“You are human tennis elbow. You are a pizza burn on the roof of the world’s mouth. You are the opposite of Batman!” – Troy (summing up every feeling I’ve ever had about Britta)
God, Community is such a beautiful, weird little show. Much like the gang from the study group can’t function in polite society, Community can’t last for more than about a minute and a half passing for normal. The promise of their song and dance opening number (because really, at this point, what’s more mainstream than a musical episode?) is short-lived: Community is never going to appeal to a mainstream audience. But that’s okay.
Of course, I say it’s okay as a fan of a show, not someone whose paycheck depends on its continued airing, so take that as you will. But as an audience member, I love monkey knock-out gas; I love the fact that Chang specifically realized that it was monkey knock-out gas, and I love that it’s episode 1 and we’re already getting into drug-induced hallucinations.
I love how John Goodman is going to do things that affect the Dean’s rectum, and I love the fact that Omar’s comin’ (and is awesome). Michael Kenneth Williams is an inspired addition to the cast and I cannot wait to see what he brings to this role. He became my favorite character on The Wire basically the second he came on screen, so to have him at Greendale? I’m bouncing in my seat and clapping my hands in anticipation.
As excellent as everything was in this episode, I have to say my absolute favorite part was the return of Cougar Town to the Community universe. I’m obsessed with the fact that these two shows keep on mentioning each other and that social media has helped bring them together despite basically being competition. They’re very different shows, but both wildly under-appreciated.
I also appreciated the digs at British television. While some of it is great, I honestly think a lot of it is overrated. Yes, shorter seasons are better than longer ones in most cases, but sometimes 6 episodes just isn’t enough. and also, Doctor Who looks like something that would make me want to punch my TV. At least Abed has something to get him through the dark months until Cougar Town returns in January.
And because I love you (and to make up for my dig at The Church of Doctor Who), here are the lyrics to Community‘s opening number!
We’re gonna fly to school each morning We’re gonna smile the entire time We’re gonna be more happy We’re gonna finally be fine We’re gonna get more calm and normal We’re gonna fix our state of mind We’re gonna be less crazy We’re gonna finally be fine We’re gonna stand holding hands in a brand-new land Far away from the borderline We’re gonna seem like a mainstream dream And be appealing to all mankind We’re gonna have more fun and be less weird Than the first two years combined And we’re gonna live forever And we’re gonna sleep together And we’re gonna finally be sunny and shinily We’re gonna finally be fine!
Clacked by Kona Gallagher 
on Sep 22, 2011 @ 21:10 EST5EDT
As soon as his heart got broken by Cougarton Abbey, I immediately thought, “Why doesn’t he just watch Doctor Who? He’d get decades of episodes.” When Inspector Spacetime came on, I kind of lost my shit.
Don’t knock it ’til you try it.
John Goodman’s ferocious slightly southern sounding drawl was like something out of a Coen Bros’ film. And that’s wazzup.
He was also evil robot santa in first season Futurama… and that voice is still intimidating as hell.
Doctor Who is amazing. you really need to see it.
Seconded, and Community is my favorite show currently on TV. I started Doctor Who with the renewed series (2005) and couldn’t stop watching.
“Doctor Who looks like something that would make me want to punch my TV.”
That’s what I said… and then I started watching it.
I’m with you on Who, Kona. Solidarity !!
I think the elephant in the room after the opening song – which seems to confirm what I had heard in cast interviews – is that they’re planning on putting Annie and Jeff back together. I’m not particularly pleased with that news.
I am. ;) Here’s to hoping that something happens between the two of them in the next episode! (Those who read spoilers will know what I’m talking about.)
I really liked this episode. It was just wacky enough without being too stunt-driven, and it focused more on characters than plot, like most of the best episodes do.
However, I will admit that my favorite part was the parody of 2001. That’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and it always kills me (in a good way) whenever I see a parody of it in pop culture.
One of my favorite moments out of many was the quick glimpse of the brand name of the monkey knock-out gas: “Chimpan-Zzzz”
*POST AUTHOR*
That’s hilarious. I missed that!
I’m not surprised you missed it since it was only seen for a brief moment. I think the only reason I caught it is because my eyes just happened to be focused on that particular part of the screen at the time. It’s a shame they didn’t call more attention to such a hilariously imaginative name, but “Community” can be so densely packed with stuff like that I’m sure I miss 2/3 of that stuff in every episode.
I’d never heard of “Community” before today, when a Doctor Who website mentioned their satire. I must admit I love classic Doctor Who, and have since I was a child in the 1960’s. The modern series has its moments, but in general yes, it can make you want to punch your TV.
As for “Cougar Town”, it sounds terrible. Why would anyone want to glorify pedophiles and unfaithful spouses? Granted, I haven’t seen it, so perhaps the TV Guide and IMDB listings are wrong.