I misread your post. Don’t mind me. I shouldn’t read and post from my phone. 
It’s not important if we consider it a “new team.” The fact is that the people working (or formerly working) on the show consider it a new team. The best writers the show has had outright stated there was no Community without Harmon. He worked on every episode. Some of them left the show over it, including Chris McKenna (the apparent 2nd in command, along with Harmon the only writer left from season 1). The actors have characterized it as “starting over”, with an entirely new crew, slashed budget, and the creative minds behind the show replaced.
I still mildly enjoy it too (though I’m not sure I would if this was my first season). But it just isn’t working.
Maybe it is the little things, like the Dean’s “good news and bad news” outfit last season and the unexpected payoff, compared to just having him dress up in funny outfits.
Or maybe it is the more obvious things, like starting a season of a show about a community college study group with 3 straight episodes in which they never attend class or study. Even many of the absurd episodes in the past have still taken place in the context of taking classes (Law and Order ep for example). And the great episodes that left the school behind (Chaos Theory, Virtual Systems, Digital Estate) were the kind of amazingly written episodes that are very hard to come by.
I guess Contemporary Impressionists is the closest old episode to the new style. Not centered around school activity, Troy and Abed not funny, Jeff ending the episode as Incredible Hulk. If they were going to try to copy an episode’s style for the new season though, that is one of the worst choices.
There’s been no “Troy and Abed in the Morrrrrning!”, which I miss.
There are moments here and there, but it’s run its course. In fairness, I think it had run its course before Harmon departed. I just hate that it’s going to be CHANGed again soon.
The “uncanny valley” description is spot on. Sort of, but not quite Community.
A bit better than the previous episodes in some ways, but horribly clunky in others.
Look, I know I’m going to irk some people but that Little Britain guy isn’t remotely funny at anything. He’s a very generic 3rd tier old school British comic actor. Which clashes hard against a show like Community.
Just a few nice touches. Annie never before staying in a hotel that didn’t have a number in the name. “I need to call Science.” “I hate you.”
The bit with Britta dressing while moving on the fire escape was interesting. But it also isn’t Community.
Where’s the Chang? The Dean? The other background Greendale folk?
There was a few seconds in the study room again. What is going on? That is the home base of funny banter.
There was so much comedy treasure to mine at a fan con, but over and over there was just dead spots.
I thought that was the point of the season premiere, albeit wrapped up in an Inception theme…
Oops. Sorry 'bout that. I swear I paid attention whilst I was watching …
Well, the idea that the german version of Hogan’s Heroes was Hogan’s Villains was pretty funny.
Didn’t like that episode at all. Its moral was muddled, the scenes were too short and all over the place, the German accents were atrocious (deliberately, which just made it more excruciating), and the return of Chang just annoys me.
There’s no rhythm, no flow, no focus, no balance. It’s completely off-kilter.
I liked last night’s episode. Much more like Community than the prior episodes have been. The bit about them painting and fixing up the other study rooms didn’t really ring true for this group, but overall it was good. I liked the flashback scenes to previous incidents in the study room, which they must have shot anew for this ep.
I felt like “classic” community would have them congregating in the other study room for an episode or two before restoring them to the proper room. Agree with that GuanoLad that the pacing was terrible, and the “theme” fit awkwardly with the scenes and the moral. Maybe it should have been a two-parter?
The slow Hogan’s Heroes theme during the Winger Speech made me laugh.
Agree about the newly shot scenes. As for whether it rang true for the study group, Jeff touched on that in his speech; we’re meant to understand that the group (and especially him) have grown and become less selfish.
“zere must be nearly a hundred!” of the red balloons - had me laughing out loud.
I thought this was easily the best episode of the season, and would have fit into any of the previous seasons just fine… although when they were talking about history being written by the victors, I thought we were going to have an episode where the whole thing was a rashomon-style flashback to one of the study group’s greatest triumphs, but told from someone else’s perspective. Which could have been neat.
“They lost a pen” killed.
That was very funny.
I liked the episode, but it still seemed like they were trying to hard to cram in as much as possible.
The whole "Changnesia” stuff seemed tacked on… I know it’s Chang, but I still want to see how it’s developed in the coming episodes. Was this a way for the writers to make Chang more bearable?
I was imagining a joke involving the German guys to all be named Victor.
That was hilarious. I also liked that Pierce was involved a little more than he has been this season, especially when he was miffed that nobody considered him the Hitler of the group (“we’re not even going to vote on it?”).
Troy and Abed’s podcast was a stitch. Also Annie: “Why don’t you just call it a quad-dent?”
Troy: “Dusselldorks! Good one! … I don’t get any of these puns. I’m going to have to study more history.”
This episode felt more like the Community of the first three seasons. I enjoyed it very much.
That cracked me up, too. “They lost a pen” was a nice callback. Vicky and Garrett always bring the funny.