They Just Don’t Understand It…

Last night saw the return of Community after a ridiculously long hiatus.  It was also the first episode post Dan Harmon.

And it was…um…

See, the show felt like it was assembled together by people who have been told “this is what Community does.”  But they really don’t understand it.  So the sit-com parody that would likely have been both pointed and hysterical felt forced and stale.  Instead of a dig at conventional expectations of comedy television, it felt like the writers only understood the surface.

The cast know their parts well enough to be recognizeable, but the story felt disjointed and all over the place.  And I am sorry…but under Harmon, the Hunger Deans would have been a one hour centerpiece episode with elaborate shots.

So far, Community seems to be off to the very thing I feared when NBC dumped Harmon.  Directionless.