CREDIT: NBC
Fans of NBC’s cult hit Community are pleased that the fifth season is going back to the show’s wacky roots.

In the summer of 2010, my roommate and I were sitting around when he suggested that we check out a show that he had heard of but didn't know anything about it. The show had Chevy Chase in it, so we sat down to watch Community for the first time. By the time the credits rolled at the end of the second episode, juxtaposed over two of the characters rapping in nonsensical Spanish, I had been completely sucked in by this bizarre show set at the world's worst community college.

Hailing from the bizarre mind of former Sarah Silverman Program cocreator Dan Harmon, Community relied on a mix of quick-fire pop culture references, genre spoofs and a very self-aware brand of humour. This meta humour was personified in the television- loving, socially awkward character Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi), who quickly became a fan favourite and a standout among a strong ensemble cast including The Soup host Joel McHale in the lead role as sarcastic former lawyer Jeff Winger. The show's early episodes received critical praise for everyone from the writers to the cast.

Despite its early promise, the show began suffering a decline in viewing numbers, partly due to the rise of streaming video and torrent downloading among the target demographic, and halfway through the third season, the show was put on hiatus when the network shuffled their lineup in the new year. It was an odd sort of déjà vu for NBC viewers, as the fate of the program echoed that of another critically praised cult favourite, Chuck, which aired on the network from 2007 to 2011. When Chuck had been set for cancellation at the conclusion of its second season, the fans rallied behind the program, eventually showing enough interest and passion for the show that Subway, a sponsor of the show, ended up covering a large portion of the remaining seasons. (Also, if you haven't seen Chuck, go watch it immediately!)

Citing the success of Chuck's fans, Community supporters took to the Internet, supporting the program on social media and attempting to convince the network to return it to the airwaves, which it eventually would in May 2012. As the third season came to an end, fans were left with no word on a fourth, and Harmon and his writers crafted an episode that easily could have been a series finale if the higher-ups were to decide to move on to other things. Fans' fears were quelled a couple weeks later when NBC ordered a half-season for the following year, but with one condition: Harmon would not be returning as showrunner. Fans' primary worry was that, by losing Harmon, the show would lose the distinct tone and charm that his wacky, perfectionist mind brought to it.

When Community returned for a fourth season, despite the new writers' efforts to retain the spirit of the show, it fell a little flat, with many people in agreement that the fourth season marked the lowest point of the series. After such a disappointing debut from the new showrunners, most fans were happy to let the show suffer the inevitable cancellation that had been hovering over it for years. However the network had other things in mind, and made what is surely the best received writing announcement in television: they had set aside their differences with Harmon and he would be returning, along with the show, for a fifth season.

Premiering in early January, Community's fifth season immediately felt like its bizarre, hilarious, yet slightly inaccessible self, and kept the trend in the following episodes, showing great promise for the show's future. Catch Community on NBC or CityTV on Thursdays at 8 p.m. You can watch up to season four of Community on Netflix Canada.