Yahoo! Screen has dropped a new Community clip online to remind viewers that tonight, the doors of Greendale Community College will be flung open once again. The very existence of the cult show floated in limbo for some time, until the Internet giant stepped in and coughed up for the forthcoming season. Which, by the looks of this opening teaser clip, may very well hark back to the show’s strongest eras.
As expected, Community‘s insistence on self-reflexivity is apparent from the outset. Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) welcomes the students back, and begins a meta-rollcall of previous events leading up to the current point. The regular gang make hasty appearances here as well, including Joel McHale’s Jeff Winger, Gillian Jacobs’ Britta Perry, Abed Nadir’s Danny Pudi and Alison Brie’s Annie Edison.
Thus far, the swaying consistency between seasons has alienated some fans (this writer included). However, our own Isaac Feldberg issued the forthcoming season a glowing review, which he summarizes as follows:
Community has always thrown random yet terrific in-jokes and references at viewers to distract from its increasingly silly premise and changing cast, but in season six, it seems more honest and able to face its own flaws head on. All that, and it’s still one of the most unabashedly fun shows still running right now. With a paintball episode and some delightful celebrity cameos in the pipeline, season six seems ripe with possibility.
That possibility kicks off tonight when the first episode of Community season 6 airs on Yahoo! Screen.