5. Community
Must Watch Seasons 1-2Must Watch it Sink; Season 3-ongoing Community is currently the Titanic of American sitcoms right now, if you are interested in watching the devolution of an amazing cult comedy to a gradual sinking of all that made it great, Community is the one to watch. I loved Community when it first came out, as did many others that managed to find it on their radars despite little promotion. It was like Arrested Development, with a strong cult following that thanks to the internet actually gave it a longer life than it would have 10 years ago. The creator, Dan Harmon, worked quickly in establishing that these weren't just one-dimensional stereotypes but characters that you cared about. Set in the less than stellar Greendale Community College, the series centered around Jeff Winger, a disbarred lawyer who had to go back and actually earn a college degree. He quickly forms a study group which becomes the basis of the show. I wont get into the roles but it did feature Chevy Chase in a surprise return to television and the rising star of Dr. Ken Jeong as Chang, the Chinese Spanish teacher, fresh from his larger introduction in the Hangover. The first two seasons are what happens when creative control is entrusted to a person who continually pushes the envelope, much like Mitchell Hurwitz did with Arrested Development. The first 2 seasons were ingenious in their conception and delivery. The zombie Halloween apocalypse special, the KFC space shuttle and the Paintball finales were some fine examples of what was making this a cult favourite. BUT By season 3 it was becoming a bit evident that Dan Harmon was becoming drunk with power and the format started to stray from the original story line. The show began to dip into an increasingly strange foray into satirical theme shows, a clever 8 bit animation show, an increasingly power-hungry and insane Senor Chang story line and a rather quick toss away of the affair between Jeff and Britta, which carried the first 2 seasons. Season 3 did have some great episodes that rose above the rest, but you can literally see it jump the shark with
Remedial Chaos Theory. From then on it felt like it was becoming more and more an exploration into trying to be better than the last episode. Chevy Chase became the most vocal of opposing the vague direction of the show which led to a very public dressing down of Chase by Harmon. Chase responded by telling the network it was either 'him or me' and the choice was made. Harmon was fired, Community was put on hiatus and Season 4 brought back this Spring as a shadow of its former self; watching it has been like eating the generic no-name brand of your favourite cereal. It's good, but not Harmon-great. As Abed said in an early season 4 episode, I remember when this used to be about a community college. The Community ship is sinking but is still willing to take on passengers.