Reviews New Community Episodes on Yahoo!

Season 6 Exclusively on Yahoo! Screen

Community remained "on the bubble" pretty much from its debut, barely holding on to the right side of cancellation for five seasons before NBC dropped the axe. But Community was a huge hit amongst Netizens, so it only made sense that it would be picked-up by one of the leading streaming stations - and it was, but not by who you might think. Yahoo! Screen is the outlet that picked-up Community and is now broadcasting a sixth season.

Yahoo! Screen has been around for a few years and landed some big names - I've watched live performances by both Bill Maher and rock band KISS there - yet it hasn't been a major player in the streaming services war (Netflix, Hulu,  Crackle, Amazon Prime, et. al.) that is heating-up. Community is the first major pick-up the young network has made and it's a solid one, especially with the return of series creator, Dan Harmon.

Many of the leads made the leap to the Internet but some of our old favorites are gone, including Shirley, who has moved to Atlanta ("Spun-Off," according to returning favorite, Abed). While the original Community character line-up was impossibly diverse (as commented upon by beloved Dean in an early episode), Shirley was a believable character through whom the writers explored religious themes and ideas. Her perky personality and falsetto delivery are certainly missing but the blow isn't as hard as long-time viewers might think.

In fact, season six starts off strong and delivers. It delivers new characters, old favorites, what appears to be the same set, and at least enough of a budget to do almost an entire episode in CGI. So far, only two episodes have been made available but both were quite enjoyable. I was extremely excited to see the new episodes, so I may have laughed a bit harder than normal, but they definitely had me laughing.

Season six has a spirit that was missing from the last season or two of the original series, when audiences were forced to deal with several major departures and a rotating, hit-and-miss line-up of study group partners meant to fill those roles. One of those major departures included series creator, Dan Harmon. Most agree that the series took a dive following that but it marched on, becoming more stable and less outrageous than it began.

While fans online rallied to keep it airing early on, the rabid support for the once quirky show seemed to die-off a year or so back. The first two episodes have received overall positive reviews from both critics and fans but the infamous Internet Buzz seems to be lacking. It would be a shame for people to sleep on this and have the new Community come and go without much fanfare.

Still, with all the near-cancellations, actual cancellations (two and counting), changing timeslots, and rotating members - and the fact that the first five seasons are available on Hulu (which has been promoting the new Yahoo! series frequently and includes a link on the series' page) while the new season is available exclusively online - Community seems to be everywhere, if you know where and when to find it. Of course, on-demand viewing is one of the greatest features of streaming entertainment, so there's no pressure if you miss the premiere of a Community episode - just watch it later!

© The Weirding, 2015