Community is an American television sitcom created by Dan Harmon. The series ran for 110 episodes over six seasons, with its first five seasons airing on NBC from September 17, 2009, to April 17, 2014, and its final season airing on Yahoo Screen from March 17 to June 2, 2015. Set at a community college in the fictional Colorado town of Greendale, the series stars an ensemble cast including Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, Chevy Chase, and Jim Rash. It makes use of meta-humor and pop culture references, paying homage to film and television clichés and tropes.
Harmon based Community on his experiences attending Glendale 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 the showrunner 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 for Communitys sixth and final season, with Harmon continuing as showrunner.
Despite struggling in the ratings, Community developed a cult following and received acclaim for its acting, direction, writing, and meta-humor. It won a Primetime Emmy Award from four nominations and received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Comedy Series in 2012, among other accolades. In September 2022, after several years of speculation and development, a feature-length Community film was announced for NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock.
Premise Jeff Winger is disbarred and suspended from his law firm when it is discovered that he lied about having a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. To earn a legitimate degree, he enrolls at Greendale Community College in Colorado. He quickly becomes attracted to his classmate, social activist Britta Perry, and pretends to run a study group in order to spend time with her. Britta invites classmate Abed Nadir, a socially awkward and pop culture obsessed student, who in turn brings other classmates along: religious single mother Shirley Bennett; naïve over-achiever Annie Edison; former high school football star Troy Barnes; and bigoted, elderly millionaire Pierce 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.
Cast and characters
The show features an ensemble 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 as Jeff Winger, a former lawyer who enrolls at Greendale after being suspended by the state bar for falsely claiming to have a bachelor's degree from Columbia University. Jeff is a sarcastic, outspoken, overconfident lothario 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's straight 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 as Britta Perry, an anarchist, atheist, and activist 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 as Abed Nadir, a film student of Palestinian and Polish descent, with an encyclopedic knowledge of TV shows and movies. Abed struggles to interact with others via conventional means due to his autism, so he often chooses to interpret the group's everyday activities by comparing them to film and TV clichés. 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 through Channel 101. Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett (seasons 1–5; guest season 6), a divorced mother and vocal Christian 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 as Annie Edison, the youngest of the group, a compulsive overachiever, relentlessly organized and comparatively innocent. Annie was extremely unpopular in high school and formerly addicted to Adderall, which has caused her to be very anxious 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 as Troy 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 his nerdy 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 as Ben Chang, an unstable Spanish professor 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 to amnesia) during season 4, a math teacher under work release in season 5, and a member of the Save Greendale Committee in season 6. Chevy Chase as Pierce 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 as Craig Pelton (seasons 3–6; recurring seasons 1–2), the dean of Greendale, who desperately wants his school to be more like a 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 unclear sexual orientation, he frequently attempts to flirt with Jeff and is an increasingly avid cross-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.
Production Casting
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. He had worked with several of the cast members previously. Actor Chevy 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. 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." 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.