open letter

So here we are.

It’s a nutty, kooky world out there, kids. It’s fast, it’s ever-changing, and it’s full of snakes and bear traps. It’s a wonderland of smashed hopes and hardened hearts. Mockery runs rampant on a field of judgement. 

But there is a delicious treat hidden in the back of the cupboard, and its name is Community. Find it, and you will taste joy.

But it is not my intention to use this forum to plug it, review it, or to attempt to convert the reluctant to its charms. It is only my intention to thank it. 

Thank it? you may ask. Television should not be thanked. Television should be thanking you for watching it, for keeping the beast alive. 

And indeed, television does come at you with an outstretched hand, begging for love and money. It panders and dances frantically, pulling out trick after trick, trying to win you over. All too often, you give in out of sheer boredom and exhaustion. This is how it goes around. This is how it works. A marriage of convenience. 

But now and then, amid all the tedious flickering, there is a moment of surprise and thrill, of genuine delight. It has come in many forms over the decades, and people have called it by many names, among these including but not limited to Arrested Development, Freaks and Geeks, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, et al... and now, the Eskimos have yet another word for this rare snow: Community. 

When one is truly charmed, one does not need to waste time stating his or her reasons for being charmed. It doesn’t matter why Community fills me with joy, it only matters that it does. There is no need to point to any single specific element or episode, for the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. 

So I thank you, Community, for that inexplicable feeling that causes me to clasp my hands to my bosom in a ridiculous cartoon-esque display of infatuation and find myself surrounded by animated hearts and flowers and birds. I thank you for the 22-minute respite from the rest of the world. I thank you for allowing me to discover that my jaw still can drop, and that all of the stories have not necessarily been told.  I thank you for your darkness and your light, your razor blades and candy.

And yes, we will both grow old and obsolete someday, but for now, while you are young and winsome, I will cherish all that is new about you.  

Because holy crap, Community... you, in a completely inadequate word, rule. 

Yes indeed. Welcome to me.