Review roundup for episode 5x11, "G.I. Jeff"
Good evening, Communies! Or good morning for those of you on the east coast. So, how about that new episode of Community last night? I thought it was ... well, "terrible" is too strong a word, but boy, I sure didn't like it a lot. Check out my personal journal tomorrow afternoon if you want details. Meanwhile, here's what the critics had to say about it.
Tim Surette, tv.com:
Opinions on "G.I. Jeff" are going to vary wildly, and here's mine: I liked it! Ta-da! But I also don't think it entirely worked.
Matt Carter, cartermatt.com:
However, the episode just got more and more brilliant as it went on, especially when the walls were starting to be broken down and it was clear that this entire story was a delusion inside Jeff’s mind after a depression-related bender upon his 40th birthday.
Britt Hayes, ScreenCrush:
“G.I. Jeff” is all-time ‘Community’ greatness, you guys. Not just as a concept episode, not just as one of the show’s few animated entries, but as a whole, everything clicks. The narrative rhythm is fast-paced, and the dialogue exchanges are snappy, but more importantly, the metatextual concept is absolutely wonderful.
Alan Sepinwall, HitFix:
Not an incredibly deep episode, but a fun one, though I wonder how many of the jokes landed for those with little to no investment in this cheesy '80s toy commercial disguised as a cartoon.
Eric Goldman, IGN:
There are no doubt some Community fans who never watched G.I. Joe and I have no idea how this episode will play for them. I’d hope they could still appreciate how odd it was and jokes about how no one dies in a carton. But certainly, the more familiar you are with G.I. Joe, the more this worked. And it sure worked for me.
Todd VanDerWerff, A.V. Club:
Still, this is a very enjoyable, very funny episode of Community that ultimately has some interesting things to say about getting older and about the crippling haze that nostalgia can spread over our lives. I suspect when I think of it later on, I will think of it primarily in terms of its great gags, but I’m also pleased that the episode ended up being a lot more than just a G.I. Joe parody.
Gabrielle Moss, TV Fanatic:
Is Community so strong a flavor that even merging completely with another brand couldn't blot it out? I'd say yes. The episode expertly blended multiple mediums (animation, live action commercials) into something that worked on a deeper level than just straight-ahead narrative; something that hit me right in the childhood. The commercials alone were a thing of demented beauty, reminiscent of Charlie Kaufman's work.
Untempered Television:
Having a character experience something that in any other universe would make them insane in order to learn a lesson is not a new avenue for Community to explore (as Abed reminds us, “Dealing with things through a psychotic break happens to the best of us”) but this episode was so wonderfully strange and different, it never for once felt like a rehash.
Jacob Harrington and Spenser Milo, Based on Nothing:
G.I. Joe was way before my time. But this episode’s style and parody pallet really worked for me. The animation nailed the theme, and there’s some great clunky editing. (Harrington) If I had to pinpoint a particular reason why the episode didn’t work for me - and I suppose I have to as I’m writing a review for it - it’d have to be that I didn’t find the episode entirely necessary. It’s like Community using an animation gimmick just for the sake of finally having a full animated episode already.
Joe Matar, Den of Geek:
If I give this episode any kudos it’s because it’s quite simply one of the oddest half-hours of primetime sitcom television I’ve ever seen. I have to admire the ambition, the effort, and the dedication, but I still don’t think that weirdness added up to anything very good.
Nick O'Malley, masslive.com:
Which brings us to Jeff addressing the fact that he's getting kind of old. It's familiar territory for Jeff's character, so going into a retread here seems to indicate that the writers were more interested in the G.I. Joe experiment than they were in really fleshing out Jeff's character.
Brian Collins, Badass Digest:
This is that rare one that works as a "There is nothing else like this show on television" example of how brilliant they can be, AND keeps the laughs coming, making it a winner.
Sarah Shachat, ScreenCrave:
All that serious stuff aside, the episode was really funny. It’s probably funnier to folks who grew up on the G.I. Joe cartoons; but the humor was broad enough to include wonderful visuals like Britta’s buzz-arm, character-centric declarations specific to the show (our intro to Annie’s avatar Tight Ship, “I control everything!”) and good enough at calling out the structure of this universe to make it funny.
Randy Dankievitch, Sound on Sight:
“Accessible”? Hardly: this is one of the most niche episodes Community could ever produce - but it’s also a stroke of genius, a story told in a specific format for a very specific reason.
