PixlBit

So Community may be done for good. But then again, the show has been suspected of ending for good every season since 3. So it may go on. But since it's about Six Seasons and a Movie, I thought I'd look back and see how the show was. So I thought I'd rank the seasons since the show is unique in how each season feels so distinct from one another. 

If I were to pick a great Seinfeld episode, for instance, I'd usually have a hard time telling when it was from for most episodes. There's some eras the show has, but it's all the same Seinfeld at the end of the day. Community is different. Each season has its own theme based on what class is taken, its own approach to humor, and how the characters interact with each other. So ranking them feels like ranking a series of games or movies more than pieces of an entire show.

6. Season 4

Season 4 doesn't work. Dan Harmon was fired and the writers were trying to get by without him, but they couldn't really make it work. It's sad too, because you can tell they were trying, but it's just not there. Malcolm McDowell is wasted as a teacher, the group loses so much chemistry it had before, and the less said about "Changesia," the better.

However, there are some high points, though few. Jim Rash REALLY stepped up to the plate this season, giving us the Dean who was pretty much the only one just as funny as he's ever been. To make things better, he also wrote the episode "Basic Human Anatomy" (a Freaky Friday spoof) which I'd put in my top three episodes in the series. It even helped that season 4 felt like it might go too far in the weird category, which made it feel like they may have actually switched bodies. But the bad still really outweighs the good here which just feels sad.

Best episode: Basic Human Anatomy

Best character: Dean Pelton

5. Season 6

You know how I said you could really tell they were trying in season 4? I didn't really get that in 6. It's still better as a whole, save "Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing" (which I'd say is the worst episode in the series), none of these episodes are bad. They're just mostly serviceable. There's some really good ones and some that don't work that well. But you really feel like the group isn't the same without Troy, Pierce, AND Shirley, with Paget Brewster giving a pretty great new addition and Keith David giving a hit or miss one. Though neither were close to as good as Donald Glover or Chevy Chase.

And one really weird aspect about this season: The writers are aware it's not as good. Abed is constantly referencing how much better years 1-3 were which can get a little too meta at times. I feel this season had him get too meta and he didn't really work. I'd actually argue that only Jeff and the Dean were the only characters that really worked that well, save "Queer Studies and Advanced Waxing" for the latter. I'm glad season 6 happened, but it could have been better.

Best episode: Intro to Recycled Cinema

Best character: Dean Pelton

4. Season 5

The hardest ones to rank were this and my next pick. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, though in really distinct ways. At the end though, I put this lower because of reasons I'll go into with the next season. 5 has a really strong start. The plot to save Greendale from going bankrupt is a fantastic direction. Abed has a mental breakdown trying to figure out if Nicolas Cage is a good or bad actor. A bandit drops coins in people's ass cracks. Pierce's will turns the group against each other There's a school wide game of the floor is made of lava.

Then Troy leaves. And it's not the same. I wouldn't say that it's because of Troy, because it doesn't feel that way immediately. But there is a quality drop. Having back to back Shirley episodes (basically Community's version of a Lisa episode on The Simpsons) didn't help, but there was something missing. I don't want to say it was Troy at first, but his presence and one liners are missed as the show goes on. There's some good episodes after still, but I wish it could have kept the quality it started at. Oh well, at least the Dean was still incredible.

Best episode: Introduction to Teaching

Best character: Dean Pelton

 

3. Season 1

Season 1 at times is good and others is pretty boring. But there's just something there that....I don't even know how to describe it. But it makes the show feel so unique in a way that even later seasons lost. You can tell it's the start of something great and what's here isn't like anything else on television but isn't going to revel in how weird it is or even be that weird. It's just different. And different is good. It may not always be the best thing on television, but you're glad you watched it and there's some episodes that are so incredible. 

I think what makes it so distinct is Abed. He's not as weird or meta as he is later. He's not pointing out how this is a show all the time. He doesn't get people and seeing him try to communicate with everyone else (also the season's theme) is really interesting. There may be boring subplots as they try to juggle all the characters unnecessarily (Jeff and Abed are the only ones consistent with consistently good plots), but it's worth watching. And the Troy and Abed credits bits are the best in the series.

I was lukewarm on this season at first, but rewatching it, there is plenty here to like. And it's a pretty big step in quality behind the next two. But damn, there really isn't anything like this season on television-and that includes other seasons of Community.

Best episode: Contemporary American Poultry

Best character: Abed

2. Season 3

Season 3, though having a few episodes that don't quite work, is really freaking great. It's the weirdest season yet, but still remembers to (mostly) keep in as many jokes and gags as it can unlike later seasons. This one also delves into how the group is mentally unbalanced. Their past quirks are shown to actually be dangerous to themselves and others, they're not quite improving but getting worse, and everything is falling apart.

And it's glorious. It feels like a deconstruction of Community, showing that these people need to evolve (why they take biology) or else they'll, well, turn into Chang. Or the Dean. Two characters initially shown to be nowhere close to ideal, but could make things work. Now, not so much. It also vastly improved Britta, calling her out on how she acts progressive and self-righteous, but is really being a moron. 

Plus it has by far the best of their teachers

Best Episode: Remedial Chaos Theory

Best Character: Troy

1. Season 2

This is it. This is why this show has such a rabid fanbase. The other seasons all have their high points, but lack the consistency to be up there with the cream of the crop like The Simpsons. Season 2 has that. Every episode is hilarious and feels so unique. One episode can have Pierce dealing with his mother's death while another will have Abed becoming Jesus or a zombie outbreak and none of them feel out of place. 

Season 2 is about making you wonder, "Are they actually going in this direction?" and being glad they did the whole time. But most importantly, it's just really funny. The jokes land frequently and always deliver some good laughs. I can't think of any time I groaned or rolled my eyes at a joke or plot, something which can't be said for any other season.

Best episode: Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design (aka the best in the series)

Best character: Annie (every character is fantastic, but Allison Brie really brought it this season)

Rick and Morty is still the better of Dan Harmon's shows.