As a practical aspect, the "Community" set (which looks and sounds spectacular in Blu-ray) provides an affordable means either to buy a first-ever set of this top-ever sitcom or to upgrade from the single-season DVD sets that take up more shelf space,
"Community" creator/star Chevy Chase nemesis Dan Harmon truly hits comedy gold with the concept and the execution of the series. The program centers around misanthropic and conceited disbarred attorney Jeff Winger (Joel McHale of "Talk Soup). Being caught lying about his undergraduate education results in McHale experiencing what may be the only reel or real case of being sentenced to complete his education. His doing hard time at Greendale Community College sets the stage for interacting with his fellow misfit students and the comically inept faculty and staff and to contend with absurd bureaucracy.
Additional context comes via the fairly recent explosion of claims of racism at Evergreen State College in Washington. The nature of that scandal and the manner in which the students respond provide strong proof that Harmon bases Greendale on that school.
Winger and his gang form a "family" in S1 by creating a study group for the Spanish class of woefully unqualified Senor Chang (Ken Jeong of the "Hangover" franchise). This evolves to taking on other classes and ultimately becoming a trouble-shooting committee that seeks to put right what once went horrible wrong.
The most notable member is naive pop-culture addict Abed Nadir (Danny Pudi). His tying real life into movies and television series and his tendencies to escape into fantasy worlds when faced with stress drives much of the action. A prime example of this is the S2 Christmas episode in which our friends are transformed into stop-action holiday characters. We also have Abed be the center of an awesome alternate reality and other variations on the lives of him and his friends.
Former high school football hero/stud Troy Barnes (Donald Glover a.k.a. Foolish Gambino) has the dual characteristics of practically being joined at the hip with Abed and of being highly relatable as a person who peaks early in life. Harmon does him well by fulfilling his greatest fantasy.
Troy high-school classmate/obsessive perfectionist good girl Annie Edison (Alison Brie) nicely reflects the dark side of someone who tries too hard. She is best remembered as the den mother of Abed and Troy.
Unfiltered Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs) is the pretty girl/object of the affection of Jeff who takes up the cause of the week. Her inability to get her life together and her horrible romantic choices provide great entertainment. A relationship with shirtless hacky sack playing slacker Vaughn (Eric Christian Olsen) is a series highlight.
The adults consist of middle-aged mother hen/devout Christian Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown) and racist/misogynistic/classist senior Pierce Hawthorne (Chaser). Shirley is mostly there to express disapproval of the antics of the "kids," and Pierce largely plays the role of the grumpy old man who insults his friends and provides "oh Grandpa" moments. Constant references to metrosexual Jeff being gay is a theme.
Harmon does a great job skewering both the arrested development of Millennials and the frustratingly increase in public outrage that only is worse in the years since "Community" has fallen one season and one film short of its goal of seven seasons and a movie. Examples of the immaturity of the students include the loved paintball episodes and other outings in which the entire campus engages in fun-and-games that almost literally destroy the place. Another classic episode has a pillow fort overtake the campus.
We further get a wonderfully true-crime style documentary surrounding the ass-crack bandit who uses an unconventional coin slot, an awesome send-off for Pierce that has his nastiness massively backfire on him, and much more good dark humor. This is not to mention the numerous times, such as a scheme to deal in a stash of textbooks, in which group members hilariously turn on each other.
This clear willingness to go there via comically absurd lengths warrants comparing "Community" to the better seasons of "The Simpsons" and "South Park" absent the profanity of the latter. It also reminds us of the Golden Age of Chase by evoking thoughts of the early days of "SNL." Sadly, we get "fat" Chevy.
The numerous extras include some of the best-ever outtakes, puns, and gag reels that highlight the strong comic chops of the cast. We additionally get deleted and extended scenes that criminally are excluded from the broadcast episodes. This is not to mention behind-the-scenes features that demonstrate that the love for the series is mutual between those who make it happen and those of us who benefit from them "going there,"
As mentioned above, the special quality of the previously released and new material relates to the social commentary that is put in proper perspective; this is true of most of the aforementioned other shows that Mill Creek has released.
The level of public outrage regarding every fictional portrayal over what includes acts that are deplorable in real life but still valid fodder for comedy simply requires too high of a price these days. No reasonable person can assert that any modern "atrocity" is comparable to the behavior of the Nazis, but the principle of Mel Brooks that laughing at Hitler robs him of his power has great applicability.
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