Community - The Complete Fifth Season (2013 - 2014/Sony DVD Set)

Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: B+ Episodes: C

Sony and NBC's hit Community returns in its fifth season full of laughs in this collection of thirteen episodes on DVD spanning two discs. The show stars Joel McHale as Jeff, Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Alison Brie, Donald Glover, Jim Rash, and Ken Jeong as Ben Chang. There are also some notable guest stars such as Chevy Chase, Brie Larson, Dave Cross, BJ Novack and Robert Patrick. The show is intelligent but at some times tries a little too hard to be funny for my tastes. It's slight step above recent seasons of SNL I will give it credit for.

For those unaware of the show, the series follows a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. It makes heavy use of meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television clichés and tropes. This is the last season that NBC produced. Yahoo! Screen, however, is resurrecting the show for a sixth season, coming soon.

The first episode, Repilot, Jeff (Joel McHale) returns to Greendale a year after graduation to research a potential lawsuit after his practice goes under. While doing this, he finds out what has happened to his friends within the study group since his departure. Episode 2, Introduction to Teaching, Jeff begins his teaching job at Greendale and is shown the ropes by Professor Hickey, with whom he shares an office. While Jeff learns to adjust to the expectations of being on staff, Abed convinces the rest of the study group to take Professor Garrity's new class on whether Nicolas Cage is good or bad.

Episode three, Basic Intergluteal Numismatics, features Jeff and Annie as they try to solve the case of the Ass Crack Bandit, who drops coins into people's pants. Though the suspect is quickly caught, Jeff believes that perhaps the real Bandit is still at large. Meanwhile, the team receives bad news about one of their own. In episode four, Cooperative Polygraphy, the study group undergo a polygraph test as part of the conditions of Pierce's will, but it soon turns sour as the group's secrets come to light, and Troy makes a major decision in order to satisfy the conditions of the bequeathing. In episode five, Geothermal Escapism, to honor Troy's last day at Greendale, Abed organizes a campus-wide game of The Floor Is Lava.

Episode six, Analysis of Cork-Based Networking, Annie and Hickey embark on a mission to start improving Greendale, but it soon turns into a labyrinthine chain of favors. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang help set up a dance, and Abed connects with a fellow student. In episode seven, Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality, Jeff helps Professor Duncan try to win over Britta's affection. Abed and Hickey face off after Abed accidentally ruins some of Hickey's drawings, and Chang finds himself in the middle of a ghostly mystery.

Episode eight, App Development and Condiments, features the introduction of an app that allows people to rate others which in turn causes the campus to devolve into a caste-based society. In episode nine, VCR Maintenance and Educational Publishing, Jeff, Shirley, and Hickey discover a large stash of unused textbooks, but soon turn on each other when deciding the best way to sell them. Meanwhile, Annie and Abed decide they need a new roommate, and play an old-west themed VCR game to decide between Annie's brother Anthony or Abed's girlfriend Rachel. Episode Ten, Advanced Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the study group organizes a game of Dungeons & Dragons so that Prof. Hickey can reconnect with his estranged son, Hank who is played by Dave Cross.

Episode eleven, GI Jeff, tampers with nostalgia when the entire group becomes part of the cast of a classic G.I. Joe cartoon from the 1980s, which turns out to be part of Jeff's coping mechanism as he deals with a monumental life event. Episode twelve, Basic Story, starts when Greendale is appraised to be an asset instead of a liability, the school board immediately decides to sell it to Subway. Abed, Annie, and the Dean find a secret that may save the school, and Jeff must decide where his allegiance lies. Finally, episode thirteen, Basic Sandwich, concludes with Greendale hours away from sale, the group searches for the hidden lab of the school's first dean, believing there is a treasure there which can save the school. Will they save Greendale? You'll have to wait to find out!

The picture and sound are of a high standard for DVD featuring a 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy English 5.1 Dolby Digital track. Subtitles on the disc are available in English SDH.

Special Features on the disc are uncensored, featuring Cast and Crew Commentary on Every Episode, Advanced Television Production: Five Days, Two Scripts, and No Sleep, Re-Animating the Eighties, and Outtakes.

- James Harland Lockhart V

www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart