A chronicle of my reaction to Dan Harmon's exit as Community's showrunner

The happiness of any Community fan is destined to be short-lived. As soon as you get excited about something, like the show's fourth-season renewal or the hilarious, heartfelt finale, you hear the terrible news that Dan Harmon will not be returning as showrunner. This Vulture piece offers a great, even-handed analysis of the situation, so if you want coherent thoughts and background information you should check it out. If, however, you want to know the many stages of my reaction to the news (plus bonus video of Troy Barnes crying), you should keep reading.

1) Well, that fucking sucks.

2) Hey, those new guys (David Guarascio and Moses Port) worked on Happy Endings! I like that show.

3) So, this means the loss of two executive producers (Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan, who have development deals with FOX) and one showrunner. Can the show recover from that?

4) This is Community! It can recover from anything!

5) It was a kind of a dick move for Sony to start shopping for a replacement without trying to work something out with Harmon first.

6) On the other hand, Harmon is notoriously difficult to work with, and has butted heads with the studio on multiple occasions.

7) On the third hand (because I am a three-handed alien, apparently), would Community be the show that it is if Harmon hadn't fought for it with the studio?

8) Maybe the show will have a longer run than it would have with Harmon in charge.

9) But are more episodes worth it if Harmon isn't there?

10) (absolute brain meltdown due to too many competing thoughts and feelings. MY EMOTIONS! MY EMOTIONS!)

Community recap: Five full-length episodes we want to see after watching "Curriculum Unavailable"

Hot on the heels of the news that Community will be back for at least thirteen more episodes (hopefully more since, contrary to a lot of speculation, the fourth-season deal did not specify an end date), the internet's favorite comedy delivered a phenomenal episode that both built on last year's "clip" show, "Paradigms of Human Memory," and moved the ongoing plot forward.

Just like its predecessor, "Curriculum Unavailable" provided some tantalizing glimpses of the episodes that might have been, from a life-sized chess match to Troy buying an ATV. So here, in no particular order, are the five clips that I would most like to see made into full-length episodes (plus a bonus idea for a spinoff!). Enjoy, and keep repeating the mantra: Six Seasons and a Movie!

"Native American Tribal Rituals"

Plot: After deciding that some serious soul-searching is in order, Britta attempts to convince a local Navajo elder of the seriousness of her vision quest and, after being rebuffed, scores some peyote from the (now dearly departed) campus drug source, Starburns. She is not prepared for the intensity of the experience, and neither is Greendale's local ecosystem.

Why should we see the whole thing? Because of the wonderfully deadpan way that Gillian Jacobs asks how long peyote lasts.

Community recap: Virtual perfection

Danny Pudi and Alison Brie in "Virtual Systems Analysis."

If "Virtual Systems Analysis" had contained nothing more than Troy Barnes breaking down and revealing all his secrets, it would have been a pretty solid episode of Community. Throw in Dean Pelton, dressed as a half-man, half-woman (someone has been reading Todd VanDerWerff's Carnivale coverage!) in a moment of crisis when he realizes that he has to go to the bank in this ridiculous outfit, and the half-hour gets bumped up several levels until it reaches "great" territory.

And then you add in a superbly constructed, highly emotional story arc that focuses on the unexpected pairing of Annie and Abed - and includes a killer soap-opera parody to boot - and what comes out is an absolute standout episode, the type of installment that demonstrates why, when Community is on its game, it's one of the best shows on TV.

I don't know if "Virtual Systems Analysis" will, in the long run, be considered one of the show's greatest episodes, like "Remedial Chaos Theory" or "Modern Warfare." But I suspect it has the makings of a stealth classic in the vein of "Critical Film Studies" or "Mixology Certification"; the kind of quietly great installment that combines some serious character development and pretty hilarious comedy.

An Epic Community Promo For The Day The Feathers Flew

Apparently it will be quite the epic battle this Thursday on Community. Feather will fly, monsters will emerge, and Annie will send a text message on "Pillows and Blankets." Given how great "Digital Exploration of Interior Design" was, I'm pretty damned pumped for this.

