When Entertainment weekly made a list of the top 25 cult t.v. shows of all time, they put Community at number 16, right behind the sci-fi classic Battlestar Galactica (2000’s reboot) at number 15.
One of the main reasons for it being a cult show is the series’ ability to incorporate ridiculous story-lines in a hyper-stylized way. The first time the show got weird was in the runner up to the season 1 finale, the episode “Modern Warfare,” where Greendale is in the throws of an all-out paintball war. The episode was an almost psychedelically colored parody of action and war movies. Since then, the shows capacity for meta-humor and hyper-stylization has led to an entire episode in stop motion and one in which the main characters are played by Muppets.
This type of meta-humor has successfully attracted a cult audience of t.v fans, movie buffs, and sci-fi geeks who are intensely loyal to the show and its creators. Naturally there was a fan backlash when the show’s creator, Dan Harmon, was let go of the show in season 4 and brought back in season 5. According to rottentomatoes, user ratings for all seasons, other than the 4th, were at least 96% positive. On rotten tomotoes.com, the 4th season received positive reviews from less than half of the audience with a rating of only 48%.
Professional critics have had a positive reaction to the show as well. Community has received at least 88% postive reviews on all seasons but the 4th. The last season received a 92%: a”certified fresh” rating.
The cult-like niche following of Community has sadly led to it receiving poor t.v. ratings despite universal acclaim from critics and dedicated fans. NBC, deciding to no longer host niche programs, cancelled the show. Fortunately for all the die hard Community fans out there, Yahoo picked up the show in a move to create its own original programming. Since then “six seasons and a movie!” has become a rallying cry for fans.
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