Community: Ranking Every Season From Worst To Best

Was Season 4 really that bad?

By Noah Dominguez /

Community is quite possibly one of the most iconic sitcoms of the last decade.

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Between its diverse cast of hilarious (not to mention prolific) actors, delightfully over-the-top episodes that utilized a unique genre-hopping style, incredible attention to continuity, as well as the fact that it's one of the most quotable shows to ever air on network television, it's not hard to see why this series gained and maintained such a dedicated fanbase.

Despite backstage drama, which involved the departure of major characters and even the firing of series creator Dan Harmon, Community is a show that managed beat the odds and carve out a rather impressive run for itself. The series aired on NBC for its first five seasons before moving to Yahoo! Screen for its sixth and final season, resulting in a grand total of 110 episodes.

At this time, fans are still waiting on a potential Community movie to be made (there's still hope!). But in the meantime, we do still have six seasons to look back on fondly, even some of the show's seasons just aren't as great as the others.

6. Season 5

Community Season 4 is often considered by fans to be the worst of the series, due in large part to the fact that it was the only season to be made without series creator Dan Harmon at the helm. In reality, however, it's actually Season 5 that's the weakest of the bunch.

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To be fair, Season 5 had a lot working against it. Sure, Harmon was back, but Chevy Chase was gone. And by the time the season was only halfway through, so too was Donald Glover. The infamous backstage drama he was reportedly at the center of aside, Chase's Pierce was an exceptionally funny character. Meanwhile, Glover's Troy was arguably the the most consistently hilarious character in the entire series.

Sure, Jonathan Banks' Buzz Hickey had his moments, and it was certainly nice to have John Oliver back as Ian Duncan following an extended absence, but they were hardly any replacement for Pierce and Troy.

Season 5 also suffered from one too many self-indulgent jokes, most of which poked fun at Season 4, almost as if Harmon was trying a little too hard to say, "I'm back." Meanwhile, holiday specials fell by the wayside and certain plot threads (such as Abed's relationship with Brie Larson's Rachel) were left underdeveloped.

Credit where it's due, Season 5 was still pretty solid. The show was still very funny, Harmon's return provided a fresh dose of wit, the remaining actors adapted to the altered dynamic as best they could and the season mostly delivered as far as its concept episodes were concerned.

Even so, Community Season 5 spent so much time "apologizing" for Season 4 that it never really took the time to develop an identity of its own. Couple that with dangling plot threads and the departing character leaving major voids, and you have the arguably the weakest season of an overall fantastic show.

Best Episode: Cooperative Polygraphy

Worst Episode: App Development and Condiments

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