Jon Bowling, Character Grades:
As I’ve said Community works best when they can break with reality while still maintaining the show’s heart and strong character development. Episodes like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas are perfect examples. G.I. Jeff while an incredibly fun episode and an excellent satire of 1980’s Americana and animation just doesn’t move the story forward in the way that it should.
Jennifer Marie, Just About Write:
I did not like this episode. It’s not that I didn’t admire the work and effort that was put into recreating G.I. Joe and tailoring it to fit Community. Oh, that I totally and completely admired. But as someone who has never watched a moment of G.I. Joe in her entire twenty-five years of life and doesn’t intend to start now, the homage was lacking. And the reason why, to be honest, is because every other Community homage has been broad enough to connect with viewers. I feel like “G.I. Jeff” was not an homage to Saturday morning cartoons in general - it was a specific homage to one specific show that a lot of people (like myself) had never seen. And there is something lost on you when you don’t get the characters or the plot or the purpose of an homage.
Robert Emmett, Word of the Nerd:
This one is both a reverent homage and a sharply sarcastic parody. We share a nostalgic moment from our childhood, and we are reminded that these characters - as well as the show- are growing older. I am pleasantly amazed that well into the fifth season the show is still able to deliver something fresh, unexpected, funny and relevant.
Justin, Generals Joes:
Community didn’t treat this as some sort of homage, they actually designed this entire episode to take place within the confines of an actual Sunbow animated episode, complete with toy commercials (featuring some terrific and inspired customs). Every single element of “G.I. Joe” within the episode was awesome, hilarious, and totally nostalgia inducing.
Clarence, Redheaded Mule:
Unfortunately, this episode will likely get pummeled by Big Bang Theory in the ratings. But some editors of TV Tropes are probably in an infinite loop of squee.
John Wood, Half Decent:
Community has never been afraid to play with old styles to various degrees of success; for every Old Western paintball, there is a puppet episode. This week, they make a G.I. Joe 80’s cartoon rip-off entitled G.I. Jeff that is clearly a loving homage with a lot of solid jokes, but unfortunately it’s arguably the most polarizing episode in Community’s history.
Maersky, HyperNerd Creative:
So apparently, the producers of the show thought that it would be a good idea to mix their sitcom with the contradicting 80s morals of the popular 80s cartoon GI JOE. Boy were they right!!
Dan Owen, Dan's Media Digest:
Overall, it's great something as bonkers as a GI Joe-style episode of Community can get made, and if you were a young fan of the franchise I'm sure this worked much better for you... but for me it wasn't anything I'd count as especially funny, just an admirable endeavour.
Jocelyn W, TV Equals:
Even if you are a G.I. Joe novice, there was still plenty to appreciate about the episode, including the writers poking fun at a cartoon based on soldiers in which no one ever dies. The incorporation of the commercials was also pretty funny.
Juliette Harrisson, Doux Reviews:
I'm not sure this was quite as successful as 'Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas' and as it is perhaps symptomatic of the series' tendency to re-use old ideas, which as ChrisB pointed out in the comments last week they've been doing rather a lot lately (I must admit it's been bugging me since the unnecessary extension of the brilliant pillow fort idea in season three, though hypocritically I do like the second paintball story from season two).
Alan Rapp, Razorfine:
That was awesome! Unapologetically pulling the nostalgic strings of everyone who grew up watching G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, and guaranteeing I will buy this season on DVD, the only question anyone needs to ask about G.I. Jeff is: Is it a great episode of Community or the greatest episode of Community?
Jared Russo, Geek Binge:
For the beginning 19 minutes, it was a tour de force. And for the last 2 minutes, it just floundered. The ending was really convenient, way too easy, and simplistic to be satisfying at all. I understand you want to conclude every episode in a nice bow, all wrapped up so that none of the events of the story meddle in future continuity, but the hospital bed scene was pretty weak.
Gonzo Green, Bubble Blabber:
The young boy inside me (one of the only ways I can use that statement, amiright?) wanted me to simply slap a ‘10’ on this and call it a night. I mean, they killed it with this episode. It had just the right amount of parody and tribute, while still being decidedly unique to Community. The character assignments and creations were brilliant, and the cast did a tremendous job in voicing their characters.
Nick Hogan, TV Overmind:
This episode was a blast. I loved cartoons like this growing up and this was like my favorite sitcom all wrapped up in my childhood TV experiences. It was an excellent viewing experience littered with all sorts of past episode references.
Logan J. Fowler, Pop Break:
Wow. Just wow. Under normal sitcom circumstances, another program couldn’t combine an 80’s cartoon with a regular live action comedy, but the latest episode of Community pulled it off with flying colors. Yo Joe!
