Season 5, Episodes 1 and 2
Air Date: Thursday, January 2, 2014, 9/8c on USA
Rating:
That brings us to Community and its fifth season, which premieres Thursday, January 2. The show’s creator, Dan Harmon, had been fired at the end of Community’s third season and David Guarascio and Moses Port hired to replace him as showrunners. Season four was met with mostly positive reviews but fans, and even the actors, felt something was off with the absence of Harmon. While they never appeared on screen, many fans viewed Guarascio and Port as the Coy and Vance of the series.
“Repilot” can be viewed one of two ways, depending on what you know about Community. To longtime fans, “Repilot” picks up a year after the season four finale. The gap in time allows the writers to show regular viewers what everyone has been doing. To new viewers, it’s a pilot episode where characters like Annie Edison (Alison Brie), Troy Barnes (Donald Glover), Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), and others are introduced.
Not only does “Repilot” work, it’s funny and by the end of the episode, viewers both old and new will all be on the same page.
“Introduction to Teaching” takes the audience to Greendale Community College where they meet Professor Buzz Hickey (Jonathan Banks), as well as some other familiar teachers in new roles. Banks is a great addition to the Greendale staff, especially for Breaking Bad fans who will see glimpses of Banks’ character, Mike Ehrmantraut, in the Hickey character.
What makes both episodes work is the banter between the characters, especially given the re-pilot concept. Several times, dialogue is used to explain things to help newer audience members understand references to previous seasons and events. A perfect example is the introduction of Chang (Ken Jeong) in “Repilot” when the study group members wonder how Chang can be back by discussing all the things he has done.
I don’t think there is a comedy out there that does character arguments better than Community and this season, the writers and cast are at the top of their game. I lost track of the many times I laughed as the study group verbally goes after someone, usually another member of the group.
Feel free to leave me a comment below or tweet me at @staffaroadtrip to let me know what you think about the re-piloting of the show.
Also, you may read the transcript of my conference call interview with Community stars Joel McHale and Jim Rash by clicking here.
On behalf of the Your Entertainment Corner team, I would like to wish all of our readers a safe and Happy New Year.
For more on Community, visit the official website at http://www.nbc.com/community/.
Follow the show on Twitter @nbccommunity.
LIKE Community on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/nbccommunity.
All photos © 2013 NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Greg Staffa
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