The mid-to-late '00s brought forth a lot of shows that are now considered some of the best sitcoms available today. For many of those series’ beginnings though, including Community’s, that title was far out of reach. Even with a growing fan base that seemed to enjoy the junior college comedy, critics had varying opinions on Community. Joel McHalen, one of the shows’ leads, recalled a particularly brutal one early on that hit closer to home.
Though the now-beloved Community has long since ended on the small screen, we’ve seen McHale multiple times over on the 2025 TV schedule since then (Animal Control, Yellowjackets, etc). Yet, while talking with Collider, the staple series remains as a large talking point. The comedian revealed he kept his head down while transitioning from hosting The Soup to acting, but wondered how he’d be received. He recalled that reporters were harsh to Community and, similar to Andy Richter’s experience, it was before everyone jumped onto the bandwagon:
One reviewer was like, ‘This show would be good… if it weren’t for me.’ I was like, ‘Oh, that hurt.’ I’ll never forget it. I remember his name.’ Andy Richter had a similar [experience]. When Conan [O’Brien]’s show first started, everyone thought it was gonna be gone after a week or two. People were like, ‘What is this?’ And Andy saved all his reviews. They were terrible to him. Then they would come, like years later, and be like, ‘This show is so fabulous,’ and he’d be like, ‘Aha! Here's the article!’
Ouch! That’s brutal, but seemed somewhat common then, with Richter experiencing the same thing. Newer faces and projects that seemed to stray from the norm were subjected to that deeply scrutinized write-up. I do love that McHale took note of how his funnyman peer kept the receipts to share with critics who eventually changed their tune.
Humorously, it seems like as Joel McHale, pivoted, he took that karmic page right out of O’Brien’s partner’s playbook. As the Community cast started to attend Comic-Con events with some regularity, journalists probed about the possibilities of cancellation. That’s when McHale jumped in to combat the doubters by citing the rising ratings. Then when he realized they filled their first hall, he knew that the razor-sharp oddball comedy was doing just fine, as he said:
I’m like, ‘Look at the ratings! We’re actually doing pretty well. They keep bringing us back, so we must be doing something right.’ Then, when we filled the hall at Comic-Con, that’s when I realized the show might be popular. I was like, ‘What the hell? Oh, people are watching!’
Don’t you just love an underdog story? I’m sure it must’ve felt pretty incredible that first time the Community cast filled a whole room at Comic-Con, and especially so riding the wave of The Office and going toe to toe with Parks and Recreation. But by having Dan Harmon at the helm and an A+ cast, it was destined to be great.
With the long-awaited upcoming Community movie on the way (though likely not for the 2026 movie calendar), I’m sure McHale and co. are gearing up for its airing. Though this time around, there shouldn’t be any reviews as personal as the one the Jeff Winger actor got hit with. It looks like people, overall, enjoyed his role in the 2025 movie California King. And with how thrilled McHale is about signing onto Scream 7, another great performance seems to lie ahead of us.
Here’s hoping the Community actor doesn’t have any more unwarranted savage critiques of his person. If he can hold the disgruntled lawyer act down against the incredible Troy and Abed antics, there are no notes that need to be discussed, in my opinion.
