I've binge watched Community over the last week on Netflix. I expected a semi believable show along the lines of The Office and Parks & Recreation, but was disappointed that the storylines usually ended more like fantasy or science fiction, or if not, way too wacky.
Was wondering if the hard core fans of the show preferred it that way?
I love it. Meta-humour is something I've always loved - a fire furiously stoked by Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Most of the really far-out stuff can be seen as just a figment of Abed's psyche, or an interpretation of events through Abed's "lens". We see some hints of this when it's revealed that the study group aggravate everybody on campus. We see them as just using the room, but then there's the flashback where Garrett and Todd (I think) are trying to get in to Room F and Garrett's upset and Todd says something like, "One of them lost a pen..." So our perception of the show might not be literal throughout the run.
So, for instance, the multiverse stuff might not literally happen, it might just be a conjuring of Abed's mind.
Other than that, it's just the level of wackiness that happens at Greendale, which is acknowledged on the show when outsiders witness its chaos.
SPOILERS BELOW:
I never thought it went too far. The closest it came for me was during the episode where they're almost faked out into believing Greendale was an asylum and then when the Darkest Timeline "invades", but both of those are fake-outs and aren't "really" happening.
I watched the first 4 seasons not too long ago. i was really surprised and enjoyed the first season and to an extant I did enjoy watching the other seasons.
That being said....I do wish the show remained more realistic instead of just delving into pretty much a cartoon.
The weird and metafictional nature of the show is what sets it apart from other sitcoms.
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