Abed was the first to say, "Six seasons and a movie!" in season 2, episode 21 of Community, and since then the line has been shortened to the hashtag "#6seasonsandamovie" as a way for fans to show for the show and to voice their desire for a feature film. Over seven years after the series finale, it appears that Dan Harmon and crew will be getting together for a Community film for streaming on Peacock, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A date has not been set for the release, so interested audiences should brush up on their Community history as soon as possible. All six seasons are currently available on Netflix and the rewatches are just as funny the second, third, and fourth times around. However, like any show years past its finale, going back to Community can force fans to accept some harsh realities about their favorite show. No series is perfect and Community isn't an exception with some plots and characters not working as well upon multiple viewings.
10 Dictator Chang Ruins The Character
Señor Ben Chang appears in season 1 of Community as the Spanish teacher for the study group's 101 class. Ken Jeong plays Chang as an angry and unbalanced man who is often mean and rude to the main characters for no reason. In Community seasons 1 and 2, his harsh behavior is mostly relegated to the classroom.
But in Community season 3 and onwards, Ben Chang basically becomes a supervillain and his mania is no longer garden-variety. When he becomes "Dictator Chang" and takes over Greendale, the show shifts away from a more realistic portrayal of a weird professor into an over-the-top caricature that Chang never recovers from.
9 Shirley And Jeff Don't Interact Much
There are seven of the core study group when every character is present and each interacts with the others in one way or another. That is, except for Jeff and Shirley who barely share any screen time together, just the two of them.
Even in the two episodes where they do interact, the foosball episode and the gossip episode, their lack of time spent together is referenced throughout. It's a bit of a cringeworthy attempt by Community creator Dan Harmon to get ahead of the critique, and it doesn't change the fact that the two study buddies don't do much together.
8 It Starts Strong And Tails Off
When fans go back to rewatch Community, they will need to prepare for the fact that season 1 is the best, and it goes downhill from there. While each season of Community should compare favorably to almost any other half-hour comedy, there is no denying the quality declines immediately.
Season 1 is one of the best comedy television seasons ever, so there is not anywhere else to go but down. The worst season is generally considered to be 4, and while the quality picks back up for seasons 5 and 6 but still does not reach the heights of 1 and 2.
7 Donald Glover Leaving Hurts
Donald Glover as Troy Barnes was one of the funniest characters in Community. The lovable character had some of the best lines and expressions and Glover made him an incredibly vulnerable character whose childishness is a central point of many episodes.
Unfortunately, the multi-talented Glover left in Community season 5 in order to pursue other ventures. This left a gaping hole in the show that Abed and Annie were forced to fill. Without a third "innocent" character and someone for Abed to bounce off, the show's tone noticeably shifted for the worse.
6 The Characters Are Too Mean To Each Other
The inciting incident of the study group getting together is ostensibly an accident. It wouldn't make sense that the group of strangers immediately become best of friends but after 1 season, they should be closer than is sometimes applied with the way they treat each other.
Sometimes it feels like the characters actually hate each other, judging from the things they say and how often one person will end their friendship with another. On rewatch, at least for the first few Community seasons, the study group feels like a random collection of acquaintances rather than the close group they become later.
5 A/C College Storyline Is Too Silly
All through Community season 3, Vice Dean Laybourne, played by John Goodman, pursues Troy Barnes so that he will the A/C repair school. He eventually does the school for part of season 4, but the side plot is quickly dropped, thankfully. But the time it takes to get there is exhausting.
It is an over-the-top side-plot that doesn't create any growth for Troy except that it gives him a natural ability to fix A/C machines. While Community does become increasingly zany as the series continues, the A/C school is just a little too unbelievable, even for Greendale.
4 The Paintball Episodes Are Overrated
The paintball episodes of Community became a symbol of the show's commitment to high-concept and cinematic plot lines. They were such a prevalent part of the show that Abed even occasionally comments about the school "doing paintball again" or "doing something instead of paintball".
The harsh truth, and what watchers will have to realize, is that the paintball episodes themselves are a Community running gag that is not as funny as some others. They are repetitive and over-the-top in a way that other high-concept episodes, like when the study group pilots a KFC Spaceship, are not.
3 Troy Gets Dumbed Down Hard
In Community season 1, Troy Barnes is almost a completely different character from the version seen in later seasons. In the first season, Troy is a former high school football star who is embarrassed that he lost his scholarship and is constantly trying to accept the fact that maybe he isn't as cool at Greendale as he used to be.
But in season 2, Troy is dumbed down severely and it takes away a lot of his character depth. He is certainly funny and still one of the best characters on Community. For the most part, Troy gets his laughs from doing things like becoming comatose when meeting LeVar Burton.
2 No One Grows Until They Leave
For a show about characters working towards a degree, very few of them ever seem to show any actual growth. It's a harsh realization to watch season 1 and understand that the characters are more or less the same at the end, never really maturing in significant ways.
The only time they do seem to grow is at the moment of their departure. Troy is a man-child until the episode he leaves, at which point he realizes it's time to be a man. Jeff remains a sarcastic, ironic "cool-guy" until the finale when he tearfully says goodbye to his friends.
1 Jeff Is Clearly A Dan Harmon Stand-In
Dan Harmon is one of the rare few television creators who become a celebrity themselves. By virtue of being the creator of Community and Rick and Morty and hosting his popular podcast Harmontown, Harmon is a well-known figure online.
Knowing Harmon so well makes it hard to ignore the fact that he essentially wrote himself as Jeff Winger in Community. Each character has a piece of Harmon embedded in them, but Jeff is his true stand-in, and it's hard not to imagine there was some wish fulfillment when he wrote the talented, intelligent, ladies'-man.