NBC's Community Stars Joel McHale, Might Be Funny

Published at 4:42 PM on May 4, 2009

By Rachael Maddux

NBC's <i>Community</i> Stars Joel McHale, Might Be Funny

Photo courtesy of NBC

With Kath & Kim apparently drowned in a pool of its own self-tanner, Parks and Recreation floundering despite itself, The Office seeming more and more like a show sadly past its prime and Chuck still chugging right along despite—wait, Chuck is still on?, it might not seem like the best time for NBC to introduce yet another comedy about lovable losers. Still, Fall 2009 will apparently see the debut of Community, a sitcom starring Chevy Chase and The Soup's Joel McHale (RIP Talk Soup) as bumbly adult students just trying to survive an inglorious return to post-secondary education.

Pleasantly, though, after watching the preview featurette now circulating online, this writer is feeling cautiously optimistic. The cast seems to have struck a balance between stars and new-comers (The Daily Show's John Oliver rounds out the known names, none of whom seem to be resting on their comedic laurels), and while the pacing and pop-culture references could easily edge into pseudo-Gilmore Girls levels of face-clawing snappiness, it's nice to see an NBC comedy deriving humor from something other than overblown social awkwardness and winking stupidity. Not to jinx anything, but Community actually seems kinda smart, sweet and—yeah, fingers definitely crossed here—funny. What a novel idea.

Judge for yourself: