Community – The Complete Second Season (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

August 24, 2011 by Dennis Amith 

When it comes to comedy sitcoms on television, “Community” is no doubt one of the craziest and most clever shows on television!  And when it comes to TV sitcoms on DVD, “Community – The Complete Second Season” is one of the best DVD box set releases out there!  Jam packed with audio commentary for each episode and many special features, this DVD release is highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2010 Sony Pictures Television Inc. and Open 4 Business Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved., © 2011 Sony Pictures Television Inc. and Open 4 Business Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Community – The Complete Second Season

YEAR OF TV SERIES: 2010-2011

DURATION: 505 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen (1:78:1), English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH

RATED: NOT RATED

COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Released Dated: September 6, 2011

Directed by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Tristram Shapeero, Hay Chandrasekhar

Written by Dan Harmon, Hilary Winston, Andrew Guest, Emily Cutler, Karey Dornetto, Chris McKenna, Andy Bobrow, Adam Countee, Megan Ganz

Produced by Jake Aust, Emily Cutler, Andy Bobrow

Co-Executive Producer: Chris McKenna

Associate Producer: O’Shea Read

Supervising Producer: Hilary Winston

Consulting Producer: Dino Stamatopoulos

Music by Ludwig Goransson

Cinematography by Gary Hatfield

Edited by Steven Sprung, Peter B. Ellis and Lisa Lassek

Production Design by Derek R. Hill

Set Decoration by Denise Pizzini

Starring:

Joel McHale as Jeff Winger

Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry

Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir

Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley Bennett

Alison Brie as Annie Edison

Donald Glober as Troy Barnes

Chevy Chase as Pierce Hawthorne

Ken Jeong as Senor Chang

Jim Rash as Dean Pelton

Dino Stamatopoulos as Star-Burns

Richard Erdman as Leonard

Charley Koontz as Fat Neil

Danielle Kaplowitz as Vicki

Bill Parks as Bill

Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Andre

Welcome back for a wild new year at Greendale Community College, as the study group faces their toughest tests yet… Why would bachelor-for-life Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) pop the big question to Britta (Gillian Jacobs)? What incites innocent Annie (Alison Brie) to chloroform a janitor? Hey, Pierce (Chevy Chase)! Is your mom really still alive in a lava lamp? Will Abed (Danny Pudi) miss his Pulp Fiction birthday for a chance to give Jeff his own version of My Dinner With Andre? What makes Troy (Donald Glover) boldly go for LeVar Burton? Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is expecting – but who’s the daddy? Is it her ex-hubby (guest star Malcolm-Jamal Warner)? Or ex-Spanish teacher, Senior Chang (Ken Jeong)? Finally, is that really Betty White rapping with Troy and Abed? All these answers (and much more) are found in the hilarious, guest star-filled sophomore season of the breakthrough comedy hit.

In 2009, writer and producer Dan Harmon (“The Sarah Silverman Program”, “Monster House”) and Rob Schrab (founder of the website/channel “101″) created a TV sitcom for NBC known as “Community”.

The series focuses on a troubled lawyer named Jeff Winger (played by Joel McHale) having to attend Greendale Community College after falsifying his law degree credentials.  In order for him to not get disbarred, he must graduate from Greendale.  So, he attends a study group which he forms with troublemaker student Britta Perry (played by Gillian Jacobs), an arrogant towlet millionaire and student Pierce Hawthorne (played by Chevy Chase), a straight-laced student named Annie Edison (played by Alison Brie), a former high school quarterback named Troy Barnes (played by Donald Glover), a single Christian mother named Shirley Bennett (played by Yvette Nicole Brown) and a film student named Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi).

In the first season of “Community”, the study group join together for Spanish 101 which is taught by their ego-maniacal teacher named Ben “Senor” Chang (played by Ken Jeong).  The group become very good friends and hang out with each other.

In the second season of “Community”, the study group once again join together to study for an anthropology class taught by the weird June Bauer (played by Betty White).  But this time around, what happens when Britt and Annie start to fall for Jeff, Shirley gives birth during anthropology class and Abed has developed an addiction to the sitcom series “Cougar Town”.  From zombies to paint ball competitions, the second season of “Community” features a lot of crazy college life and events that center around the study group at Greendale Community College!

