There’s very little not to like about this little-seen single-camera sitcom, but I’ll take this opportunity to run down some of the more noteworthy highlights.
Joel McHale. A comedian and sometime actor (The Informant!, Spider-Man 2), he’s currently double-dipping on the TV landscape between his starring role in this show and his merciless bad TV piss-take, The Soup. On Community, he brings his dry, sardonic style to the role of duplicitous would-be lawyer Jeff Winger and exhibits sublime comic timing.
Ken Jeong. As Senor Chang, Jeong parlays his ferocious agro comedy used in Knocked Up and The Hangover to superb effect as the uncredentialed Spanish teacher all too willing to fly off the handle or play the race card. His throwaway lines are superb. My favourite? “Día de los Muertos. It’s sometimes referred to as Mexican Halloween, which is actually quite offensive to people familiar with Mexican Halloween as a sexual position.”
Chevy Chase. Gone too long, relegated to bit parts in B-movies. As the guileless Pierce Hawthorn, he flexes his anti-PC muscles. Chevy of old. Gold.
Danny Pudi. As Abed, the pop culture obsessed Arab-American, it’s often his show to steal. His dead-on impression of John Hamm’s Don Draper is a classic.
The show’s frequent skewing to pop culture references shows where it has potential to boldly go where others wouldn’t, but as a wise man once said, you make pop culture references, your work has a shelf life of 15 minutes. The Paintball episode, ‘Modern Warfare’, which parodies everything from Die Hard, Battle Royale, and Rambo to 28 Days Later, The Matrix and The Killer is just pure genius.
Australian audiences got this awesome show on the ugly bridesmaid channel GO!, and the first season has been released locally on DVD for an astronomically overpriced $42. It’s about $17 if you buy it on Amazon, which I recommend you do.
There are 25 episodes, which is a good three more than your average TV comedy in a season; loads of extras, including some actually funny out takes.
Another great show you’ve never heard of. Indulge.