Of course, the real question is, who is the man in the pillow suit? The voice sounds like it could be Pierce, but I'm hoping it's Subway/Richard, the 1984-loving, sexually twisted corpo-human coming to the rescue of his one true love, Britta Perry.

Or Starburns. It could also be Starburns.

Community recap: Blorgons and bitterness

"Urban Matrimony and Sandwich Arts" wasn't the type of over-the-top, completely bonkers episode, like "Remedial Chaos Theory" or "Modern Warfare" that gets fans and viewers salivating over how great the show is. It was more akin to two of my personal favorites, "Critical Film Studies" or "Mixology Certification" - a half-hour that was firmly grounded in reality, focused on character development and redolent with the pain of these people who have all, in some way or another, had their dreams snatched away from them.

That's not to say the episode wasn't funny, because it contained some truly great comic set pieces; Jeff and Britta's drunken mock-wedding was a highlight, and Gillian Jacobs and Joel McHale played the hell out of it. And there was a good amount of bonkers as well, mostly provided by Troy and Abed's hilarious attempt at normalcy. But the episode was really centered on four characters - Shirley, Pierce, Jeff and Britta - coming to realizations that they haven't ended up where they wanted to be in life, and trying to come to terms with who they are now.

And we are now, officially, no longer in the darkest timeline

Not only has Community finally returned to the airwaves, bringing joy and happiness back to all our sad, dull lives, but last night's "Urban Matrimony and Sandwich Arts" managed to attract nearly 5 million viewers and, more importantly, scored a 2.2 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic. This news makes me gleeful! It's like my brain finally let my heart get in its pants! And Dan Harmon is excited about it too:

In all seriousness, though, this is really good news. A 2.2 might not seem like much, but between the ratings increase (up from the fall's 1.6 average) and the recent syndication deal with Comedy Central, things could be looking up! The similar increase for 30 Rock, which now airs right after Community, and the fact that Up All Night and The Office didn't see a ratings increase, seems to indicate that this was specifically a response to the study group's return. So, let's keep it up for the rest of the season! Six seasons and a movie!

Here's a trailer for the return of Community, if you're interested

You may not have heard, but Community is coming back on March 15 at 8:00 pm. And because NBC knows that you probably aren't excited by that news, they have thoughtfully prepared this epically fantastic trailer to help get you in the right frame of mind. (Apologies for the lower-quality trailer, but the official one from E!'s website is permanently set on autoplay, and it's annoying.)

I don't currently have any coherent thoughts on this trailer, because there is too much awesome here for my brain to process. So I will simply provide a list of some of the amazing things that happen in the mind-blowing two minutes and thirty seconds.

• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-inspired font and structure. That trailer has been almost as good to the comedy business as the Republican primary.
• The look on Troy's face as the study group is told they've been expelled, because it promises Donald Glover crying.
• Annie suggesting that getting a C is the equivalent of getting pregnant at a bus station.
• Annie and Shirley's "awww" at the tiny riot gear, followed by their "aaah!" at a man getting pepper sprayed.

Let's renew Community so that Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs stop crying

Source.

This Daily Beast interview with the women of Community - cast members Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie and Yvette Nicole Brown and writer Megan Ganz - is fascinating for a number of reasons. They address issues of slut shaming, infantilization as sexiness, rape jokes and teenage girls on film with a great blend of candor, humor and charm. All gets overshadowed, however, when first Jacobs and then Brie break down in tears when discussing the possibility of cancellation. My whole brain is crying just reading it.

We have officially exited the darkest timeline

There's not much more to add. In celebration, the pencil TV's goatee will be coming off, because we no longer need to break into a better timeline. Six seasons and a movie!

UPDATE: Alright, there are some things to add. For information about how Community's return affects NBC's Thursday night lineup, check out Splitsider.