Thanks for reading everyone! See you next week for the penultimate episode of the 5th season!
Tim Surette, tv.com:
Opinions on "G.I. Jeff" are going to vary wildly, and here's mine: I liked it! Ta-da! But I also don't think it entirely worked.
Matt Carter, cartermatt.com:
However, the episode just got more and more brilliant as it went on, especially when the walls were starting to be broken down and it was clear that this entire story was a delusion inside Jeff’s mind after a depression-related bender upon his 40th birthday.
Britt Hayes, ScreenCrush:
“G.I. Jeff” is all-time ‘Community’ greatness, you guys. Not just as a concept episode, not just as one of the show’s few animated entries, but as a whole, everything clicks. The narrative rhythm is fast-paced, and the dialogue exchanges are snappy, but more importantly, the metatextual concept is absolutely wonderful.
Alan Sepinwall, HitFix:
Not an incredibly deep episode, but a fun one, though I wonder how many of the jokes landed for those with little to no investment in this cheesy '80s toy commercial disguised as a cartoon.
Eric Goldman, IGN:
There are no doubt some Community fans who never watched G.I. Joe and I have no idea how this episode will play for them. I’d hope they could still appreciate how odd it was and jokes about how no one dies in a carton. But certainly, the more familiar you are with G.I. Joe, the more this worked. And it sure worked for me.
Todd VanDerWerff, A.V. Club:
Still, this is a very enjoyable, very funny episode of Community that ultimately has some interesting things to say about getting older and about the crippling haze that nostalgia can spread over our lives. I suspect when I think of it later on, I will think of it primarily in terms of its great gags, but I’m also pleased that the episode ended up being a lot more than just a G.I. Joe parody.
Gabrielle Moss, TV Fanatic:
Is Community so strong a flavor that even merging completely with another brand couldn't blot it out? I'd say yes. The episode expertly blended multiple mediums (animation, live action commercials) into something that worked on a deeper level than just straight-ahead narrative; something that hit me right in the childhood. The commercials alone were a thing of demented beauty, reminiscent of Charlie Kaufman's work.
Untempered Television:
Having a character experience something that in any other universe would make them insane in order to learn a lesson is not a new avenue for Community to explore (as Abed reminds us, “Dealing with things through a psychotic break happens to the best of us”) but this episode was so wonderfully strange and different, it never for once felt like a rehash.
Jacob Harrington and Spenser Milo, Based on Nothing:
G.I. Joe was way before my time. But this episode’s style and parody pallet really worked for me. The animation nailed the theme, and there’s some great clunky editing. (Harrington) If I had to pinpoint a particular reason why the episode didn’t work for me - and I suppose I have to as I’m writing a review for it - it’d have to be that I didn’t find the episode entirely necessary. It’s like Community using an animation gimmick just for the sake of finally having a full animated episode already.
Joe Matar, Den of Geek:
If I give this episode any kudos it’s because it’s quite simply one of the oddest half-hours of primetime sitcom television I’ve ever seen. I have to admire the ambition, the effort, and the dedication, but I still don’t think that weirdness added up to anything very good.
Nick O'Malley, masslive.com:
Which brings us to Jeff addressing the fact that he's getting kind of old. It's familiar territory for Jeff's character, so going into a retread here seems to indicate that the writers were more interested in the G.I. Joe experiment than they were in really fleshing out Jeff's character.
Brian Collins, Badass Digest:
This is that rare one that works as a "There is nothing else like this show on television" example of how brilliant they can be, AND keeps the laughs coming, making it a winner.
Sarah Shachat, ScreenCrave:
All that serious stuff aside, the episode was really funny. It’s probably funnier to folks who grew up on the G.I. Joe cartoons; but the humor was broad enough to include wonderful visuals like Britta’s buzz-arm, character-centric declarations specific to the show (our intro to Annie’s avatar Tight Ship, “I control everything!”) and good enough at calling out the structure of this universe to make it funny.
Randy Dankievitch, Sound on Sight:
“Accessible”? Hardly: this is one of the most niche episodes Community could ever produce - but it’s also a stroke of genius, a story told in a specific format for a very specific reason.
Jon Bowling, Character Grades:
As I’ve said Community works best when they can break with reality while still maintaining the show’s heart and strong character development. Episodes like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas are perfect examples. G.I. Jeff while an incredibly fun episode and an excellent satire of 1980’s Americana and animation just doesn’t move the story forward in the way that it should.
