Quicklet on Community Season 1 (TV Show)

ABOUT THE BOOK

"What is Community College? Well, you've heard all kinds of things. You've heard it's 'loser college' for remedial teens, twenty-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees, and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. That's what you heard; however, I wish you luck!" - Dean Pelton's Orientation Speech (Pilot)

Community appeared on NBC's Thursday lineup for the first time on September 17th, 2009. The show centers around a group of misfit students studying at a four-year community college in the fictional town of Greendale, Colorado. The critics praised the show as extremely innovative.

After generally positive reviews of the first season, NBC hoped that Community's audience would grow with summer reruns, picking up the show for a second season, which aired from September 23rd, 2010 to May 12th, 2011. However, after a promising start, it continued to struggle in the ratings, failing to establish itself with the audience of its lead-in, The Office.

The third season premiered on September 22nd, 2011 but after only ten episodes was put on hiatus to become a midseason replacement show in January, later pushed back until spring. As of the date of this publication (February, 2012), Community is set to air the rest of its third season on NBC starting on March 15th, 2012, with the fate of a fourth season as yet undecided.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Evelyn hails from a very tiny country of Estonia, so it's ironic that she chose to be a writer when English isn't her fist language! After a few years of working for newspapers and local TV news, she chose to forego any idea of a schedule and started a freelance writing and marketing business. Because it isn't the most stable of jobs, Evelyn would often supplement her income with random gigs, including being a singing telegram and an airline interpreter. She has an unnaturally close relationship with food and for a number of years worked as a chef. However, after crying too many times in the kitchen, Evelyn had to give up her professional culinary pursuits. Instead, you'll find her traveling, reading, participating in your general 'debauchery' and making new friends. She has several degrees and some accolades but she'd much rather tell you about the time she smuggled a kitten on an airplane out of Russia.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Though the premise of the show originally introduced Jeff Winger, a lawyer with a shady past, as the lead, after the first few episodes the storylines of other students at Greendale's Community College grew to greater prominence. Community became a mishmash of messy, yet intriguing characters that contribute to the show's originality and plethora of comedic scenarios.

The show famously uses other TV shows and films as the basis for individual episodes, and frequently exploits their cliches to present a further comedic twist. Community is both intelligently written and doesn't take itself too seriously. Because it relies heavily on other pop culture trivia, it is occasionally hard to follow if the references are unfamiliar to the viewer. The upside is that through the show, you can discover other shows and films you might have otherwise missed.

For the conspiracy theorists, there is a rumor that an intentional 'O.J. Simpson is guilty' reference is made during the show's opening credits. For the Community enthusiast, it is just another example of how the show is layered with innuendos and clever between-the-lines dialogue, only obvious after multiple viewings. Therein lies the brilliance of this show.