The main characters of “Community” are:

• Jeff Winger (Joel McHale, “Spy Kids: All the Time in the World 4D”, “Spider-Man 2″, “The Soup”) – A lawyer who worked at the Colorado Bar Association but when it was revealed that he didn’t get his BA from Columbia University, he is offered to attend Greendale Community College as a deal with the firm, so he doesn’t get disbarred. 
  
• Britta Perry (Gillian Jacobs, “The Box”, “Gardens of the Night”) – The bad girl of the group and the least fun member of the group.  She and Jeff tend to have one night stands with each other.
  
• Abed Nabir (Danny Pudi, “Road Trip: Beer Pong”, “Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”) – Loves American pop culture and wants to become a filmmaker.  He is taking film directing classes at Greendale Community College.
  
• Troy Barnes (Donald Glover, “The Daily Show”, “Mystery Team”) – A former high school football star who now attends Greendale Community College.  He is best friend’s with Abed.
• Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown, “(500) Days of Summer”, “Tropic Thunder”) - A divorced mother of three who attends Greendale Community College.  She is very religious.
• Annie Edison (Alison Brie, “Mad Men”, “Scream 4″) - A straight-laced Jewish girl.  She is the most serious and most studious of the study group but also had a prescription drug addiction.
• Pierce Hawthorne (Chevy Chase, “Caddyshack”, “Vacation”) - The moist towelette tycoon attending Greendale Community College.  He is trying to embrace today’s youth culture and is often offensive to everyone.
• Ben “Senor” Chang (Ken Jeong, “The Hangover”, “Knocked Up”, “Role Models”) - Once the group’s Spanish teacher and was found out to not have any teaching qualifications, so now he must attend Greendale Community College and get his degree.
• Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) – The Dean of Greendale Community College and strives to make Greendale Community College into a real university.  He also tends to take part in dressing like a female pop culture icon.

Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode featured on “Community – The Complete Second Season” (a total of 24 episodes presented on four DVD’s):

DVD 1:

• EPISODE 26 – Anthropology 101 – It’s a new semester at Greendale Community College and the group enrolls in Anthropology 101 taught by the quirky professor June Bauer (played by Betty White).  Senor Chang enrolls at Greendale and Britta tells Jeff that she loves him but at the same time, but she doesn’t know about the secret kiss that he shared with Annie.
• EPISODE 27 – Accounting for Lawyers – Jeff’s old law firm colleague Alan Connor comes for his help but the group believes that he is responsible for Alan’s problems.
• EPISODE 28 – The Psychology of Letting Go – Pierce’s mother had died and the group tries to comfort him.
• EPISODE 29 – Basic Rocket Science – What happens when Dean Pelton brings a spaceflight simulator to Greendale Community College.
• EPISODE 30 – Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples – Shirley and Abed compete in making a religious film.
• EPISODE 31 – Epedemiology – What happens when a bio-hazard substance makes students at Greendale Community College into zombies.

DVD 2:

• EPISODE 32 – Aerodynamics of Gender – A battle of the ultimate “mean girls” and Abed is turned into one. (Special guest star: Hilary Duff)
• EPISODE 33 – Cooperative Calligraphy – Annie’s pen is missing and she thinks someone in the group stole it.
• EPISODE 34 – Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design - Dean Pelton notices that Jeff is taking a class that doesn’t exist.  Abed and Troy are building a blanket fort.
• EPISODE 35 – Mixology Certification – It’s Troy’s 21st birthday and the group takes him to a bar.
• EPISODE 36 – Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas – What happens when Abed wakes up in stop-motion animation?
• EPISODE 37 – Asian Population Studies – Who should be the new addition to the group…Annie’s new interest or Senor Chang?

