COMMUNITY: A Listen to “Regional Holiday Music”

Tuning in to NBC this Thursday for their comedy night was just the pick me up I needed this week. My days have been made rather grim lately by a brutal attack of food poisoning (thanks Taco Time), but nothing brings a smile to my face quite like Christmas specials, and Community kicked off the night in a big way. It had everything I could ask for in a holiday themed romp: singing, dancing, horror, laughs, sentiment, conspiracy, parody and I’ll just stop there because I actually want to be able to talk about some of these things.

Like last year’s Christmas episode, “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”, Abed drove the story, but with a larger focus on jokes. “Uncontrollable Christmas” was a fantastic, melancholic work and will always be one of my favorite episodes of Community, but it wasn’t all that funny. “Regional Holiday Music” could easily have been the funniest Community has ever been (that’s a hard title to claim, I know, but I’m seriously considering handing it over). It’s a testament to how well these characters are developed that even someone as emotionally unavailable as Abed can be the center of something sad and something hilarious and both can work superfluously.

The story goes: Jeff, in his never-ending contempt of Greendale’s glee club, tips ASCAP off to the club’s illegal use of licensed music, effectively silencing them via mental breakdown. All at once, we’re reminded the study group previously filled in as singers last year when the old glee club died in a bus accident (an event we only saw one flashback to), and will be needed to do so again. Initially, the group is adamantly opposed to helping, despite prodding from glee club director Mr. Radison (SNL’s Taran Killam), with Jeff claiming the light only makes the dark stronger. Abed is hesitant to follow the rest of the group, having noticed the dark time the group has gone through this year, and likely out of need to make up for last year’s Christmas. He approaches Radison, who convinces him to help recruit the rest of the study group for the Christmas concert.

From this point, the episode morphs into a combination parody of Fox’s megahit Glee and a horror movie. It takes very specific elements from Glee, like the a capella musical cues, the constant mention of “regionals”, and the random use of pop songs and turns them into jokes. It then makes those jokes even funnier by turning them into reasons to be afraid. The need to sing randomly spreads throughout the study group like a virus, and as Britta puts it, “the stakes aren’t actually that high, but somehow that just makes it extra scary.” Those moments of horror are some of the best, especially Jeff’s slow turn toward Britta before letting out one long musical note before fading to black (all while smiling!).

But what everyone will remember when all is said and done are the songs. A Glee parody wouldn’t be that great if some songs weren’t sung, and unlike Glee these are all original (save for the classic Christmas tunes). Starting with Troy and Abed’s “Saving Christmas” rap (technically the second one sung, but the first song wasn’t nearly memorable enough, though still fun) to set the tone for how silly these would be, each one was designed to appeal to a specific character. Abed appealed to Troy’s sense of adventure and mystery. They get to Pierce through his age and the vanity that comes with it, who in turn uses young children who don’t know about Jesus Christ to lure Shirley to glee club. And my all time favorite song was the beyond ridiculous number Annie did for Jeff. It was pure unadulterated sex appeal. Over the top doesn’t begin to describe it. The whole bit is poking fun at Annie and how viewers have come to objectify her. It’s brilliant and simple. And so damn funny.

At this point, the show didn’t even need to do much more to make me happy. It was a pure win from the start. But this is Community, and the only thing they love more a good laugh is a great character moment. Abed gets that moment when he realizes Radison plans to keep the study group as his singers forever and decides to sabotage the concert. To do this he uses Britta, who ruins everything. It’s her superpower. And she doesn’t even know it. The whole thing falls apart and Radison is furious. So furious that he let’s slip he killed the old glee club. Crazy twist! Abed slinks away, feeling down he had to give up his happy Christmas to save his friends. They return the favor by showing up at the apartment singing “The First Noel”, having decided to all spend Christmas together. They’re not friends after all; they’re a family.

I fully intend to watch “Regional Holiday Music” at least three more times before Christmas. I can’t help myself. Just like the “glee virus”, it’s an infectious episode. The giggles it induces are unlike any I’ve ever had for an episode of this nature. I am blown away by how well it was put together. I’ve tried not to mention until now that this will be the last Community to air for quite some time. It’s a sad thought, but at least it went out on an incredibly high note. And when it comes back, I’ll be here, eagerly waiting.