It's been a rough couple of months for Community fans. After ending its winter run on a high note with an ostensibly Christmas-themed episode (which quickly became an excuse to skewer Glee), the show was suddenly pulled from NBC's lineup, going on what the network termed a "hiatus." To many fans, it looked like NBC was going to finally pull Community from the schedule altogether after two and a half seasons.
For the uninitiated, Community follows the lives of seven students at Greendale Community College who, after forming a study group on the fly in the first episode, have become a tight-knit circle of friends. Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) is the group's de facto leader and protagonist of the show, a smooth-talking former lawyer who's trying to get his life back on track. He started the study group in hopes of wooing Britta (Gillian Jacobs), an outspoken activist who seems to know quite a bit less about the world than she'd care to admit.
Britta frequently clashes with the more traditional Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), a single mother with dreams of opening her own business. Meanwhile, Troy (Donald Glover), a former football player, and the pop culture-obsessed Abed (Dani Pudi) provide most of the group's wackiness and have what might be one of the funniest and most weirdly caring friendships in all of television. Rounding out the younger group members is Annie (Alison Brie), an uptight bookworm, while wealthy baby boomer Pierce (Chevy Chase) is generally used as the group's "out-of-touch old man."
As for the threats of cancellation, well, the fans had reason to worry on some level. Community has had fairly low ratings for most of its run despite a loyal-and well-deserved-core of fans. Creator Dan Harmon's love of meta-commentary and experimental "genre" episodes, while being some of the best parts of one of network television's best shows, hasn't helped bring in new viewers.
With all this in mind, fans were in for a happy surprise a few weeks ago when it was announced that Community would be returning for the spring. Their patience was finally rewarded on Thursday with "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts." The episode was both a welcome return for fans of the show and Harmon's best chance to gain new viewers. Therefore, the creator replaced the show's usual strangeness with a more traditional, character-driven plot.
In the episode, Shirley is trying to open up a sandwich shop in an empty storefront on campus with help from wealthy Pierce. But her on-again, off-again husband Andre (The Cosby Show's Malcolm-Jamal Warner) proposes to her and she accepts and lets her plans for a business fall by the wayside. The wedding-averse Britta is soon roped into helping plan the rehearsal dinner, which is, of course, in the library's study room. Jeff, also not a fan of marriage, has to write a speech for Shirley and Andre. Meanwhile, Troy and Abed try their best to make a good impression on the guests by "de-weirding" themselves, while Pierce attempts to get Shirley refocused on opening the sandwich shop. The only person left out, and probably the weakest written character in the episode, is Annie, who's stuck with the "wedding-obsessed woman" role.
The plot itself is pretty standard sitcom fare, which, in all honesty, is par for the course with Community; if there's anything Harmon loves more than meta-comedy and genre parodies, it's pointing out and playing with the tropes that have become the foundation of American television. "Urban Matrimony" deviates from the formula by notably-some would say consciously-not poking fun at sitcom tropes. There's no mention of the show's break, no "it's been a while" bit; even Abed, the show's go-to character for pointing out an episode's relation to pop culture, is resoundingly silent. This episode was all about the characters, and it's probably the best way the show could have come back.
In spite of all the hype over its meta-ness, one of Community's greatest strengths has always been its characters. The writers have always been great at making the characters both broad enough to be funny and emotionally grounded enough to be engaging, which can be easily lost on newcomers who come to the show expecting nothing but Cougar Town references and spot-on parodies of Glee. The focus on characters lets new viewers ease themselves into the show while reminding returning viewers just why they've become so attached to Greendale Community College and its students.
Of course, that's not to say that this episode was all heart and no humor. There was plenty in "Urban Matrimony" to laugh at, much of it courtesy of Jacobs, who not only got in the best quote of the night-"[a metaphor] is a thought wearing another thought's hat!"-but also got to show off her skill at playing drunk. Also great were fan favorites Troy and Abed, who gave old fans invites to mainstays like Inspector Spacetime (the Community universe's version of Dr. Who), their "Dreamatorium" (an empty room where they let their imaginations loose), and Pierce's father's ivory wig (which, yes, is a wig that's been carved from ivory).
In all, "Urban Matrimony" was a great return for one of the best shows on network TV. While the fans have been anticipating this episode for weeks, the real test will be to see if it was able to win any new viewers. Community has had a tough battle to stay on the air, and NBC has yet to make an announcement on a fourth season. So if you find yourself bored at eight o'clock on a Thursday night, do yourself a favor and turn on NBC. The Greendale Human Beings would appreciate it.