The third season finale of NBC’s Community, appropriately titled “Introduction to Finality,” aired on May 17, 2012, and had all the trappings and feels, as the Tumblr kids like to say, of a series finale. As it turned out, Community got a fourth season renewal, but its beloved creator and showrunner got notoriously dumped somewhere along the way. When Community came back for its fourth season, it was a shadow of its former self, meandering through awkward territory and unable to locate the humor Dan Harmon had crafted so well. I was not alone in giving up watching one of my favorite shows a few episodes into the season. It was better to pretend that Community got a fitting farewell at the end of season three, rather than to watch it limp painfully to a miserable death.
Looks like it’s time for us to catch up on the latest season, because Dan Harmon and writer Chris McKenna both are back for the upcoming fifth season of the NBC series! The deals have yet to officially get signatures, but everything else is in place for Community‘s return to greatness. Chevy Chase departed the show last season and will not be returning for season five, possibly another boon, given his infamously public falling out with Harmon during the previous seasons. I would suggest that all of us who stopped watching just forget season four happened and pick up with season five, but with Harmon back in charge you can be sure we’ll have some awesome meta jokes that either retcon or explain the terribleness that was much of season four. So fire up those digital download services and work your way up to current before a surely superior Community returns in the upcoming TV season.
