Community

What kind of TV geek would I be if, not only have I seen this show, but adore it? Yes, add my puny, mostly-ignored voice to the tons of adorers this show has. I've been with this show since Day 1 (Does that get me cool points? I hope so.)

This is a common ensemble TV show gimmick, really. You take a group of stereotypes and make them work together. Community very quickly moved beyond this, but each character still has their box. You have:

The Leader: Jeff. He is what is considered a charismatic leader. Without him, the group would be lost. He's a smooth-talking, very smart lawyer who loses his job before the show starts, because he faked his degree.
The Rebel/Activist: Britta. I'll very happily admit, however, that Britta is not a traditional one. It's weird to put together a traditionally counterculture and subculture character together, but it works with Britta. She wanted to be cool (hipster-style), and dropped out of school. She gets herself worked up over every little thing, acting like her shoes are mini-soapboxes that give her a free pass to scream at everyone about everything.
The Top 10er: Annie. This is the girl that would be in the top ten of her class, if not a valedictorian. She's the girl that cries if she gets an A- on her test, because it'll bring down her average.
The Jock: Troy. He was a football player at his old school.
The Angry Black Woman/Bigoted Christian: Shirley. Thankfully the bigot in her is very much an undertone, but sometimes takes a step forward. You can usually see this most strongly in the Christmas special episodes.
The Old Guy/Trust Fund Kid: Pierce  Rich, with the ability to say whatever he wants with basically a free pass.
The Weirdo: Abed. He isn't quite there, but he's nice enough.
The Psychotic Teacher: Chang. He will make your life a living hell if he feels like it (and he always feels like it.)

Now, as critical as I sound of every one of these characters, I'm really not. Every character balances each-other out very well. They all have great relationships, and are very well-rounded. They all grow and change throughout the show (some more than others.) They all feel real, mostly because I know these people. I'm Abed. My closest friends in high school were Annie and Shirley. My grandmother is Pierce. (Doesn't everyone have a grandparent Pierce?)

I could write a novel about the relationships between these characters, and that's a very good thing, especially considering each episode is only 23 minutes long. Shows with at least four times the time (40+ minutes long, 8 seasons) don't have as complex relationships as these. At the same time though, you don't have to study them to figure them out... because if you want, even their relationships can fit into boxes. You only have to go as deep as you want to. Pierce can be the group scapegoat, Jeffery can be the leader in a love triangle between Annie and Britta, Shirley can be their surrogate mother, and Abed and Troy can be Heterosexual Life Partners.

This show is akin to a kid, standing on a roof with an umbrella, insisting it'll work as a parachute. You know it's going to be bad, but you can't look away. When the kid jumps off the roof, the umbrella doesn't work, but they land in a pile of mattresses. It isn't afraid to take risks, risks you wouldn't believe they would even dare to try in what is essentially a sitcom.

A list of the show's great achievements:

* Genre episodes: Modern Warfare as action, Basic Rocket Science as space adventure, Epidemiology as horror, Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design as a thriller, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as fantasy, Critical Film Studies as indie, Intermediate Documentary Film-making and Documentary: Redux as rom-coms (just kidding, documentary), Paradigms of Human Memory as a clip show, and so on.
* Christmas Specials. They have some of the best, and darkest, Christmas specials I've ever seen.
* High Concept ideas that work: Animated episode, a show that deals with String Theory, and a musical episode? Yup. They're all great.

Standout Episode

Originally, I wasn't going to pick a standout episode. I was going to tell you they're all great, and I adore every single one of them. But while I was looking through the show, picking out genre episodes, I found one episode that I specifically wanted to mention.

Remedial Chaos Theory is a show all about string theory. They roll a die to see who gets the pizza in every segment... then explore what happens when that person leaves the group. It's a subtle examination of each person's role in the group. It's hilarious, and very well done.

Be sure to watch each episode to the end, or you'll miss Troy and Abed's stunts, which are easily some of the best jokes of the series.