NBC’s ‘Community’ season 4: Troy freaks out in new trailer, all is right with the world

When “Community” released some of its first footage from season 4 earlier this month, we’ll be honest in saying that it gave us some serious anxiety. We couldn’t quite place just what it was, but for some reason Dan Harmon’s exit was felt in watching Deal Pelton introduce a “Hunger Games”-style competition in order to determine who is going to land a spot in the coveted History of Ice Cream class. It also felt like the show had switched from being quirky and meta to being a cartoon.

Luckily, our faith is very much restored after watching the new teaser for the show’s upcoming episodes on Friday. While all of the clips within here are taken out of context, they are at least funny. It includes some classic Troy and Abed moments, Jeff being the arrogant prick that we all know and love, Annie and Shirley making “aww noises,” and our personal favorite: Troy freaking out when he encounters some unexpected emotions. It feels very much like the show Harmon helped to steer into a cult sensation in the first place, which is good considering the immense challenge that “Community” has ahead of it.

First, the show is going to have to contend with the fact that there are some loyal Harmon fans that may not stick around to watch the show without him (sad as it may be), and then there is the added challenge of having to compete against something in “The Big Bang Theory” that has somehow managed to expand its audience yet again during the time in which “Community” has been of off the air. Oh, and we should mention that “Community” has been off the air since May. That’s a long time to retain viewers.

So while are not necessarily optimistic about the show receiving a potential fifth season, right now we’re just happy to enjoy all of the silliness and the ride.

If you want to hear what the head of NBC has to say about a potential fifth season (and the loss of Chevy Chase on the cast), you can find out over at the link here.

Photo: NBC