The ‘Community’ Season Premiere Earns the Series a Performance Review

When a TV show earns a place on our DVR, it can start to think we regard it as indispensable, get complacent, and start slacking off. At such times, we may need to sit a show down and, in a non-confrontational way, subject it to a Performance Review. Possible outcomes: a stern warning; a corrective action plan; or termination.

"Community," this discussion isn't going to be easy for either of us, but there are some serious issues we need to address if you are going to continue being part of my DVR team. I am concerned about your performance recently, and I wanted to make you aware of my misgivings so that you have a chance to turn things around and regain your position as a key component of my DVR planning.

When our association began, it was a pleasure to spend time with you every week. You were smart, original, and hilarious; your characters were developed with specificity and perfectly cast. You got creative with your format in episodes like "Contemporary American Poultry" and "Modern Warfare," but you never lost sight of what you were really about: a disparate group of people learning to care about each other.

But in your second year with us, things changed. Every episode had to have a different gimmick — a bottle episode, a stop motion-animated Christmas episode, whatever it was that happened at the intersection of "Apollo 13" and clumsy product placement. Two particular low points: a Dungeons & Dragons-themed episode that attempted to address the issue of depression in a serious way while also establishing Pierce (Chevy Chase) as an irredeemable monster; and a gloss on "My Dinner with André," which pretty much dared the audience to keep watching after such a tragic display of producers' self-indulgence. And returning, in the Season 2 finale, to the paintball well for a two-parter almost managed to rob the Season 1 version of its charm, retroactively.

Which brings us to last night's season premiere. Opening with a musical number? We get it, you're still mad at "Glee." Promising to be "happy" and "less weird"? Given the ongoing disintegration of your creator, Dan Harmon, on all manner of social media, I don't believe that's even possible. And raising the possibility that Pierce could actually get bounced out of the show only to end the episode with him even more entrenched in the study group was the cruelest of teases. Never has a show that was once so essential to my DVR so quickly ended up at risk of termination.

But look: We're not there yet. You started out strongly enough that, at this time, you are remaining in your current position. But I'd like to put you on a Corrective Action Plan. Here are the conditions I'd like to see you meet:

1. Don't lean too hard on your new recurring guest stars. Michael K. Williams, as Professor Kane, was very funny playing off his better known tough-guy roles on "The Wire" and "Boardwalk Empire" (and "I've seen 'Milk'!" was one of the funniest lines of the episode). A professor who earned his PhD while incarcerated is a character I can honestly say I've never seen before. But we've already seen the harm that can result from overusing a bit character (see: Chang). This is doubly dangerous with John Goodman's Vice Dean Laybourne, since his storyline is going to be dependent on our seeing more of Dean Pelton (Jim Rash). Who has also come down with Changitis.

2. Phase out Pierce. It's time. It's PAST time, actually. It wasn't hard to read between the lines last season, when Pierce ruined the group's anti-drug play by going off-script and drawing attention to himself: Clearly, he hates working on the show and everyone else hates working with him as much as I hate watching him. He adds nothing to the show. Lose him.

3. Cool it with all the meta. It is aging your show more than you know. Pretend you're going to make it to syndication (even if ratings like these don't augur well for that).

4. Quit making fun of "Cougar Town" all the time. It's a really funny show and by the way much more consistent than you are.