Jennifer Marie, Just About Write:
I did not like this episode. It’s not that I didn’t admire the work and effort that was put into recreating G.I. Joe and tailoring it to fit Community. Oh, that I totally and completely admired. But as someone who has never watched a moment of G.I. Joe in her entire twenty-five years of life and doesn’t intend to start now, the homage was lacking. And the reason why, to be honest, is because every other Community homage has been broad enough to connect with viewers. I feel like “G.I. Jeff” was not an homage to Saturday morning cartoons in general - it was a specific homage to one specific show that a lot of people (like myself) had never seen. And there is something lost on you when you don’t get the characters or the plot or the purpose of an homage.
Robert Emmett, Word of the Nerd:
This one is both a reverent homage and a sharply sarcastic parody. We share a nostalgic moment from our childhood, and we are reminded that these characters - as well as the show- are growing older. I am pleasantly amazed that well into the fifth season the show is still able to deliver something fresh, unexpected, funny and relevant.
Justin, Generals Joes:
Community didn’t treat this as some sort of homage, they actually designed this entire episode to take place within the confines of an actual Sunbow animated episode, complete with toy commercials (featuring some terrific and inspired customs). Every single element of “G.I. Joe” within the episode was awesome, hilarious, and totally nostalgia inducing.
Clarence, Redheaded Mule:
Unfortunately, this episode will likely get pummeled by Big Bang Theory in the ratings. But some editors of TV Tropes are probably in an infinite loop of squee.
John Wood, Half Decent:
Community has never been afraid to play with old styles to various degrees of success; for every Old Western paintball, there is a puppet episode. This week, they make a G.I. Joe 80’s cartoon rip-off entitled G.I. Jeff that is clearly a loving homage with a lot of solid jokes, but unfortunately it’s arguably the most polarizing episode in Community’s history.
Maersky, HyperNerd Creative:
So apparently, the producers of the show thought that it would be a good idea to mix their sitcom with the contradicting 80s morals of the popular 80s cartoon GI JOE. Boy were they right!!
Dan Owen, Dan's Media Digest:
Overall, it's great something as bonkers as a GI Joe-style episode of Community can get made, and if you were a young fan of the franchise I'm sure this worked much better for you... but for me it wasn't anything I'd count as especially funny, just an admirable endeavour.
Jocelyn W, TV Equals:
Even if you are a G.I. Joe novice, there was still plenty to appreciate about the episode, including the writers poking fun at a cartoon based on soldiers in which no one ever dies. The incorporation of the commercials was also pretty funny.
Juliette Harrisson, Doux Reviews:
I'm not sure this was quite as successful as 'Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas' and as it is perhaps symptomatic of the series' tendency to re-use old ideas, which as ChrisB pointed out in the comments last week they've been doing rather a lot lately (I must admit it's been bugging me since the unnecessary extension of the brilliant pillow fort idea in season three, though hypocritically I do like the second paintball story from season two).
Alan Rapp, Razorfine:
That was awesome! Unapologetically pulling the nostalgic strings of everyone who grew up watching G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero, and guaranteeing I will buy this season on DVD, the only question anyone needs to ask about G.I. Jeff is: Is it a great episode of Community or the greatest episode of Community?
Jared Russo, Geek Binge:
For the beginning 19 minutes, it was a tour de force. And for the last 2 minutes, it just floundered. The ending was really convenient, way too easy, and simplistic to be satisfying at all. I understand you want to conclude every episode in a nice bow, all wrapped up so that none of the events of the story meddle in future continuity, but the hospital bed scene was pretty weak.
Gonzo Green, Bubble Blabber:
The young boy inside me (one of the only ways I can use that statement, amiright?) wanted me to simply slap a ‘10’ on this and call it a night. I mean, they killed it with this episode. It had just the right amount of parody and tribute, while still being decidedly unique to Community. The character assignments and creations were brilliant, and the cast did a tremendous job in voicing their characters.
Nick Hogan, TV Overmind:
This episode was a blast. I loved cartoons like this growing up and this was like my favorite sitcom all wrapped up in my childhood TV experiences. It was an excellent viewing experience littered with all sorts of past episode references.
Logan J. Fowler, Pop Break:
Wow. Just wow. Under normal sitcom circumstances, another program couldn’t combine an 80’s cartoon with a regular live action comedy, but the latest episode of Community pulled it off with flying colors. Yo Joe!
Thanks for reading everyone! See you next week for the penultimate episode of the 5th season!