Community Review: Pilot & Spanish 101

This show was completely off my radar until last week. I ended up watching it only because it followed The Office and I had nothing better to do, and the pilot was pleasantly hilarious. Not one to be convinced by a first impression, I watched it again this week, and I can now safely assume that Community is in fact very funny. My biggest concern with the show is whether or not it can remain good for more than even half a season. The premise is funny now, but I fear they will quickly run out of good material. That being said, it's time to explore the elements that have made this enjoyable so far.

Jeff Winger (Joel McHale, The Soup) is attending community college after his law degree is deemed void. Not one to try very hard, he assembles a collection of quirky students to form a study group, but his real focus is landing the girl, Britta (Gillian Jacobs). The first episode serves as an interesting introduction to the group made up of almost every type of person you'd find at community college. There's the star high school athlete, the aged older man looking to further his studies and make friends, the somewhat dumb guy, the crazy girl from high school, etc. Jeff is a smart-ass and very full and confident with himself, yet the only one who doesn't immediately far to his will is Britta. His advances are continually shot down, yet his effort never wanes. It's their interactions that make for pretty much all of the humor in the show.

The second episode (Spanish 101) finally finds the group in the spanish class they study together for. Senor Chang (Ken Jeong) assigns the students to come up with a five-line dialogue in spanish, and after a slew of last minute attempts for the students to rig their partner assignments, Jeff finds himself stuck with Pierce (Chevy Chase). Pierce is hell-bent on making friends with Jeff (he idolizes him), and his attempts are borderline insane and definitely creepy. While most groups require only minutes to figure out their conversation, Pierce insists the two "wow" the audience, developing an full blown skit with multiple acts. Jeff tries to ditch out, but ultimately, he gives in and becomes part of one of the funniest two minutes I've ever watched on television.

Verdict: Though I'm skeptical the show can stay fresh for more than half a season, for now, it is an absolutely hysterical half-hour. McHale is funny in the lead, and Chevy Chase has shown he's far from irrelevant in the comedy department. ☆☆☆☆