So, Community. It’s not a program I’ve ever really spoken about on this blog before, which is in fact a crying shame: I love Community. I watched the whole series (bar the sixth season finale) over my long summer holiday this year - it’s the only show I’ve ever binge watched like that, actually. It’s very close to my heart, in any case; I really connected with it.

The thing is though, watching it during the summer, I didn’t really get the full seasonal experience of the Community Christmas Specials. So I figured I’d rewatch each of the episodes, and make a special blog post for the occasion.

4). Intro to Knots (Season 4)

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Admittedly, this one isn’t amazing. That’s true of most of season 4 of Community, it’s got to be said; the ‘gas leak year’, where creator Dan Harmon wasn’t running the show, always felt weirdly off brand. It’s a problem exacerbated by reduced involvement from characters such as Pierce, and the mismanagement of other characters like Chang (the “changnesia” arc was always really very strange), as well as the unwelcome appearance of the ‘darkest timeline’ at the end of the episode.

Perhaps most damning of all, this episode simply isn’t very Christmassy - an extra shame, given that it ultimately proved to be the last Christmas episode that Community ever did. It’s understandable, I suppose, once stop-motion and musicals had been covered, but regardless, it feels like something of a shame. It’s far from the end of the world, because there is entertaining plot here, that does in fact work pretty well; the Professor’s manipulative actions are grounds for a lot of good jokes, and the eventual twist is set up rather cleverly. It’s just that, as a Christmas episode, it’s difficult to consider this episode a resounding success.

3). Comparative Religion (Season 1)

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There’s something rather fantastic about the first season of Community, which I count as amongst my favourite seasons of the program. I think part of it is the charm of the early days; the characters don’t quite know each other yet, the show is still settling into it’s groove, things are a little more “normal” in terms of the style, and so on and so forth. You can see that to an extent here - we’re still starting to get to know all the characters, and this is where we learn most of their religions. Pierce’s religion is legitimately hilarious, and the exchange between characters and discussion of religion works really well. (Also, another charming thing from the early days: the Dean’s insistence on avoiding discrimination by being as nondescript as possible.)

This is a brilliant episode, albeit perhaps not the most Christmassy - Christmas is, for the most part, a matter of setting here, something that informs the story, rather than being essential to it. The story of Jeff confronting the school bully could easily have been presented at another time of the year - but, actually, it works better by virtue of the fact that the episode is set at Christmas. It’s just more fun. The ending is particularly well suited to Christmas, actually; it juxtaposes the traditional Christmassy moral of people coming together with what actually happens - a great big punch up - to great comedic effect.

2). Regional Holiday Music (Season 3)

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Story continues