DVD 3:

• EPISODE 38 – Celebrity Pharmacology – Annie makes the group be part of an anti-drug production but Pierce wants a better world.
• EPISODE 39 – Advanced Dungeon & Dragons – What happens with the group when they take part in a game of “Dungeons & Dragons”.
• EPISODE 40 – Early 21st Century Romanticism – It’s Valentine’s Day and Abed and Troy compete over a college librarian.
• EPISODE 41 – Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking – Pierce is in the hospital and everyone worries that he is dying.
• EPISODE 42 – Intro to Political Science – Dean Pelton organizes a student boddy election and Annie must take on Leonard, Jeff and Star Burns.
• EPISODE 43 – Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy – The group organizes a baby shower for Shirley.

DVD 4:

• EPISODE 44 – Critical Film Studies – It’s Abed’s birthday and Jeff is planning a “Pulp Fiction” surprise party but Abed has a surprise unknown to the group.
• EPISODE 45 – Competitive Wine Tasting – It’s time for the group to choose their Spring classes, meanwhile a woman named Wu Mei (played by Michelle Krusiec) begins a romance with Pierce.
• EPISODE 46 – Paradigms of Human Memory – The study group assembles a diorama for their anthropology class.
• EPISODE 47 – Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts – The study group prepare for their anthropology exam but Shirley goes into labor.
• EPISODE 48 – A Fistfull of Paintballs (Part 1) – Greendale Community College celebrates the last day of school with a BBQ picnic.  But what happens when a mysterious man shows up to the paintball game. (Special guest: Josh Holloway).
• EPISODE 49 – For a Few Paintballs (Part 2) – The paintball game continues and the study group must work as a team to beat their enemy.

VIDEO:

“Community – The Complete Second Season” is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhance for 16×9 Televisions. For a DVD series, picture quality is very good, well-lit and pretty much a vibrant series.  I didn’t notice too many compression artifacts on DVD but for the most part, fans of the series should be happy with the overall picture quality on DVD!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Community – The Complete Second Season” is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The series is primarily dialogue driven with occasional music and is primarily front and center channel driven. I didn’t notice the surround channels being utilized all that much, but for the most part, dialogue is crystal clear and understandable.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Community – The Complete Second Season” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

• Commentaries – Featuring three audio commentaries: “Anthropology 101″ commentary with Gillian Jacobs, Joel McHale, Joe Russo and Chris McKenna; “Accounting for Lawyers” commentary with Joel McHale, Rob Corddry, Joe Russo and Emily Cutler; “The Psychology of Letting Go” commentary with Chevy Chase, Donald Glover, Anthony Russo and Hilary Winston; “Basic Rocket Science” commentary with Dan Harmon, Donald Glover, Anthony Russo and Andy Bobrow; “Messianic Myths and Ancient Peoples” commentary with Yvette Nicole Brown, Danny Pudi, Richard Erdman and Garret Donovan; “Epidemiology” commentary with Dan Harmon, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong and Anthony Hemingway.
• Outtakes – (5:19) The first set of outtakes from “Community” Season Two.
• Deleted Scenes – (1:21) A total of two deleted scenes: What’s Worse that Can Happen with Chang?, I’m a Vegetarian Anarchist

DISC 2:

• Commentaries - “Aerodynamics of Gender” commentary by Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs, Adam Countee and Jake Aust; “Cooperative Calligraphy” commentary with Dan HArmon, Yvette Nicole Brown, Joe Russo and Megan Ganz; “Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design” commentary with Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Jim Rash and Chris McKenna; “Mixology Certification” commentary with Yvette Nicole Brown, Joel McHale, Neil Goldman and Andy Bobrow; “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” commentary with Dan Harmon, Danny Pudi, Dino Stamatopoulos, Ludwig Goransson and Duke Johnson; “Asian Population Studies” commentary with Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi and Anthony Russo.
• Creating Wonderland – (17:34) The creation of the stop-motion Christmas episode of “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”.
  
• Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas (Original Storyboard Animatic) – (21:44) The storyboard animatics of “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”.
• Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas (In-Process Animatic) – (21:44) The in-process animatics of “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”.
  
• Outtakes – (6:38) The second set of outtakes from “Community” Season Two.
• Deleted Scenes – Featuring one deleted scene: Where’s the Party?

