NBC
Aerial Telly is acutely aware of the demographic of his readershit. Male, twentysomething, clinically depressed, socially bereft, sartorially challenged, morphically strafed, spiritually bankrupt, emotionally shafted, financially quadriplegic and sexually tanked – the kind of “people” who complain to national newspapers about “things” they didn’t “like” that they “read”. If they were American, they would almost certainly spend some time in a community college – a holding pen for society’s fuck-ups. “Community college” Chris Rock once said “is like a disco with books” and in NBC‘s Community at the particular biblio/discothèque in question, Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is our Grant Santino. Jeff was once a shitheel lawyer but now he is merely a suspended shitheel lawyer after the State Bar Association discovered his diploma from Colombia referred not to the prestigious New York law school but to the Latin American country. To prevent him being disbarred he must attend classes at Greendale Community College to work towards an authentic law degree. “I have to get one from America,” he explains. “And it can’t be an e-mail attachment.” Jeff doesn’t want to be surrounded by losers, schmucks and dopes but it’s a community college – what else are you going to find there?
“Joining them in the group is Abed Nadir, an Arab-American Asperger’s case who came to Greendale after turning down places on 36 different degrees at the ‘University’ of Northampton and Edgehill ‘University’ despite having never applied.”
Still, Jeff has half a mind to make the best of it and in the kingdom of the mindless, the half minded man is king. In an attempt to get closer to college fox Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) he forms a Spanish study group that the show revolves around.
Joining them in the group is Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), an Arab-American Asperger’s case who came to Greendale after turning down places on 36 different degrees at the “University” of Northampton and Edgehill “University” despite having never applied. Abed bounces off Troy Barnes (Donald Glover) who used to be a bigshot in high school football but now seems content to bum around, embracing the low-pressure environment of the college. Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is a fat black lass of little consequence and Annie Edison (Alison Brie) is a young, uptight Jew of even less consequence.
“Shitheads circling their own inability to do things alone find that they can screw up together and feel slightly less alone as their failure engulfs them.”
Making up the group is Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne, a moist towelette tycoon, in his 70s, looking for friendship, who has almost amusing outdated attitudes to stuff. Never got why Chevy Chase was supposed to be funny – nothing ever felt right about that boy.
But the show? Impressive stuff. Jeff is a good snarky fish out of water trying to get into Britta like his name was filter and the Troy-Abed double act produces moments of genuine brilliance. The themes will resonate for many. Shitheads circling their own inability to do things alone find that they can screw up together and feel slightly less alone as their failure engulfs them – something the “readers” of this site might do well to ponder. You incandescent cuntcakes.
The verdict on Community: Divided we fall, together we still fall but get to bitch about it afterwards.
Marks out of 10: 7.5
Imagined: Wednesday, June 02, 2010