Community - "History 101" - Review

When Cougar Town moved to a new network, there was the question of whether it would remain the same show it had always been. Thus far the series has stayed fairly true to the makeup and quality that we anticipate from the series. 

Similarly, when Community creative braintrust Dan Harmon was given the boot by NBC, it was impossible not to question whether the series would remain the same without him. David Guarascio and Moses Port were brought in as showrunners for the series’ fourth season. And the question now is can the show survive without Harmon? 

Well, I hate to say it but tonight’s episode was bad. 

This is not Community. This is imitation Community. A knockoff brand trying so hard to be the original product. This is someone trying to do everything the series has always attempted (the weird jokes, the high concepts, et al.) and failing to understand the basic nucleic acids that made the series tick and work. 

The Hunger Games idea is a good idea in of itself, but it just doesn’t work. The episode only superficially goes through with the concept, and it comes off as only a half-hearted effort. Even when the show faltered in the third season, what let you at least appreciate it was that the series went for broke with every single concept. And sometimes that meant it would fall flat on its face, but the series put in the full, balls-to-the-wall effort to be something bold and audacious and high-concept. It tried so damn hard. 

And this is all the trappings of a good episode with none of the substance underneath to really make it successful. We can see it in the whole joke about going inside of Abed’s head. It’s another good idea in theory, but the execution feels like: Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to see inside Abed’s head! (In fanboy-esque fashion) And then failing to come up with a decent reason to justify it happening. 

Whether it was paintball or fake clip shows or alternate time lines the series had been smart enough to tie these things back to these characters. Often times the episode wasn’t particularly out there or crazy. Much of the first season had some out there jokes, but it wasn't until “Comparative Religion” that the show came into its own and became the show we know it to be, and the only kind of high concept episode before that is “Debate 109” which has glimpses of what the series will be but in many ways holds back. 

This is high-concept for the sake of high-concept with a tacked on heart. The cast tries very hard with the material given to them but the writers seem to have a much worse grasp on how to utilize these characters. 

Grade: B-