DISC 3:

• Commentaries - “Celebrity Pharmacology 212″ commentary with Chevy Chase, Jim Rash and Hilary Winston; “Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” commentary with Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Joe Russo and Andrew Guest; “Early 21st Century Romanticism” commentary with Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Steven Sprung; “Intermediate Documentary Filmmaking” commentary with Dan Harmon, Joel McHale, Joe Russo and Megan Ganz; “Intro to Political Science” commentary with Joel McHale, Dino Stamatopoulos, Joe Russo and Adam Countee with appearances by Robert Smigel and Andy Dick; “Custody Law and Eastern European Diplomacy” commentary with Yvette Nicole Brown, Gillian Jacobs, Anthony Russo and Andy Bobrow.
  
• Season Two Cast Evaluations – (10:32) Series creator Dan Harmon asks the cast how they felt about their acting in season two.
  
• DJ Steve Porter Remixes Season One – (1:50) A “Community” season 1 video remix by DJ Steve Porter.
  
• Outtakes – (6:38) The third set of outtakes from “Community” Season Two.
  
• Deleted Scenes -  Featuring three deleted scenes: This Won’t Be Very Effective, He’s a Real Giver, The Excrement of Strangers
  

DISC 4:

• Commentary – “Critical Film Studies” commentary with Ken Jeong, Danny Pudi, Neil Goldman and Sona Panos; “Competitive Wine Tasting” commentary with Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Joe Russo and Jake Aust, “Paradigms of Human Memory” commentary with Dan Harmon, Jim Rash, Tristram Shapeero and Chris McKenna; “Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts” commentary with Yvette Nicole Brown, Donald Glover, Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong and Jim Rash; “A Fistful of Paintballs” commentary with Jim Rash, Joe Russo, Andrew Guest and Garrett Donovan; “For a Few Paintballs More” commentary with Donald Glover, Danny Pudi, Joe Russo and Hilary Winston.
  
• The Paintball Finale: From Script to Screen – (20:03) The making of the paintball episodes.
• Outtakes – (5:57) The fourth set of outtakes from “Community” Season Two.
• Deleted Scenes – Featuring two deleted scenes: Spirits of the Elders, Are You Trying to Shoot Yourself?

EXTRAS:

“Community – The Complete Second Season” comes with a slip cover case.

When it comes to comedy sitcoms on television, “Community” is no doubt one of the craziest and most clever shows on television!

Each time I watch this series, I’m just amazed of how far this series takes things in terms of storyline and overall concept.  Who would ever expect to see a show where students are infected by bio-hazardous material and become zombies (ala “Resident Evil”), what kind of show would you expect to see the characters featured ala stop-animation?  Where would you expect to watch a series in which everyone competes in paint ball and who would ever expect to see an episode based on “My Dinner with Andre”?

These are the crazy episodes that you would find in “Community”.  The characters the acting and of course, the writing is absolutely wonderful.

There are not too many shows that are able to take risks or a network giving a series so much leeway to go outside of the box and do something different, but “Community” is a rare series to see the craziest things happen in a sitcom on television.  And interesting enough, the series also ties in with another crazy series on another network.  As with the “Cougar Town” second season, Abed doing a cameo role on the final episode of the series, two characters of “Cougar Town” also do a cameo in the final episode of “Community”.

So, there is so much to rave about of this series.  I love the awkwardness and especially the character dynamics, you can tell the actors are comfortable with each other and it shows, especially in the outtakes.

Needless to say, the second season of “Community” is fun, wild and fantastic and as for this DVD release… It goes way beyond what most TV sitcoms on DVD have done.

Not only does every episode have audio commentary, but there are many outtakes, making of, a remix featurette and more!  With each of the four DVD’s in this box set, there are many special features.  So, fans of the series, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth with this latest release.

Overall, “Community – The Complete Second Season” is probably one of the best TV sitcom box sets that I have come across.  Not many series includes commentary for each episode nor do they go so far into adding so many special features.

A wonderful series and a wonderful DVD box set, “Community – The Complete Second Season” is highly recommended!