"Community," a smart comedy series about a band of misfits who attend Greendale Community College. At the center of the group is Jeff Winger (Joel McHale, "The Soup"), a fast-talking lawyer whose degree has been revoked. With some help from his fellow classmates, Winger forms a study group that eventually learns more about themselves than their course work.NBC will air this special stop motion animation episode Thursday, December 9th, in which the meaning of Christmas is lost and Abed's (Danny Pudi) intense fixation on Christmas concerns the group. Check your local listings and be sure to catch it tomorrow evening!
The animation quickly took me back to my childhood watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
" and "Frosty the Snowman
." It was fun to watch and the whole show was very well done. I must say though, the show is for a more mature audience that those children shows of old. As a Christian myself, I took a bit of offense to Shirley's (Yvette Nicole Brown) opening statement, whereas when greeted with "Merry Christmas" she declares, "I am a modern Christian and have learned to be sensitive to other cultures jealousies." I stand up for my faith and believe the Christmas is a holiday to celebrate the birth of my Savior and the most important part of the word Christmas is "Christ." It also made me sad to think some people may feel like Troy (Donald Glover) in that "fake murdering people is going to be my new holiday tradition." But, I am open to other people's opinions, and this is just mine.
Abed began the show by saying, "I think we should commit to the format, starting with a song," and did a nice Christmas rendition of the theme song. It was the beginning of a terrificly, fun story line. As Abed begins his search for the true meaning of Christmas, the other misfits join him in his journey through a Winter Wonderland. When they arrive at their destination Abed appoints each character the "Christmas version" of themself. This was easily my favorite part of the show. Shirley's response to her character was classic, and Pierce was hilarious in true Chevy-Chase form. As they start their walk towards the North Pole, Abed warns them that the "journey through Winter Wonderland tends to test your commitment to Christmas... Wonka-style."
The group travels towards the North Pole and they begin to lose characters one by one... while Abed bids them good-bye with a quick song in true Willy Wonka style minus the Oompa Loompas! Once Abed finally reaches his destination, with only Pierce (Chevy Chase) at his side, he believes he has found the true meaning of Christmas... but discovers only what he states symbolizes the "lack of payoff."
Once Professor Duncan (John Oliver) proclaims, "This is what Christmas does to people. We put too much meaning into it and it lets us down," the rest of the cast rallies together and comes to Abed's defense. Abed is finally able to see what the true meaning of Christmas really is... watch the show and find out! :)
**As a member of One2One, I received an advance preview screening in order to accommodate this review. The opinions expressed are my own and have not been influenced by One2One or anyone else.**
