer brings to the viewing ofCommunity is the subconscious recognition of indicators for other formal systems (meaning other genres or specific texts) with help from subconscious hypotheses and charts that are built on previous experiences with similar works."[180]
Premiering in the 9:30 pm ET spot on September 17, 2009, the pilot episode had a viewership of 7.680 million. In the 18–49 audience, it had arating of 3.7. As such, it held 93% of this audience fromThe Office, which had been in the previous time slot. The show was called the "bright spot for the night" forNBC, seeing howThe Office was down 18% from the previous year's premiere, whileParks and Recreation, in the preceding time slot, was down 30%.[181] However, the show, like many other NBC comedies at the time (includingThe Office,Parks and Recreation, and30 Rock), would later struggle in the ratings despite critical acclaim,[182] though the show did tend to improve after factoring in DVR ratings.[183] Some commentators noted that the show's uniqueness and ambition prevented it from achieving the broad appeal of other sitcoms.[182][184]
On March 14, 2012,Comedy Central announced that it had purchased the rights toCommunity forsyndication that began airing in September 2013 at the same time as weeknight syndication on local stations.[200] On November 28, 2020, the show made its debut onIFC.[201]
Community premiered in syndication in Canada onThe Comedy Network on September 4, 2012.[202] In January 2014, the show moved to Canadian sister channelMuchMusic.[203] The series made its Canadian over-the-air broadcast debut in 2018, when the series moved toCHCH.[204]
In the United Kingdom,Community aired on subscription cable networkUniversal TV from 2011 to 2016, with season one also airing on MTV's free-to-airViva channel andChannel 4 Television Corporation's4Music.[205]
In the United States, the complete series is available onPeacock. The first three seasons are available on Netflix throughout Latin America with Spanish or Brazilian Portuguese subtitles.[208] All six seasons are available via theiTunes Store. The series was available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video UK until February 1, 2015, when seasons one through five also became available on Netflix in the UK and Ireland until 2017.[209] In Australia, the entire series is available onStan andAmazon Prime Video.[210][211] In 2018, all six seasons were made available onAll 4, the streaming service ofChannel 4, in the United Kingdom.[212]
On April 1, 2020, the series became available to stream onNetflix worldwide.[213] The show reached a wider audience on the platform, as shown by its entrance into Netflix's list of top 10 most popular shows in April 2020.[214] From January to June 2023, the first period for which data was released, Netflix figures show thatCommunity was watched for a cumulative 91.5million hours on its platform.[b] It left the platform on March 31, 2024, and moved toPeacock on April 1.[216][217]
On June 26, 2020,Netflix andHulu removed the season 2 episode "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" from their platforms due to controversial scenes with Chang playing a dark elf by wearing black make-up and a white wig, which was perceived asblackface. Several other live-action comedies had episodes featuring blackface removed as well.[218] At the time, Harmon did not comment on the episode's removal.[219] In a 2021 interview withThe New York Times, Harmon remarked that "justifiably they're stripping it from the streaming archives because it's got a joke about blackface", but added that it "is probably the best episode ofCommunity".[220] The episode later returned to streaming following the series's move to Peacock.[221][222]
Asoundtrack for the first season, titledCommunity (Music from the Original Television Series), was released on September 21, 2010[223] byMadison Gate Records.[224] The track list includes the main title theme, "At Least It Was Here" bythe 88; original songs and incidental music composed for the show (by series composerLudwig Göransson); and several songs were performed by the characters (a mix of original compositions and covers).
Throughout the series,Michael Haggins's song "Daybreak" can be heard. On several occasions the characters are humming the tune and sometimes it can be heard playing on the radio in the background.[226]
^Nussbaum, Emily (December 5, 2010)."The Year in TV".New York.Archived from the original on December 9, 2010. RetrievedDecember 10, 2010.
^Havrilesky, Heather (December 13, 2010)."The best TV shows of 2010".Salon.com.Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. RetrievedDecember 20, 2010.
^Glennon, Morgan (December 14, 2011)."Best Television Shows of 2011".The Huffington Post.Archived from the original on January 9, 2012. RetrievedDecember 15, 2011.
^Collins, Ben (December 23, 2011)."Best of 2011".Hulu. Archived fromthe original on January 7, 2012. RetrievedDecember 24, 2011.
^Detmering, Laura (Fall 2014). ""Just Tell Me the Rules, and I Will Follow": Active Viewership, Community Engagement, and Dan Harmon's "Community"".Studies in Popular Culture.37 (1):39–56, 41.JSTOR24332699.
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