Danny Pudi’s Abed was the first real breakout character. Rolling Stone called him a Vulcan, and that’s… not wrong. Abed’s the guy who was raised by TV and movies. He can’t stop analyzing life the way he’d analyze fiction, and he misses out on the social cues that you and I take for granted. (Well, that you take for granted, at any rate.) He’s really the heart of the show, even if he would never think of himself that way. Abed is usually paired with Troy, played by national treasure Donald Glover. A former writer on 30 Rock and The Daily Show and member of sketch comedy troupe Derrick, Glover already has a long tradition of being very funny, and just about everything he says on Community is laugh-out-loud hilarious. An ex-jock who’s finding pleasure in being a nerd, Troy is one of TV’s most consistently funny characters.
This season really needs a Pierce centered episode before Christmas. I don’t think we’ll get one, but I really want one.
Great review. I’m not as scientific as you, but this show definitely evolved and evolved quickly …in the same way Simpsons did from Season 1 to Season 2. I knew I liked something about The Simpsons and Community in Season 1, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Luckily, the writers for both shows figured it out and both are brilliant.
How long to you supposed Community can keep this up?
I LOVE this show. i didn’t want to love it, but now I am hooked. I watch them several times through on-demand. I can’t even say which is my favorite but Basic Rocket Science and Epidemology are a close tie. But the paintball one was great! I just thought the premise was unworkable but they are great every week. I don’t think I’ll ever say that about Outsourced.