Enter Jeff Wingham (Joel McHale), a suspended lawyer who is forced to attend Greendale Community College after being disbarred for not having a license. So begins the first episode of “Community,” originally airing Thursdays at 8 p.m.
Struggling with his classes and an insurmountable amount of personal problems, he finds himself joining a study group with other outcasts, consisting of Abed, (Danny Pudi,) a pop culture obsessed film student; Shirley (Nicole Brown), a single mother and outspoken Christian; Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase,) a millionaire geriatric afflicted with a severe case of boredom; and a slew of others, who don’t quite fit the social norm. Soon, they all find themselves at odds with the rest of the student body and notable faculty members, like Senor Cheng (Ken Jeong,) the Asian Spanish teacher, and Dean Pelton (Jim Rash), the sexually ambiguous head of the school, who desperately wants and tries to make Greendale appear more like a substantial university than it actually is.
Some of the antics and hijinks that ensue include discovering a hidden trampoline, an elusive kleptomaniac monkey, a paintball match with a rival school and even an impromptu zombie outbreak on Halloween.
Running for three seasons, “Community” first aired in fall 2009, but due to extremely low ratings, has been on the chopping block since it debuted. Due to unprecedented fan support, however, and outrage primarily voiced online, “Community” has been repeatedly renewed. Then, after series creator Dan Harmon left the show at the end of season three, it was scheduled to be moved to the dreaded Friday timeslot, generally where television goes to die.
Due to still unclear reasons, in early October on the season four premiere date, new episodes did not occur and viewers were directed to a webisode on the show’s NBC website (http://www.nbc.com/community/video/community-season-4-premieres-someday/...), which announced that the show will return “someday.”
In the meantime while we wait, seasons one through three are available on DVD and some full episodes from season three are available at nbc.com.
But do not despair “Community” fans, online rumors predict that season four’s elusive new episodes will premiere on NBC in February, back in their original timeslot of 8 p.m. Thursdays.
(Pictures available at http://www.nbc.com/community/)
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