When Community is good, it's some of the best television ever written, but when it's bad it's no better than your average dull sitcom- I would argue that some episodes actually end up worse because of their misuse or over-reliance of the show's more meta elements, or because of fundamental misunderstandings about how to handle certain characters. Character development abruptly stops at season four, with the cast regressing back to their season one personalities (aside from Britta and the Dean, who just get more and more flanderized). Season five attempts to correct this but season six has the characters regress once again. I was also pretty disappointed that the recurring subplot about City College never ends up going anywhere. I don't think that Pierce and Troy leaving the show at the start of season five is the nail in the coffin that some fans consider it, but it was still a pretty major blow that shook up the formula in ways that I feel were ultimately for the worse. Hickey was an ok replacement for Pierce but he vanishes after season five, and I did not think Frankie and Elroy were very well-written or memorable in the slightest.

Season Ranking: 3- The best. Has several self-contained arcs, is extremely quotable, features tons of character development, and has the best season finale (and in general a great last stretch of episodes). 2- Still excellent. The episodes don't have much of a through line beyond Pierce acting as more of an antagonist, but the writing is still really good. While season 3 had the best group-driven episodes, season 2 has the best episodes based on single characters. 5- Underrated. The majority of episodes here have the same level of quality as seasons 3 or 2. What lets it down is the weakness of the overarching "Save Greendale" storyline, which develops too quickly and leads into what is probably the worst season finale, season four notwithstanding. Jeff becoming a teacher is also barely explored and feels like wasted potential. 1- Good, but nothing special. Is mostly split between some genuinely great episodes and others that are just "meh". There isn't much about this season that I actively dislike but it doesn't do enough to make itself stand out and feels far more like standard sitcom fare than later seasons. 6- Pretty disappointing. Lacks any sort of lasting character development, with all episodes being very self-contained. There are a couple fun or interesting episodes but they never reach the heights of previous seasons. 4- The worst. The showrunners brought on for season four clearly lacked an understanding of how characters had developed since season one, how the genre/gimmick episodes were near-exclusively used for important moments in story arcs (such as "A Fistful of Paintballs" or "Pillows and Blankets") or for character-building (such as "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" or "Cooperative Calligraphy"), and how equally important all members of the group were for the show's dynamic to work. As a result we get an onslaught of callbacks that don't understand how the original episode or joke worked so well, and episodes meant to satisfy character arcs that don't understand where characters are actually at in those arcs.

For my money just watch the first three seasons and ignore the rest. The season three finale works better as a series finale than the one we actually got, and it actually feels like the characters have substantially grown since the start of the show.