Community: The Complete Second Season

Another amazing season
So, the sophomore year of Community wrapped up last night in a grand fashion, and I'm delighted to say that it lived up to the high expectations I set after the first season. Sure, there were a couple of episodes I didn't like (the "ABED" episode, which seemed really out of character, or at least as much as Abed can be out of character, was the biggest offender) but with so many episodes in a season it's an absolute miracle and testament to the genius of the people involved that 90% of them are pure gold.

This year sees the study group grow and evolve even more, bonding over events as disparate as a Dungeons & Dragons game, going to a bar for Troy's 21st birthday, or finding a missing pen. The cast is still in top form, with Donald Glover (Troy) and Danny Pudi (Abed) being especially memorable. Chevy Chase (Pierce) has his moments to shine this season as well, breaking out beyond "Cliche Old Man" in a few episodes. Britta has changed from the hipster of the majority of...

The best comedy on TV... again.
During its freshman season, NBC's perennially underrated and low-watched sitcom Community- the story of a group of 'misfits' (for lack of a better term) that formed a community college study group- was unequivocally the best comedy on TV and perhaps the best since the late, great 'Arrested Development'. Seamlessly combining pop culture references and parodies with honest sentimentality and character humor, Community never went overboard with its references (see: Family Guy) and made for 25 episodes of smart, hilarious television that never talked down to its audience or went for cheap and unfunny gags. Now, in its second season, it is again the best comedy on TV.

Ramping up its unique brand of humor for 24 more episodes, Community not only equaled its first season but surpassed it with such genre-bending and ultimately great episodes as "Critical Film Studies" (The 'Pulp Fiction' parody that actually turned out to be so much more), "Mixology Certification" (The '21st...

If you don't like this show, you're just streets behind
Any review for either season of Community should really just be: You need to watch this show. I'm going to say more about it anyway.

The first season had some awesomely "weird" episodes, but the second season really raised the bar with its weird-in-the-best-way-possible episodes.

I'll use "Physical Education" as an example of a weird episode from season one: Jeff doesn't want to play pool in tiny, 80s style gym shorts. Hilarity ensues. The description of the Jeff story in "PE" is basically that simple. However, everything comes together so well. What starts out as a conflict with a tiny amount of pride at stake (Jeff has plenty of pride to lose) ends up in this bizarre stand-off and hilarious resolution. Not only is it funny, but the episode actually develops Jeff's character, bringing him away from his original "too cool" mentality and more in line with the rest of the group.

Season two has episodes that make "PE" look as normal as an episode of The...

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