Community college is often associated with easy classes and mediocre students. With this stereotype in mind, Jeff Winger (Joel McHale), a suspended lawyer, enrolls in Greendale Community College in hopes of breezing through college for his degree.

NBC’s new comedy series, Community, centers around Jeff and the random group of friends he meets during a Spanish study group.

Like many others, Jeff views community college as an unchallenging institution that serves as the last option for many students, and cheats and slides his way through classes. Community creator Dan Harmon enhances these stereotypical views with the establishment of classes centered around “seizing the day,” where homework consists of jumping in lakes and proclaiming love to others.

However, in these classes Jeff learns his courses may not be as effortless as they seem. He must genuinely “seize the day” and follow specific class instructions in order to graduate. Distractions also hamper Jeff’s success as he chases Britta (Gillian Jacobs), his uncatchable love interest.

With a simple storyline, the 30-minute show is easy to follow. There are no confusing ties between the characters since they have all just met each other. Because of this, the show keeps viewers entertained as they gain more knowledge about the characters and their pasts.

However, the acting by the main character, Joel McHale (Jeff), seems to lessen the hilarity of the show. He often comes off as a “too cool for school” guy, and represents the most boring character of the show because of his lack of funny jokes. On screen, he just seems irritating. He is realistic like the other characters, but represents the common egotistical person who annoys others because of his arrogance. The main character of a comedy should be one of the funniest people, not the most boring.

Though the show seems like a mockery of community college life, Jeff’s idea of community college is disputed as he realizes that many of the students attend the college for reasons other than low high school grades and lethargy. Whether viewing junior college as a second chance in life or attending due to family obligations, Jeff’s circle of friends represent various characters in college life.

Ranging from freshmen athletes, free-spirited hippies, 60-year-old men, anxiety-stricken women and just plain weirdos, Harmon combines these differing personalities to amuse the audience. With the stress of each character’s distinct antics and personal problems, many viewers can either relate to them or recognize the personalities in people they have known.

The mesh of the characters’ personalities creates many different types of humor as they confront each other and bicker. These conflicting personalities also make the joking unpredictable, since they each have their own form of witty remarks. However, the unpredictability of the joking also changes with the episodes. While one episode may be non-stop laughter, the other could just have a few dry jokes, leaving the viewer either disappointed or confused.

Although some elements seem to be exaggerated, such as the ridiculous classes, the storyline seems very realistic. Beneath the humor, Harmon exposes human issues that can hinder to pursuit of personal dreams.

Some of the characters have returned to college because of relationships and mistakes that have caused them to drift away from their desires. Harmon also recognizes students who pursue their parents’ goals rather than their own. These characters offer messages to viewers concerning finding one’s dreams and accepting second chances.

While some may find the nature of the show offensive, perhaps those who attend community college can better relate. Almost all the humor is done light-heartedly, and mocks the significant characters rather than junior college students in general.

Watching Community can also help change the immediate opinion of community college that people have, as it did with me. I realized that not everyone who goes to community college is classified as a loser; other issues often play a part in college choosing, such as costs and location, even if the student is above-average intellectually.

Despite the comedic portrayal of the characters, Community offers a deeper meaning to the faces that are often automatically categorized as losers.

Community premiered on Sept. 17. It airs on NBC on Thursdays at 8.

For more TV reviews, visit the Sept. 22 article, Sixth season premiere transforms House.