All 110 episodes of the cult series in one box set
I’ve never truly joined the cult of Community, the series that over the course of its run became beloved by many, enough even to help pull the show out of cancellation. The occasional episodes I caught were always entertaining, but it never made it into my regular viewing schedule. But now I, and indeed all of us, have an opportunity to appreciate the quirky charms of the show in its entirety thanks to Mill Creek and their new release, bringing together all 6 seasons and 110 episodes of the show into one Blu-ray collection.
Synopsis:
Recently disbarred lawyer Jeff Winger enrolls to get a legit degree the quickest and easiest way possible, but when he starts a fake Spanish study group solely for the purpose of hooking up with a sexy classmate, he doesn’t expect to be joined by a random group of misfit fellow students. Over the course of the next 6 years, this group finds themselves involved in epic paintball battles, chicken finger conspiracies, sci-fi conventions, campus-wide pillow wars, and everything in-between. In the process, they become so much more than just a study group…they become a family.
Under all the quips and pop culture references, Community is a simple show. A motley crew of outsiders and their flawed personalities are thrown together by chance, and in one case by a court order. Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is a lawyer who, after being found to have falsified his academic credentials, is forced to go back to school. Attending Greendale Community College, he falls in with opinionated activist Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs). The others that make up their group include single mother Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown); tightly wound and keen to please Annie Edison (Alison Brie, Glow); the slick but inwardly nerdy Troy Barnes (Donald Glover, Atlanta), forging a new path after his college sports career ended due to injury; Pierce (Chevy Chase), a bored older man attending the college to try and pick up younger women; and fan favorite Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi), perhaps the quirkiest, nerdiest, but most aware character in the mix. What’s great is that while you may expect some of these characters to fit into the stereotypes you’d predict, they actually look to upend much of what you’d expect, except Chevy Chase who really is a racist old white man. As the show progresses and the show becomes more and more an ensemble piece, it’s great to watch the actors who bring them to life start to find their own voice, developing individuality while providing diversity.
So far so Breakfast Club. But the homage ad inspiration doesn’t stop there, with the show paying its respects to Quentin Tarantino, The Shawshank Redemption, Die Hard, The Dead Poets Society, and more, for laughs or even more surreal moments such as a running joke across multiple seasons involving a striped demon once played by Michael Keaton. It’s stuffed with these tips of the hat that help fuel some of the pranks and schemes that unfold in each episode, all usually feeding moralistic lessons or personal growth for the crew. Dan Harmon has crafted a show that embraces nerd-dom, is pretty whip-smart, while being and frequently sweet and touching, aided by a cast with genuine chemistry, feeding into a feeling of camaraderie.
The Package
The release from Mill Creek offers up all 6 seasons of the show, encompassing 110 episodes. Quality is somewhat variable, despite the marketing pushing the HD angle. The first two seasons notably look just above DVD quality, while the rest are a step up in terms of clarity and detail of image.
Special features are notably substantial, spread over all the discs, devoted to particular episodes or seasons. Highlights include:
- Episode Audio Commentaries: Available for most of the episodes. This reviewer had no time to delve into them, but clearly ardent fans will find much to appreciate by their inclusion. Some feature members of the cast, others draw upon contributions from writers, directors, producers, etc.
- Outtakes: Amusing banter and mishaps while filming, available for seasons 1–5.
- Creative Compromises: A little spoof short with creator Harmon suggesting how executives neutered the show.
- Mini Episodes: Study Break: Stop Using Your Brain, Study Break: Truth Or Dare, Study Break: Generation Gap. Short snippets, likely from some promotional web-series?
- Alternate/deleted Scenes: A few clips spread over each of the seasons.
- Cast Evaluations : The various actors give each other a grade for the season.
- DJ Steve Porter Remixes Season One
- A Glee-Ful Community Christmas: A little behind the scenes look at one of the Christmas specials.
- This is War — Pillows VS. Blankets: Insights into one of the event episodes of season 3.
- Inspector Spacetime — Inspection: Behind the scenes look at one of the season 4 episodes that embraces the show’s ongoing spoof of Doctor Who.
- Adventures in Advanced Puppetry: Look at some of the practical effects deployed in a season 4 episode.
- Re-Animating the ’80s: Pretty cool insights to the season 5 episode that is paying homage to G.I. Joe and embraces an animated aesthetic.
- Advanced Television Production — 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep: Perhaps the best thing included on the release, it gives great insight into the TV production schedule and lengths cast and crew go to in order to finish up an episode.
- Community Trivia: Some tidbits/FAQs about the show.
- Six Seasons and a Finale: As some of you are aware, the show was at one point cancelled, then resurrected on another network. This offers some interesting insights into how this happened, and the impact on how the show moved forward.
The Bottom Line
After digging in, its easy to see why so many hold Community with such affection. A quirky, smart show, with characters to match. While the visual quality here is a little lacking for the earlier seasons, the release makes up for it with a large amount of bonus features. Overall, fans will be surely happy with this release, and newcomers to the show won’t find a better opportunity to attend Community than this.
Community the Complete Series is available via Mill Creek from October 23rd, 2018.