Awwww. She In Yo Class, Yo!

It is I, gentle readers! Arsenic Pie! Back from the netherworld of holidays, presents, and, yes, pie. So much pie, in fact, that I have not been able to roll myself from the couch to my computer due to my near-diabetic coma. So I apologize for my recent silence. But fear not!

It is now January and that means the return of many of our beloved programs since they went on hiatus during the bleak midwinter.

The first of the premieres that I have been looking forward to -- and there are many -- (OMG SEASON 4 OF DOWNTON ABBEY OMG YOU GUYS!!!) is Community. Yes, yes, it's true. Miss Arsenic Pie takes time away from her erudite Auntie Beeb costume dramas to watch comedy. I'm not a huge or dedicated Community fan like this devoted comrade, but this girl does love herself some Joel McHale. It's one of those shows where if I find it in reruns on TV on Comedy Central I will watch it. I long ago gave up on network comedies, but I found myself pleasantly surprised by how clever and -- okay, I'll say it -- how downright stinkin' meta it is. This show, along with Archer and Brooklyn 99, is starting to restore my faith in 'Murican comedy programming. 'Murica. McHale. Mostly McHale.

How is Joel McHale today? I don't know, but I'm sure he's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine.

As you know, the show follows the exploits of Jeff (Cutie McHottie Joel McHale) as Jeff, the disbarred lawyer who is forced to attend community college as part of his court sentence. Along for the ride are Jeff's love interest, Britta (Gillian Jacobs); our favorite Trudy Campbell, Alison Brie, as Annie; the always hilarious Ken Jeong as psychotic Spanish instructor, Señor Chang;  the lovely and talented Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley; Jim Rash as Dean Pelton and, last but not least, Donald Glover and Danny Pudi as Troy and Abed, respectively. Also? True story. Jim Rash's Twitter handle is @RashisTVUgly. Look it up.

So, the plot of the season premiere features Jeff down on his luck after a failed attempt at being a morally upstanding lawyer. 

Jeff's super sleazy ex legal partner, Alan (Rob Effin Corddry) drops by to help Jeff out of his financial jam. Alan wants Jeff to help out with a lawsuit Alan is planning against Greendale. An engineer educated at Greendale designed a bridge that collapsed and Alan wants to sue Greendale, claiming it was Greendale's fault. Jeff doesn't have much of a choice, so he returns to Greendale in search of the engineer's records. He has a creepily hilarious encounter with Dean Pelton, and Jeff convinces Pelton that he's there to "help" Greendale. Jeff forms a "Save Greendale" committee, and coincidentally runs into his old study group, who are all hanging out in the old study room. Which also happens to be the new records office. It's also where Señor Chang is now living under house arrest.

Jeff tries to convince his former study group members to join a lawsuit against the school, with the claim that their lives are not better four years after they started at Greendale. Britta is a bartender; Abed is a computer programmer/ failed film director; Annie is pushing pills for a big pharma company; Yvette's husband left her again and took the kids (and the DVR with her 166 unwatched episodes of Bones); and Troy is waiting around for Abed to get rich off his new smartphone app so Troy can sue him. Solid plan. The gang starts arguing, and Jeff thinks he's convinced them all to join a class action lawsuit. He leaves to tell Alan that he's taking over the case, tells Alan he's not worth his prepared evil monologue, and whips Alan with his own tie. He returns to the study group to find that they've all made up, and they've made a collective decision. Jeff thinks they're all going to sue, but they reveal that they're all going to re-enroll at Greendale. REPILOT. Dean Pelton offers Jeff a job as a law professor, and the gang decides to burn their table. Any episode of any show that ends in a fire/pyrotechnics is a win for me. 

Stick around for episode 2, which features Abed having a mental breakdown over his attempt to determine whether Nicolas Cage is a good or bad actor. My Nic Cage is just me saying, "There's a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence." Abed puts this girl to shame. 

Community airs on The Peacock Thursday nights at 8 EST. The double-feature season premiere is available on demand.

Be sure to also catch McHale hosting The Soup Wednesdays at 10 on E!

You staged a robot fight?!?! In real life, the robot wins!!