TV Review: NBC’s ‘Community’ Premieres Very Special Christmas Episode

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CHICAGO – NBC’s “Community” continues to climb the charts of what must be considered the most creative programs on television with a brilliant Christmas episode tonight inspired by the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated classics like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Frosty the Snowman.” The incredible comedy has been more and more uniquely-inspired as its amazing second season has progressed and you don’t want to miss “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas.”

Television Rating: 5.0/5.0

The comedic conceit of tonight’s episode is that Abed (Danny Pudi) is the only one who sees his friends and classmates in stop-motion style. The young man who sees the world almost entirely in pop culture references may have finally snapped. Of course, we, the audience, also see Abed and the crew in stop-motion animation, allowing for some fantastic visual flourishes and incredible sight gags. Most remarkably, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” actually becomes somewhat touching with a moral message about the importance of the holiday season that resonates without the treacle.

Community
Photo credit: Mitchell Haaseth/NBC

In tonight’s episode, Abed visualizes his friends as somewhat freakish holiday-themed characters (as Jeff says in one of the funnier lines regarding the weirdness of Abed’s visions, “Somewhere out there, Tim Burton has got a boner”) like Jeff-in-the-box (Joel McHale) and a Britta robot (Gillian Jacobs). Pierce (Chevy Chase) is a teddy bear, Annie (Alison Brie) a ballerina, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) a baby, and, of course, Troy (Donald Glover) a toy soldier. Even Senor Chang shows up as a snowman.

Many writing teams would have merely turned the Christmas/Rankin-Bass episode of “Community” into nothing more than a series of references and in-jokes, but it’s only the best writers on TV who can transcend the reference and turn it into something more. The brilliance of “Community” this year hasn’t JUST been the increasingly-clever references but how they’re used to enrich what is arguably the best comedic ensemble on television right now.

We’ll get more into how “Community” has developed in 2010 in the upcoming Best TV of the Year feature and merely end this mini-review/preview by giving you one more detail about tonight’s Christmas episode — it’s a musical. If the visual delights, clever story, and hilarious dialogue aren’t enough, you can now know that not everyone in the “Community” cast can really sing. But, like they do every week, they put their necks on the line and give it their all. Don’t miss it.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com