This article was originally written in May 2020.

Community, as every fan of the show will be aware, has a long and torrid history of clinging to life. The roots of the show’s power was two-fold; a brilliant ensemble cast, headed up by Joel McHale as disgraced former lawyer Jeff Winger, and surreal, sharp writing, held together by the backdrop of the barely-functioning Greendale Community College. It never managed to be a ratings hit, but had (and has) a dedicated cult following, who clung on through the rollercoaster of real-life events that threatened the show almost from its conception.

The first three seasons of the show are almost perfect. The last time I re-watched the show, I only went this far because I couldn’t bear to watch any more. The first knife in its back – that had a visible impact on screen – was the (temporary) removal of showrunner and writer Dan Harmon, resulting in the fourth ‘gas leak’ season, a weird echo of Community’s former self. Following this, Chevy Chase’s disputes with the show’s creators (and quite a lot of racism) led to his departure. His character Pierce was always the outsider in the group, and with other characters like Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and Chang (Ken Jeong) to fill the role of Tolerated Outsider, the consequences of Pierce’s sudden death were pretty minimal. Soon after, Donald Glover (Troy) left the show to pursue other opportunities, via a round-the-world trip on Pierce’s bequeathed yacht. Conveniently, he therefore couldn’t visit and/or had too poor an Internet connection to Skype Abed.

I’d forgotten until researching this piece that Glover literally departs the episode after Pierce’s will is read, which was brilliantly poor timing and a real gut punch that permanently impacts the show’s dynamics and momentum. There are still great moments though, and god knows the more of the Dean and Chang the better. But what was once effortless and beautiful became more and more visibly laboured, and by the time the show had a short-lived sixth season hurrah on the short-lived Yahoo streaming, it felt like the fanbase’s loyalty alone was sustaining it. It was a relief to see it finally depart, and like Arrested Development, we could focus on the happier times and take a Forget-Me-Now for everything else. But #sixseasonsandamovie lives on, although the cast’s blinding success has prevented it thus far. (A Netflix revival later, and Arrested Development proved that it’s sadly often better to leave the glory days behind. Especially if it results in a car-crash New York Times interview.)

Therefore, the announcement that the cast would be reuniting for a table read (minus Chase) was in some ways the perfect substitute for new Community content. We get the comfort of beloved characters. the intimacy of Zoom and the reminder of an innocent time before coronavirus, Yahoo Streaming, and The Great Indoors. It’s also hilarious – and a testament to their success – that the only way the cast could be freed up to do it at all was a global pandemic forcing them all to stay at home. 

The episode chosen for the Zoom read was the fourth episode of season five, ‘Cooperative Polygraphy.’ Conveniently chosen, as Chevy Chase doesn’t appear in season five, aside briefly as a hologram in episode one; Pierce’s death is then announced to the group in the third episode. As documented above, literally the episode after Pierce’s death, ‘Geothermal Escapism,’ centres around Troy’s departure and the resulting campus-wide farewell game of ‘The Floor is Lava.’ This would make for a lot of reading stage directions for a Zoom read, and the unnecessary exclusion of Glover. Episode 4 of the season is in some ways the perfect episode – post-Chase, pre-voyage, and almost entirely based in the study room, with only Mara the lie-detector reader and Mr Stone the investigator as additional characters. 

Following a short introduction from Dan Harmon, the cast got right into it. And it was like getting into a warm, foamy bath of nostalgia. It was glorious. Being on Zoom did make it more intimate, and the cast’s corpsing and laughing at the jokes only added to the feeling that we were watching a friendly rehearsal. There were nods to the time and situation; Glover pretending to be too busy to stay beyond page five, Pedro Pascal winningly replacing Walter Goggins as Mr Stone, Jim Rash subbing in as Mara and Dan Harmon taking pot shots at the show’s contemporary competitor 30 Rock. 

Ignoring the circumstances, the episode itself (rated 9.2/10 on Imbd) remained strong. Unlike Troy’s exit, the show keeps a relatively straight face about Pierce’s death, presumably because of the real-life unfunny circumstances. Conversely, Troy’s departure is full of meta references, not least Pierce’s yacht being called the Childish Tycoon – a play on Glover’s stage name Childish Gambino, but even more prescient than intended, given Glover’s subsequent astronomical success. ‘Cooperative Polygraphy,’ does veer a bit towards the laboured end of the Community episode spectrum, given that Jeff spends quite a lot of time speechifying to the group about Pierce’s motives, and getting them out of the moral dilemma of taking their friend’s money (and sperm, although this is more quickly accepted as par for the course.) The send-off does acknowledge Pierce’s value; despite his many faults, he was a source of wisdom and provoked introspection in how they treated him as an older and unsocially aware member of the group. His delusions are exemplified by his bequeathing of individual flasks of his preserved ‘hyper-virile’ sperm, but as with ‘Intermediate Documentary Film-making,’ in which he staged his own will reading in hospital, the audience is shown the value of Pierce’s outsider perspective and insights not only into the value of different group members, but also their dynamics as a whole.

My biggest takeaways from the episode were the sharpness of the writing and the brilliance of the characters – as with the best shows, it seemed effortless. It was a shame to have no Dean – Mara the lie-detector operator gave Jim Rash minimal time to shine. But even to have 99.9% of the cast in one (Zoom) room reflected the impossible level of perfection possible when every piece of a show comes together seamlessly. Truly lightning in a bottle.

Beacon of Wholesomeness: Danny Pudi

Nicest Zoom Background: Jim Rash

Most On-Brand Zoom Background: Dan Harmon