Greetings,
Today is great for a few reasons. It's St. Patrick's Day, which means Shamrock Shakes are around. It's Gary Sinise's birthday, and anything about him is cause to celebrate. But we've experienced those two things before. Anything new? Oh, yeah, there is. COMMUNITY HAS RETURNED! Yaaaay!
Yes, that's right. One of my favorite shows has come back by way of Yahoo! Aren't they so sweet to do this for us? I woke up early and immediately got not one, but two, new episodes of Community. Not only were they new episodes, but it was also a new Community. At least, somewhat. But it kind of has to be. Things have changed, so things will be different.
Let's start, though, with the things that are the same. We're still at Greendale, even though I think they had to build a new set. No problem. And most of the cast has returned. We still have the arrogant, but awesome Jeff Winger, played by Joel McHale, the outspoken, overbearing, but still fun, Britta Phillips, played by Gillian Jacobs, the innocent and ambition Annie Edison, played by Alison Brie, and of course, who I consider the heart and soul of the show, Abed Nadir, played by Danny Pudi. That's all we have left of the core seven member study group that started the whole thing. Yvette Nicole Brown, who played Shirley Bennett, left so she could be on the remake of The Odd Couple, which I think is pretty good. Donald Glover, who played Troy Barnes, left so he could go and get a bunch of Grammy nominations. And Chevy Chase, who played Pierce Hawthorne, left because they killed him off. Also, because of reasons. I'd rather not talk about it, because I hear to do so is quite awkward. Moving on.
Anyway, in addition to the members of the study group, we also got back the crazy Dean Pelton, played by Jim Rash, and the even crazier Ben Chang, played by Ken Jeong. And that's not all. You will see some familiar faces of the other students of Greendale, such as Todd, Garrett, and, hallelujah, Leonard. Yes, things are good.
But since we have a new take on the show, we also have some new characters. Sadly, Jonathan Banks, who showed up as Professor Hickey last season, is not returning, as far as I know, but that's okay. We're getting Paget Brewster as Frankie Dart, and voice of Goliath the Gargoyle himself, Keith David as Elroy Patashnik. Again, yay! Now I'm not sure if they're both going to be regulars, as we've only had two episodes, but from what I've seen, they are here to stay. I hope I'm not wrong about that, because they are both adding something fun and new to the show, while not taking anything away from the past.
So, what about the new episodes themselves? Any good? Well, as excited as I've been, I went in cautiously. What with all the changes, I wasn't sure what was coming. But I am happy to say that I was quite entertained by what I saw. Yes, like I said, things are different. They have to be in this situation. But the spirit of the show is still there, and that is what made it special. And I love how the fans had so much to do with this comeback. People who watched and loved Community wanted it back, so the people who make and love Community, like the amazing Dan Harmon, worked hard to bring it back for us. Maybe if this kind of stuff happened more often we would have better entertainment out there.
So, as the hashtag states, Community Lives On. And I am very glad that it does.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
